From The Sands
12-17-2016, 03:49 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-17-2016, 03:50 AM by Mayu_Zane.)
A long time ago, I also ran another adventure on the MSPA forums that was primarily text-based. I have decided to continue it here on the Eagle-time forums. There is a recap below, with all the major story beats.
There is also a dropbox folder containing every single text file written for this adventure before it fell into the abyss: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ca6a6nl9st7wy...zCBCa?dl=0
From The Sands: Recap
Centuries ago, a blue-furred race of people were exiled into a hostile desert island. They were called the Ngugi, and throughout the recorded history of the Malkin Nation, they had always been slaves.
The Ngugi rebelled, but failed. Exiled and forced to survive in this harsh environment, they settled by a river in the desert. Malkin remained in memory, affectionately referred to as The Old Country by the Ngugi people.
There, they discovered a tower that seemed to stretch out into space: The Shadowless Tower.
The tower was home to many strange creatures called Tower Beasts, and held far more space inside than outside. The Tower Beasts themselves were often dangerous, but a Tower Beast hatched from an egg warmed by a person will become completely loyal to whoever hatched it.
The Tower Eggs brought prosperity to the Ngugi, who named their new nation the Ngugi-Mahru. They established their own monarchy, and discovered that the Ngugi had a natural affinity for pyromancy. Their nation also had unrivaled skill in medicine.
Then, a Ngugi-Mahru citizen tried to claim an island for himself, which triggered a war with Yeshiko, a nation that had weaponized demons. Despite their mastery over the occult powers, the Ngugi won through a combination of technological superiority and tactical adaptability.
Yeshiko lost, and was changed forever. Ngugi-Mahru pledged to help the demon-ruined nation to rebuild, and from the ashes of war a new bond was formed as a Yeshiko native married the Ngugi queen. They bore two children: Princess Yena and Prince Jevinder.
Princess Yena, the blind and older of the two, went on a journey with her two escorts, Reyq the diplomat and Hessel the warrior. Hessel’s hand was wounded early on, but remains loyal.
For security, Yena adopted the alias ‘Coin’.
Yena learned that the use of Futurite, a powerful magical element in the Old Country was causing the boundary between worlds to weaken. Now, Princess Yena and her retinue travel eastward, in search of answers and a way to save her world from a demonic invasion that would bring nothing but ruin.
After a chance meeting with a water spirit, Yena learns the truth of her heritage: She is in fact, a half-demon. The consort to Ngugi’s Queen is a benign demon in disguise.
The water spirit also unlocked Yena’s ability to use her ‘demon-arms’, invisible but corporeal and powerful limbs extending from what were once stumps.
Meanwhile, the Advancers, a group of explorers dedicated to learning the mysteries of the Shadowless Tower, have only barely scratched the surface of its true nature and purpose…
===
And here is the Tower Beast Treatise, essentially a ‘Pokedex’ of all the different creatures that can be found within the Shadowless Tower: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Iqny...sp=sharing] TOWER BEAST TREATISE
The World Map: https://i.imgur.com/V6xZODN.jpg
With that out of the way, let’s continue the story.
===
The Counter Gear was a joint project between Sajar University and brightest minds of Madagar. Developed to provide a fast means of calculating enormous sums, the Counter Gear required the space of the average bedroom, but as long as the gears were well-oiled and the machine remained clean, it would never make an error.
At first, the Counter Gear was used to calculate and verify taxes, but it soon gained numerous other applications after modifications were made to allow it to do more than just add and subtract. It could predict trajectory, measure the speed of numerous objects in different weather conditions, be used to predict statistical outcomes, count beans, and more.
When the Old Country heard about it, they purchased one along with a manual. After they understood its mechanism, they made copies of it with varying levels of success. The Ngugi diaspora bought miniature replicas of the device, even if it was useless, because it reminded them of their homeland's greatness. Here was a brilliant piece of technology, born in their true home.
Of course, there would always be those who say that the Ngugi could never have developed it without Boigonbear scholars. It was true, but it couldn't have come about without the Ngugi engineers either.
Smaller versions of the Counter Gear would be developed years later, but even in its gigantic state, the machine served the world quite well.
Meanwhile, Coin and her retinue had reached Madagar. Thanks to the Princess' invisible arms, the trio were able to earn some money by performing 'magic shows'. Reyq was adamantly against it at first, until she discovered that being an assistant in a magician's act was quite thrilling.
Coin's melodious voice was always part of the act, with songs accompanying every performance. It was little wonder they made a small fortune, if not in money then in food. Coin's magic acts gave her the first taste of genuine Madagarian honey, a unique taste of sweetness and spiciness.
Hessel had put her skills to use and found sellswords and young villagers willing to pay for combat lessons. Despite her ruined hand, her instruction was clearly helpful, though the bodyguard took care not to reveal any secret moves.
The trio even encountered some 'feral' Tower Beasts. Though harmless to people, these beasts had learned to survive on their own after being abandoned by their owners, or losing their owners to death's embrace. Coin could not see, but she could sense that these feral breeds were different from their original forms.
New breeds from new habitats, new circumstances. Adaptation. Reyq helped Coin record the creatures they had found.
=== New Additions to the Tower Beast Treatise! ===
===
Muddycipher
Element: Earth
Intelligence: Dog
Diet: Meat
A new breed of the serpentine Rudyciphers, Muddyciphers are named so for their tendency to nest in muddy areas. After decades of abandonment, they adapted to Madagar's climate, with better control of their own body temperatures. They are often wood-like in scale color and patterns.
They have acquired the habit of hunting in packs, perhaps after observing wolves in the wild. Though they can and have attacked livestock, many Madagarian farmers prefer to tame these creatures and turn them into guards against much more vicious native predators.
===
Tropada
Element: Water
Intelligence: Insect-level
Diet: Meat. Any meat.
A relative of the Garada, these avian creatures are even faster than their Tower-born cousins as they face more threats in the Madagarian forests. They also fly in much larger flocks, and are nicknamed 'Noisy Clouds' for their tendency to cover up much of the sun whenever they migrate to a new breeding ground.
Out in Madagar, these birds bear spotty patterns on their feathers, differentiating them from their cousins.
Tropadas have more brittle talons, but much more developed beaks as they tend to eat insects and worms hiding inside trees. Their droppings make very good fertilizer, and fetch a relatively high price.
===
Awali
Element: The Void.
Intelligence: Raven-level. Capable of solving complex puzzles and use tools despite malformed limbs.
Diet: Magical essence.
Just like the Awulu, these floating beasts subsist purely on magical energy. However, unlike the scavenging Awulu, Awali tend to cluster near rivers due to the presence of Madagar's magical amphibians. The Awali have formed a mutually-beneficial relationship with the Mana Toad, offering protection with the use of their shields while the toads provide sustenance.
Awali have also displayed remarkable architecture skills, building dams and bridges for the Mana Toads to nest. Tamed Awali can serve as good construction workers despite their lack of fingers; they manipulate objects by creating bubble-shields.
===
At the Madagarian capital of Boigonbear, Coin had heard of the news about the Counting Gear. Without hesitation she bought one of the miniature replicas, grasping it with her invisible hands. The little trinket was very detailed and ornate; it was clear the Madagarians took pride in the invention as well.
In Boigonbear, the local library provided books for the blind, written in carved wooden slits. Coin did not hesitate to read these books. Her excellent memory allowed her to remember their contents, and there was one book that she found exceptionally interesting.
It was called Borders of the Cosmos, by Rasmodi Gantah.
Rasmodi, a Boigonbear scholar explained how different regions of the universe seem to behave under different physical laws; some stars shine much brighter than others despite being of the same physical size and similar distance from the planet. Rasmodi also noted how comets and meteors move at different speeds even if they are primarily made of the same elements, hinting that these objects will continue to operate under different rules even if they leave their 'boundaries'.
Though geologists insist that all elements behave the same way, chemists and astronomers agree that there is something strange about objects from other parts of the universe.
===
Ability Gained:
Cosmic Crafter
Coin will learn to identify otherworldly minerals and craft them into valuable, useful tools with special traits.
===
Coin decided to try and test her newfound knowledge. There were several places she could visit.
- Boigon Lake:
Local myth mentions it as a cursed lake that has earned the ire of the gods, as it had been hit by four meteorites in the past century. Nobody lives or visits there these days after the lake was completely covered in white algae, which is harmless but very slimy.
- Boigonbear Extraterrestrial Artifact Museum:
The exhibits are not for sale, but the gift shop may have pieces of cosmic pebbles to buy.
- Aleeyeran Shrine:
A shrine famous for a topaz gemstone that never stops humming. The local clerics claim it is the piece of a god's mouth, specifically Aleeyeran, who in local lore was shattered by a powerful demon in a war that saved the nation. Visitors may touch the gem, as long as they bring an offering of food for the god's mouth.
- The Fidds Residence:
A mansion belonging to a family of astronomers and avid collectors of meteorites. Perhaps they might welcome a visitor and trade something with Coin.
- The Shadow Merchant:
There is a mysterious creature, clad in all black who lives under a bridge and claims to sell a piece of the moon. His price is unusual: A conversation with him that will last an entire afternoon, but with neither food nor drinks allowed. He promises to give you the moonpiece once the sun sets.
Where did she go first?
>_
*YENA’S STATUS *
Princess Yena’s Personal Money - 400 gold, 12 silver, 10 copper
Retinue:
Hessel - Bodyguard
Reyq - Scholar
No Tamed Tower Beast
Shadowless Tower exploration progress: 16.4%
World Map: https://i.imgur.com/V6xZODN.jpg
TOWER BEAST TREATISE
There is also a dropbox folder containing every single text file written for this adventure before it fell into the abyss: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ca6a6nl9st7wy...zCBCa?dl=0
From The Sands: Recap
Centuries ago, a blue-furred race of people were exiled into a hostile desert island. They were called the Ngugi, and throughout the recorded history of the Malkin Nation, they had always been slaves.
The Ngugi rebelled, but failed. Exiled and forced to survive in this harsh environment, they settled by a river in the desert. Malkin remained in memory, affectionately referred to as The Old Country by the Ngugi people.
There, they discovered a tower that seemed to stretch out into space: The Shadowless Tower.
The tower was home to many strange creatures called Tower Beasts, and held far more space inside than outside. The Tower Beasts themselves were often dangerous, but a Tower Beast hatched from an egg warmed by a person will become completely loyal to whoever hatched it.
The Tower Eggs brought prosperity to the Ngugi, who named their new nation the Ngugi-Mahru. They established their own monarchy, and discovered that the Ngugi had a natural affinity for pyromancy. Their nation also had unrivaled skill in medicine.
Then, a Ngugi-Mahru citizen tried to claim an island for himself, which triggered a war with Yeshiko, a nation that had weaponized demons. Despite their mastery over the occult powers, the Ngugi won through a combination of technological superiority and tactical adaptability.
Yeshiko lost, and was changed forever. Ngugi-Mahru pledged to help the demon-ruined nation to rebuild, and from the ashes of war a new bond was formed as a Yeshiko native married the Ngugi queen. They bore two children: Princess Yena and Prince Jevinder.
Princess Yena, the blind and older of the two, went on a journey with her two escorts, Reyq the diplomat and Hessel the warrior. Hessel’s hand was wounded early on, but remains loyal.
For security, Yena adopted the alias ‘Coin’.
Yena learned that the use of Futurite, a powerful magical element in the Old Country was causing the boundary between worlds to weaken. Now, Princess Yena and her retinue travel eastward, in search of answers and a way to save her world from a demonic invasion that would bring nothing but ruin.
After a chance meeting with a water spirit, Yena learns the truth of her heritage: She is in fact, a half-demon. The consort to Ngugi’s Queen is a benign demon in disguise.
The water spirit also unlocked Yena’s ability to use her ‘demon-arms’, invisible but corporeal and powerful limbs extending from what were once stumps.
Meanwhile, the Advancers, a group of explorers dedicated to learning the mysteries of the Shadowless Tower, have only barely scratched the surface of its true nature and purpose…
===
And here is the Tower Beast Treatise, essentially a ‘Pokedex’ of all the different creatures that can be found within the Shadowless Tower: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Iqny...sp=sharing] TOWER BEAST TREATISE
The World Map: https://i.imgur.com/V6xZODN.jpg
With that out of the way, let’s continue the story.
===
The Counter Gear was a joint project between Sajar University and brightest minds of Madagar. Developed to provide a fast means of calculating enormous sums, the Counter Gear required the space of the average bedroom, but as long as the gears were well-oiled and the machine remained clean, it would never make an error.
At first, the Counter Gear was used to calculate and verify taxes, but it soon gained numerous other applications after modifications were made to allow it to do more than just add and subtract. It could predict trajectory, measure the speed of numerous objects in different weather conditions, be used to predict statistical outcomes, count beans, and more.
When the Old Country heard about it, they purchased one along with a manual. After they understood its mechanism, they made copies of it with varying levels of success. The Ngugi diaspora bought miniature replicas of the device, even if it was useless, because it reminded them of their homeland's greatness. Here was a brilliant piece of technology, born in their true home.
Of course, there would always be those who say that the Ngugi could never have developed it without Boigonbear scholars. It was true, but it couldn't have come about without the Ngugi engineers either.
Smaller versions of the Counter Gear would be developed years later, but even in its gigantic state, the machine served the world quite well.
Meanwhile, Coin and her retinue had reached Madagar. Thanks to the Princess' invisible arms, the trio were able to earn some money by performing 'magic shows'. Reyq was adamantly against it at first, until she discovered that being an assistant in a magician's act was quite thrilling.
Coin's melodious voice was always part of the act, with songs accompanying every performance. It was little wonder they made a small fortune, if not in money then in food. Coin's magic acts gave her the first taste of genuine Madagarian honey, a unique taste of sweetness and spiciness.
Hessel had put her skills to use and found sellswords and young villagers willing to pay for combat lessons. Despite her ruined hand, her instruction was clearly helpful, though the bodyguard took care not to reveal any secret moves.
The trio even encountered some 'feral' Tower Beasts. Though harmless to people, these beasts had learned to survive on their own after being abandoned by their owners, or losing their owners to death's embrace. Coin could not see, but she could sense that these feral breeds were different from their original forms.
New breeds from new habitats, new circumstances. Adaptation. Reyq helped Coin record the creatures they had found.
=== New Additions to the Tower Beast Treatise! ===
===
Muddycipher
Element: Earth
Intelligence: Dog
Diet: Meat
A new breed of the serpentine Rudyciphers, Muddyciphers are named so for their tendency to nest in muddy areas. After decades of abandonment, they adapted to Madagar's climate, with better control of their own body temperatures. They are often wood-like in scale color and patterns.
They have acquired the habit of hunting in packs, perhaps after observing wolves in the wild. Though they can and have attacked livestock, many Madagarian farmers prefer to tame these creatures and turn them into guards against much more vicious native predators.
===
Tropada
Element: Water
Intelligence: Insect-level
Diet: Meat. Any meat.
A relative of the Garada, these avian creatures are even faster than their Tower-born cousins as they face more threats in the Madagarian forests. They also fly in much larger flocks, and are nicknamed 'Noisy Clouds' for their tendency to cover up much of the sun whenever they migrate to a new breeding ground.
Out in Madagar, these birds bear spotty patterns on their feathers, differentiating them from their cousins.
Tropadas have more brittle talons, but much more developed beaks as they tend to eat insects and worms hiding inside trees. Their droppings make very good fertilizer, and fetch a relatively high price.
===
Awali
Element: The Void.
Intelligence: Raven-level. Capable of solving complex puzzles and use tools despite malformed limbs.
Diet: Magical essence.
Just like the Awulu, these floating beasts subsist purely on magical energy. However, unlike the scavenging Awulu, Awali tend to cluster near rivers due to the presence of Madagar's magical amphibians. The Awali have formed a mutually-beneficial relationship with the Mana Toad, offering protection with the use of their shields while the toads provide sustenance.
Awali have also displayed remarkable architecture skills, building dams and bridges for the Mana Toads to nest. Tamed Awali can serve as good construction workers despite their lack of fingers; they manipulate objects by creating bubble-shields.
===
At the Madagarian capital of Boigonbear, Coin had heard of the news about the Counting Gear. Without hesitation she bought one of the miniature replicas, grasping it with her invisible hands. The little trinket was very detailed and ornate; it was clear the Madagarians took pride in the invention as well.
In Boigonbear, the local library provided books for the blind, written in carved wooden slits. Coin did not hesitate to read these books. Her excellent memory allowed her to remember their contents, and there was one book that she found exceptionally interesting.
It was called Borders of the Cosmos, by Rasmodi Gantah.
Rasmodi, a Boigonbear scholar explained how different regions of the universe seem to behave under different physical laws; some stars shine much brighter than others despite being of the same physical size and similar distance from the planet. Rasmodi also noted how comets and meteors move at different speeds even if they are primarily made of the same elements, hinting that these objects will continue to operate under different rules even if they leave their 'boundaries'.
Though geologists insist that all elements behave the same way, chemists and astronomers agree that there is something strange about objects from other parts of the universe.
===
Ability Gained:
Cosmic Crafter
Coin will learn to identify otherworldly minerals and craft them into valuable, useful tools with special traits.
===
Coin decided to try and test her newfound knowledge. There were several places she could visit.
- Boigon Lake:
Local myth mentions it as a cursed lake that has earned the ire of the gods, as it had been hit by four meteorites in the past century. Nobody lives or visits there these days after the lake was completely covered in white algae, which is harmless but very slimy.
- Boigonbear Extraterrestrial Artifact Museum:
The exhibits are not for sale, but the gift shop may have pieces of cosmic pebbles to buy.
- Aleeyeran Shrine:
A shrine famous for a topaz gemstone that never stops humming. The local clerics claim it is the piece of a god's mouth, specifically Aleeyeran, who in local lore was shattered by a powerful demon in a war that saved the nation. Visitors may touch the gem, as long as they bring an offering of food for the god's mouth.
- The Fidds Residence:
A mansion belonging to a family of astronomers and avid collectors of meteorites. Perhaps they might welcome a visitor and trade something with Coin.
- The Shadow Merchant:
There is a mysterious creature, clad in all black who lives under a bridge and claims to sell a piece of the moon. His price is unusual: A conversation with him that will last an entire afternoon, but with neither food nor drinks allowed. He promises to give you the moonpiece once the sun sets.
Where did she go first?
>_
*YENA’S STATUS *
Princess Yena’s Personal Money - 400 gold, 12 silver, 10 copper
Retinue:
Hessel - Bodyguard
Reyq - Scholar
No Tamed Tower Beast
Shadowless Tower exploration progress: 16.4%
World Map: https://i.imgur.com/V6xZODN.jpg
TOWER BEAST TREATISE