Well, teams have been posted. I hope you like it. As your first team assignment, you are to design your team's lore and watermark. You won't be rated on it, but it's a nice thing to do while rounds are going. I guess that was a pretty small announcement after all.
So this is what we have to work on. After a quick scan through our team composition I'm not really sure where we should take this. Any ideas?
Make two common creatures. I know we have races with various tribes and even a few with different jobs that dictates how they look and act, but you can only choose two.
One of the creatures should depict the fighting part of your race and the other should depict the more townsfolk part of your race.
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Desert Twirler[/B] 2R
Creature - Altraitor Warrior (C)
Whenever Desert Twirler becomes blocked, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn. "Dance upon the dunes of Damnation,
And from the nothingness, create." —Stanza 1, Opal Teachings
2/2
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Altraitor Historian[/B] 2UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (C)
When Altraitor Historian enters the battlefield, return target instant or sorcery with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand. "Here is the secret of our past and our present and our future: that which is created never truly dies."
—Galfoera, the Storysinger Artisan
2/2
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Novice War-Crow[/B] 1R
Creature - Corvite Warrior (C)
Trample
Inspire R(You may cast this spell for it's inspire cost. If you do, it gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield.) When news of the war hit, there was not a soldier in all of Savrasov who did not answer the call to arms. Some just answered it faster than others.
2/1
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Corvite Killsmith[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Artificer (C) Remember—1B: Target creature you control gets +1/-1 until the end of turn. Activate this ability only if Corvite Killsmith is in your graveyard. The weapons they made were perfect for killing the enemy, if not for winning the war.
2/2
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Noxious Bloom[/B] 3B
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender 1B: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Target player loses 2 life. Some harvesters with particularly potent toxins are taken away from their role in processing and instead relegated to furthering the war effort.
4/1
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Cannibalistic Harvester[/B] 1G
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender
Whenever another Illikum creature dies, put a +1/+1 counters on Cannibalistic Harvester. The Illika believe that in consuming their ancestors, they bring themselves closer to their god. Some Illika have become so fanatical that they will only eat the remains of ancestors.
1/3
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]A Tale of Strength[/B] 3R
Creature - Lorespun Warrior (C)
First strike, haste
When A Tale of Strength dies, target opponent draws a card. "Ah... Reste, I've heard that one at least one thousand times..."
—Lanmilla the Proud
4/1
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]A Tale of Valor[/B] 2W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (C)
Defender
When A Tale of Valor dies, target opponent draws a card. "Do you remember, Lanmila, when we held our own against one hundred of the greatest warriors in all of Wesbereq?"
—Reste the Blind
2/5
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Mace-Guard of Pryjia[/B] 2WB
Creature - Scallomourn Soldier (C)
Lifelink
Backswing 1 (Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to that creature's controller. Whenever this creature deals damage to a player except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to target creature that player controls.) Any army attempting to invade Pryjia would discover that its walls, its weapons, and its soldiers have all the hardness - and pity - of marble.
2/3
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Sharp-Tongued Partisan[/B] R
Creature - Scallomourn Scout (C) T: Sharp-Tongued Partisan deals 1 damage to target blocking or blocked creature. "If that's what you call 'fighting', it would be a mercy if I just cut you down myself. My friends would do worse."
1/1
[B]Task I[/B]: Create a noncreature, non-planeswalker spell that showcases your race's laws and/or beliefs.
[B]Task II[/B]: Create a noncreature, non-planeswalker spell that showcases your tactics for war and/or battle.
[B]Task III[/B]: Create a non-planeswalker spell that showcases how you will deal with your archenemy. If you choose this one, the flavor text should describe how you feel about your archenemy.
[B]ILLIKA[/B] (DOOM LICH) VS [B]RENDREN[/B] (GARGROYAL)
The Rendrens are quite the explorers. They go all over in order to discover the truths behind every creature and sight. However, they are not ones for danger. Some have been known to kill themselves just to defeat their foes. Their greatest enemy are the Illika. The Illika are plants that hide in the forests, capturing Rendren and feeding them to their offspring.
[B]Doom Lich:[/B] Your task is to design a card that depicts one of the Illika with the ability to capture.
[B]Gargroyal:[/B] Your task is to design a card that depicts a Rendren reacting to getting captured.
(By depicts, I'm talking about flavor or art. For example, if I said "depicts a creature bursting into flames", you could use Combust or Magma Phoenix. You can describe the art if you want to clear up the meaning of your card.)
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Hymn of Wisdom [/B]2UU
Instant (U)
Draw two cards. Spellspark—If you had cast another instant or sorcery this turn, draw three cards instead. "Upon vivid melodies, Skyweave shines,
Giving us wisdom on harrowing chimes."
—Sapphire Revels
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Dance on Fireswept Dunes[/B] 3RR
Instant (R)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +2/+0, first strike and must be blocked if able. "We have survived these sands for generations. If any blood is to be spilled on these dunes, it will be at the end of our blades."
—Vinrai, Combat Dancer Artisan
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Corpse Burning[/B] R
Instant (C)
Corpse Burning deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Whenever a Corvite creature you control dies, you may cast Coup De Grace from your graveyard. "It doesn't matter if you were a Man, God or Hero: your body will fuel the fire on which the world burns."
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Trueblood Slaying[/B] 1B
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature that was turned face up this turn.
Draw a card. "Their shells and facades may be fragile, but their true form bleeds a prettier color."
—Karis, of Flight Indigo
None Yet.
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Retirement[/B] 2W
Enchantment — Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block, and its activated abilities can't be activated. 2RR: Destroy Retirement. Any player may activate this ability. "He likes to think of it as an extended vacation."
—Lanmilla, the Proud
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Blind Aggression[/B] 1R
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. If it has defender, it loses defender until end of turn. "Stand back, Lanmilla, I can't see where I'm swinging!"
—Reste, the Blind
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Drassikull Ascendancy[/B] RW
Enchantment (U)
Tap an untapped creature you control: Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
Tap three untapped creatures you control: Aggravate damage dealt to target player this turn by 1. (If damage would be dealt to that player this turn, that much damage plus 1 is dealt instead.) "We cannot escape our rage, so we must rage more sublimely than the cacophony that created this world."
—Kynti Deadbone, bishop of Fort Gevnizar
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Bishop of the Bleak Arsenal[/B] WBB
Creature - Scallomourn Cleric (R)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls blocks or becomes blocked, you may remove all counters from it. If two or more counters were removed in this way, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. "Your armaments are dross! Your faith is ashes! Your souls are dust!"
2/2
[B]Task I:[/B] With another player, design a creature that is a combination of both creatures. They must be both creature types and they should have at least one similarity between both creatures. This will count as both of the player's grade.
[B]Task II:[/B] With or without another player, design a creature that helps out another creature of a different race on your team. Can be from previous rounds and can be the race's commander. (Also, if you haven't made a commander yet, you should)
[B]Task III:[/B] With your team, design a special forces unit (can be called anything, but they should be apart of the same unit). Each player adds a creature. Must be uncommon and should have some flavor that indicates it's apart of that unit. Not everyone has to participate in this challenge.
[B]TransmutionOrchestra[/B] vs [B]void_nothing[/B]
The Daesseclus has infected a Scallomourn, giving birth to one of the strongest Daesscelus-infected creature ever. During a heated battle between the teams, the infected Scallomourn turned around and began to slaughter it's own kind, using the Scallomourn's own art of war.
[B]TransmutionOrchestra[/B]: Your task is pretty obvious. Design an infected Scallomourn. You are allowed to use the Scallomourn mechanics. Can be legendary.
[B]void_nothing[/B]: Design a card that deplicts the Scallomourn's art of war. This could be a certain attack, tactic, even a creature. Can be legendary.
What exactly are those old farts hiding? The Espion don't like their secrets one bit. The Espions, knowing that Reste and Lanmila are great warriors, even when they are blind and senile, sent their stealthiest and deadliest warriors, led by the cruelest of them all, to uncover the secrets of the ancient giants.
[B]Stapler[/B]: Your task is to design a legendary Espion. This Espion should be the "stealthiest and deadliest warrior" of their kind. Remember to keep it balanced still.
[B]Megiddo[/B]: Your task is to design a legendary Lorespun. This Lorespun should be the guardian of the mountain that Reste and Lanmila live on.
The Corvites are quite the weird ones. They believe in individual accomplishment and do not care for what will become of their society, as long as they are seen as a god. On the other hand, the Lisandarians believe that they must work with each other, and even other races.
[B]Ninja Caterpie[/B]: Design a noncreature, nonplaneswalker card that shows individual accomplishment in one creature.
[B]Zelderex[/B]: Design a noncreature, nonplaneswalker card that shows cooperative accomplishment in multiple creatures.
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls. "Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Elder Loreseer[/B] 3UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (R)
Whenever an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, instead reveal it and shuffle it into your library.
Whenever you cast an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card, draw a card, then discard a card. "A century of listening to Reste is enough, thanks."
—Lanmilla
2/3
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Dreadpriest of Mountgrim[/B] 1BRR
Creature - Corvite Cleric (R)
Scallomourn creature cards in your hand have inspire X, where X is half their mana costs rounded up. (Half the colorless mana cost and the number of colored mana symbols, rounded up. For example, a card with a mana cost of 3RRR would have inspire 2RR.) "The gods are dead; pray to yourself!"
4/3
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Tragic Death-Crow[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Warrior (U)
Flying
When Tragic Death-Crow dies, you may pay B. If you do, target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn.
Inspire 1R
2/2
[B]Archenemy[/B]
[B]Monument to Shattered Gods[/B] 5
Legendary Artifact (MR) 3, Sacrifice two creatures: Destroy target creature.
At the beginning of each end step, if exactly nine creatures died this turn, you win the game. "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
—Percey Shelley, "Ozymandias"
None Yet.
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls. "Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]The Tragedy of Iskun Pass[/B] 1W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (U) XR, Sacrifice The Tragedy of Iskun Pass: The Tragedy of Iskun Pass deals X damage to target creature. That creature's controll gains X life. The Corvite asked Reste to help man the Dread Legion. A short story later, and he had the perfect volunteer.
2/2
[B]Archenemy[/B]
[B]Vit the Immovable[/B] 2WW
Legendary Creature - Lorespun Soldier (R)
Defender
Vit the Immovable can block an additional creature.
When Vit dies, target opponent gains 10 life. "Without Vit, I would have died at Iskun."
—Reste
3/6
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Rootmaul Rapparee[/B] BRG
Creature - Scallomourn Illika Barbarian (R)
Whenever Rootmaul Rapparee blocks or becomes blocked by a creature with greater power, than creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
Whenever Rootmaul Rapparee blocks or becomes blocked, put a +1/+1 counter on it at end of combat. Just insane enough to take tactical advice from his hammer.
2/2
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Adamant Tragedians[/B] 4B
Creature - Scallomourn Soldier (U) 1R: Adamant Tragedians gets +X/+1 until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures that died this turn. Brygyai of Mountgrim once wrote a script on the death of his nemesis requiring a cast of sixty hammer-bearers.
4/2
[B]Archenemy[/B]
[B]Dyvzol, Scourge of the Hollows[/B] 2BR
Legendary Creature - Scallomourn Berserker (R)
At end of combat on your turn, if Dyvzol Scourge of the Hollows attacked this combat and two or more creatures died this combat, untap all creatures that attacked this combat. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. Drassikull theologians speak of him as the new God of Inescapability.
3/3
[B]Altraitor Historian[/B] 2UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (C)
When Altraitor Historian enters the battlefield, return target instant or sorcery with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand. "Here is the secret of our past and our present and our future: that which is created never truly dies."
—Galfoera, the Storysinger Artisan
2/2
[B]Dance on Fireswept Dunes[/B] 3RR
Instant (R)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +2/+0, first strike and must be blocked if able. "We have survived these sands for generations. If any blood is to be spilled on these dunes, it will be at the end of our blades."
—Vinrai, Combat Dancer Artisan
[B]Desert Twirler[/B] 2R
Creature - Altraitor Warrior (C)
Whenever Desert Twirler becomes blocked, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn. "Dance upon the dunes of Damnation,
And from the nothingness, create." —Stanza 1, Opal Teachings
2/2
[B]Elder Loreseer[/B] 3UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (R)
Whenever an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, instead reveal it and shuffle it into your library.
Whenever you cast an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card, draw a card, then discard a card. "A century of listening to Reste is enough, thanks."
—Lanmilla
2/3
[B]Hymn of Wisdom[/B] 2UU
Instant (U)
Draw two cards. Spellspark—If you had cast another instant or sorcery this turn, draw three cards instead. "Upon vivid melodies, Skyweave shines,
Giving us wisdom on harrowing chimes."
—Sapphire Revels
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls. "Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]Corpse Burning[/B] R
Instant (C)
Corpse Burning deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Whenever a Corvite creature you control dies, you may cast Coup De Grace from your graveyard. "It doesn't matter if you were a Man, God or Hero: your body will fuel the fire on which the world burns."
[B]Corvite Killsmith[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Artificer (C) Remember—1B: Target creature you control gets +1/-1 until the end of turn. Activate this ability only if Corvite Killsmith is in your graveyard. The weapons they made were perfect for killing the enemy, if not for winning the war.
2/2
[B]Dreadpriest of Mountgrim[/B] 1BRR
Creature - Corvite Cleric (R)
Scallomourn creature cards in your hand have inspire X, where X is half their mana costs rounded up. (Half the colorless mana cost and the number of colored mana symbols, rounded up. For example, a card with a mana cost of 3RRR would have inspire 2RR.) "The gods are dead; pray to yourself!"
4/3
[B]Monument to Shattered Gods[/B] 5
Legendary Artifact (MR) 3, Sacrifice two creatures: Destroy target creature.
At the beginning of each end step, if exactly nine creatures died this turn, you win the game. "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
—Percey Shelley, "Ozymandias"
[B]Novice War-Crow[/B] 1R
Creature - Corvite Warrior (C)
Trample
Inspire R(You may cast this spell for it's inspire cost. If you do, it gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield.) When news of the war hit, there was not a soldier in all of Savrasov who did not answer the call to arms. Some just answered it faster than others.
2/1
[B]Tragic Death-Crow[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Warrior (U)
Flying
When Tragic Death-Crow dies, you may pay B. If you do, target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn.
Inspire 1R
2/2
[B]Trueblood Slaying[/B] 1B
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature that was turned face up this turn.
Draw a card. "Their shells and facades may be fragile, but their true form bleeds a prettier color."
—Karis, of Flight Indigo
[B]Noxious Bloom[/B] 3B
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender 1B: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Target player loses 2 life. Some harvesters with particularly potent toxins are taken away from their role in processing and instead relegated to furthering the war effort.
4/1
[B]Cannibalistic Harvester[/B] 1G
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender
Whenever another Illikum creature dies, put a +1/+1 counters on Cannibalistic Harvester. The Illika believe that in consuming their ancestors, they bring themselves closer to their god. Some Illika have become so fanatical that they will only eat the remains of ancestors.
1/3
[B]A Tale of Strength[/B] 3R
Creature - Lorespun Warrior (C)
First strike, haste
When A Tale of Strength dies, target opponent draws a card. "Ah... Reste, I've heard that one at least one thousand times..."
—Lanmilla the Proud
4/1[b]
[B]A Tale of Valor[/B] 2W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (C)
Defender
When A Tale of Valor dies, target opponent draws a card. "Do you remember, Lanmila, when we held our own against one hundred of the greatest warriors in all of Wesbereq?"
—Reste the Blind
2/5
[B]Blind Aggression[/B] 1R
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. If it has defender, it loses defender until end of turn. "Stand back, Lanmilla, I can't see where I'm swinging!"
—Reste, the Blind
[B]Retirement[/B] 2W
Enchantment — Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block, and its activated abilities can't be activated. 2RR: Destroy Retirement. Any player may activate this ability. "He likes to think of it as an extended vacation."
—Lanmilla, the Proud
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls. "Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]The Tragedy of Iskun Pass[/B] 1W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (U) XR, Sacrifice The Tragedy of Iskun Pass: The Tragedy of Iskun Pass deals X damage to target creature. That creature's controll gains X life. The Corvite asked Reste to help man the Dread Legion. A short story later, and he had the perfect volunteer.
2/2
[B]Vit the Immovable[/B] 2WW
Legendary Creature - Lorespun Soldier (R)
Defender
Vit the Immovable can block an additional creature.
When Vit dies, target opponent gains 10 life. "Without Vit, I would have died at Iskun."
—Reste
3/6
[B]Bishop of the Bleak Arsenal[/B] WBB
Creature - Scallomourn Cleric (R)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls blocks or becomes blocked, you may remove all counters from it. If two or more counters were removed in this way, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. "Your armaments are dross! Your faith is ashes! Your souls are dust!"
2/2
[B]Drassikull Ascendancy[/B] RW
Enchantment (U)
Tap an untapped creature you control: Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
Tap three untapped creatures you control: Aggravate damage dealt to target player this turn by 1. (If damage would be dealt to that player this turn, that much damage plus 1 is dealt instead.) "We cannot escape our rage, so we must rage more sublimely than the cacophony that created this world."
—Kynti Deadbone, bishop of Fort Gevnizar
[B]Dyvzol, Scourge of the Hollows[/B] 2BR
Legendary Creature - Scallomourn Berserker (R)
At end of combat on your turn, if Dyvzol Scourge of the Hollows attacked this combat and two or more creatures died this combat, untap all creatures that attacked this combat. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. Drassikull theologians speak of him as the new God of Inescapability.
3/3
[B]Mace-Guard of Pryjia[/B] 2WB
Creature - Scallomourn Soldier (C)
Lifelink
Backswing 1 (Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to that creature's controller. Whenever this creature deals damage to a player except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to target creature that player controls.) Any army attempting to invade Pryjia would discover that its walls, its weapons, and its soldiers have all the hardness - and pity - of marble.
2/3
[B]Sharp-Tongued Partisan[/B] R
Creature - Scallomourn Scout (C) T: Sharp-Tongued Partisan deals 1 damage to target blocking or blocked creature. "If that's what you call 'fighting', it would be a mercy if I just cut you down myself. My friends would do worse."
1/1
[B]POST DIRECTORY[/B]
[B]CROSSROADS OF THE LEGION
[/B]
Lanmilla awoke suddenly, roused by nightmares. For weeks now, her dreams had been speaking to her, whispering of dark times to come. She sat up and reflected, but the remnants of her nightmare kept her thoughts muddled. To relax, she reached for her talisman, a shard of obsidian glass she had acquired during one of her hunting trips. Over the past few weeks, when Lanmilla had a nightmare like this, she had carved the shard, etching runes of uncertain meaning into both sides. Her hands relieved her mind of its burden, transferring the nightmare into the stone, or so it felt.
Today, though, Lanmilla simply traced the runes with her nail. Delicately, so as not to disturb her handiwork, she followed the shapes over and over. She must have done it a hundred times since she "completed" the shard last week. It felt complete, at least. Where before her fingers knew exactly how to move, the precise shapes to etch into the stone, now they felt only uncertainty. Lanmilla shuddered as she finished tracing one side of the shard, and flipped it to the other.
The giantess stood, still clutching the stone. Today she and her mate were to receive a visitor. Catilus, the Mage, one of the skybound Altraitors, was an old friend and ally who first met the couple hundreds of years ago, toward the end of their campaigning. As they aged, the friendship deepened. The list of beings with whom to swap firsthand stories of times long passed is very short, after all.
Lanmilla spent time working around her slumbering partner Reste to prepare their home for Catilus. The yeti-fur blankets were rolled and stored, the boulders strewn around as chairs and tables were rearranged in a pleasing manner, and the various bones and entrails of yesterday's dinner were swiftly disposed of. Lanmilla had re-stoked the hearth and was preparing to boil a yak when Catilus arrived.
"Lanmilla, greetings," said Calitus.
"I hope the journey was smooth," Lanmilla replied, "The clouds look especially foreboding today. And please forgive Reste, I believe he kept himself up all night recounting for the two hundredth time the story of his conquest of the southern coast. Our conquest, really."
Calitus laughed. "I certainly forgive him, the great warrior Reste! And indeed, I found the sky rough today, but don't worry about me. I think by now I know how to handle a little bit of wind." Lanmilla let out a laugh of her own, though she was secretly somewhat embarrassed by Reste's sleeping form.
Calitus took the opportunity to locate a small boulder to sit on, and adjusted his cloak. After a bit he spoke again, "What is new since I've last arrived?"
Lanmilla sighed. Calitus's visits were infrequent, often months or even years apart, and so there was often much to tell. However, this time, there was only one item to discuss.
"Your timing is fortuitous, Catilus. I have been suffering from nightmares the past few weeks. Nightmares unlike any I've ever had." She stared into the flames of her hearth, smelling the yak as it cooked. "I haven't told Reste."
Calitus paused and reflected. "It must be serious then," he said, "for you to withhold it from him."
"Yes. I've been seeing visions of a great calamity. Something far greater, far more terrible than anything ever to touch Wesbereq." Lanmilla shuddered again, and reached for the obsidian shard. She started tracing the etchings again, which calmed her somewhat.
"Lanmilla, I must confess, I have been having similar visions lately," said Calitus, quickly adopting a serious tone. "And I can only assume that there is a reason. For us to both see the end of days?" Catilus trailed off, clearly disturbed by the realization that there might be something to his own recurring nightmares.
Lanmilla pulled the yak off the fire with her free hand and then turned to face Calitus. "Do you think there is really something to this? Are we foreseeing a great catastrophe?"
"That I do not know, but—Ah, Lanmilla, what is that?" Catilus pointed to the obsidian shard Lanmilla held in her hand, clearly intrigued by its strange appearance. "Did you make that?"
"I do not know what it is, to be honest," Lanmilla said, "but yes, I did carve this. I etched whenever I had that nightmare to calm myself."
She lowered her hand and outstretched her fingers. Catilus came close and traced the deep gouges with his hands, feeling the glyphs as much as seeing them. He then took a few steps back to take it all in at once.
After a minute or two, he spoke with excited tones, "Lanmilla, do you know what this is? Do you know what you've made here?" Lanmilla shook her head, and Catilus continued, clearly excited, "This looks just like a gemsong! How did you know to carve this?"
Lanmilla looked taken aback. She had no idea how she had known to carve what she did, and she told Catilus so. As far as she was concerned, those etchings sprung from her subconscious right onto the shard. As for what they meant, she was completely oblivious.
Catilus sat down again, and thought. The words were unfamiliar to him, like nothing he had ever seen before. However, there was no mistaking it — Lanmilla had crafted a gemsong! Practically minuscule, perhaps six stanzas long, but the form resembled that of the greatest stanzas of the Ruby Verse. How did she know? Lanmilla had never seen the writing of the Altraitors before, and certainly had never seen any of the gemsongs, though she had heard of them.
Calitus watched Lanmilla tend to her yak dinner with a new fire in his eyes. He had to study this song. This obsidian song, a stone reserved for elegies of the dead, weighed hard on his mind. If it truly was a gemsong, what could it say?
"Lanmilla," said Catilus, breaking the silence, "I know this may be a lot to ask of you, but you must allow me to study that shard. I think it may hold answers about to the nightmares we've both been having."
"I was hoping that you would say something like that, Catilus. Please, do whatever you need. I just want these nightmares to stop." She turned to him and gingerly set the stone down on the ground. "But please, take care of it."
Catilus bowed. "Of course, friend. I wouldn't dare treat it poorly."
As Catilus took a step toward the monstrous slab of obsidian, Reste stirred from his deep sleep. Catilus couldn't help but laugh.
"Smelled the yak, did you, Reste?"
"Hm... Catilus? is that you?" Reste sat up and sniffed around, trying to pick out the odor of his friend from among the yak smell. A few sniffs later, he settled on the right direction to turn his head. "I hope you weren't leaving just yet."
"Unfortunately, Reste, I was. Though, before I go, I have to ask what all of that on your snout is? You look like you're covered in something." Catilus strained his neck to see what was covering his friend's face when Reste sneezed, sending a cloud of yellow-green dust flying all around.
"There have been some weird plants around here lately," said Reste, "Yesterday I finally decided to eat one. It made me sneeze a lot."
"This is why you shouldn't go out without me, Reste!" Lanmilla sounded annoyed with her partner, though realistically she knew that there wasn't much she could do about his curiosity.
Catilus brushed the dust from his cloak and then laughed. "Lanmilla, it was good catching up with you again. Reste, maybe next time you won't sleep through my entire visit!" Catilus laughed as Lanmilla chuckled to herself, and Reste couldn't help but laugh as well.
"When you will be back, Catilus?" Reste leaned forward, sniffing to confirm Catilus's position. "I have a great story to tell you."
"Soon Reste, soon! And I can't want to hear your story," said Catilus. "But now I have to go. Thank you for your hospitality."
The three said their goodbyes, and then Catilus walked to the shard. As it was much too large to be carried normally, Catilus morphed into a form nearly the size of Lanmilla, complete with wings to bring him back to Saromare. After grabbing the talisman he bowed once more, and then spread his wings and was off.
Lanmilla sighed as she divided the yak into portions. She hoped that these nightmares were just that, and not really a prophecy of things to come.
The call had spread throughout Saromare in the form of a short, single verse song-invitation, proliferated through the network of storysingers to every corner of the Cloud Palaces. Many heard the message by word-of-mouth and rumours, but the urgency, the importance of the message, was apparent, even in rough shouts over the hiss of gemforges and gemsmiths worked or the quick words between combat dance sparring sessions.
"On the eve of our ascension,
We must collect on the stone circle,
At the heart of our fare world,
That is in constant fear of falling,
To the empty maw of Damnation."
On the Anniversary of the Rising of Saromare, centuries after the first ascension of the Altraitors, the race gathered on the huge, open forum at the center of Saromare called the Stoneworks. They gathered as they had never gathered before, and the surrounded the raised, circular pedestal at the center of the forum, awaiting the reason for why they had come.
That reason stepped up, wreathed in a heavy, face-concealing cloak that jangled with sapphires and rubies. All went quiet, watching the stranger step onto the pedastal. Behind him followed the Circle of the Artisans.
And then, in the wake of the silence, the stones sang. All around, the stone structures of the Cloud Palaces vibrated, humming a tune from the heart of the Skyweave. They reveberated all around, a crescendo of an unmistakeable sound, unheard for centuries. Every Altraitor stared up, shocked to inaction.
The stranger ripped off his cowl, and Catilus the Mage, centuries old and with the visage of an Altraitor in his prime, stood forward, greeting his people as himself for the first time since his 'death', centuries before.
"My people!" Catilus shouted. "I am Catilus the Mage, and we Altraitors are needed!"
Nobody could reply, far too shocked. Catilus retrieved a staff from his cloak, and tapped the ground, hard. The Stoneworks lurched, the pieces of stone that made up its floor begin to split apart and shift. Altraitors quickly retreated, as a maw opened up into the heart of the clouds themselves. And from the darkness rose a construct of infinitely darker hue, a million shades blacker than the heart of the night. A sword carved from a single piece of jet gemstone, ragged and massive. Upon its words were carved, white as bone, a Gemsong.
The stone pedastal on which Catilus and the Circle stood remained untouched, at the center of a pitch black pit, standing on a pillar that descended into the pit. Behind Catilus, the obsidian sword gleamed.
"This," said Catilus, gesturing to the Gemsong, "is the Obsidian Devastation. A Gemsong that foretells the future, and the spread of Damnation, and the collapse of days."
Worried chatter exploded across the Altraitors, who collected around the rim of the maw. Could he be serious?
"The Skyweave is threatened," Catilus called out, his voice rumbling like the belly of thunderstorms. "Saromare is threatened. We are threatened. We are on the verge, on the tipping point, to either maintain our proud way of life as artists, or return to wandering Damnation, to the mere act of surviving." Catilus paused for a moment, allowing the crowd to take his words in. "And we will not simply survive this calamity, my people. We will prevail!"
The raucous call of approval began in a crowd of young combat dancers, and swept through the crowd like a wave. Soon, all of the Altraitors were unified under the single cause that their returned leader had issued.
"Storysingers," Catilus said, stepping to the edge of the pedastal. "Read the Devastation. Remember it. And know that it will never be."
And he disappeared, over the side into the insatiable pit. There was silence, and then a flurry of activity, as the Circle took control and the Altraitors dissipated in preparation for action.
Somewhere in the crowd stood a Corvite warrior, on his way home from the Illika Colonies in the south. What luck, he thought, to have chosen to pass through Saromare on his way home! He quickly raced away, ears hot with the news of war.
The nightmares were getting worse.
Calitus pondered in the darkness of Saromare's belly, in the heart of a massive and eternal cloud. He was hundreds of stones below the Stoneworks, the largest open forum in the Cloud Palaces. He thought often of the Stoneworks, of the days when he had stood upon that pedastal at its center and led the Altraitor people. It was a place Calitus hoped he would never have to stand upon again, and yet feared that he must.
Before his light-deprieved eyes, images from his dreams formed, far too crisp and detailed for the gruesome subject matter they depicted.
He saw murky green-brown water, full of disease and infection and death, surging forth from full riverbanks and roiling tides and a heartless ocean. He saw the spread of Damnation, the dusty winds carrying emptiness to the edges of inhabitance, collapsing the pillars that held up life and grinding them into a dust that fuelled the growing desert. He saw a calamity that deserved all names - Apocalypse, Armageddon, Cataclysm, the End of Days - and yet accepted none, for while those age-old stories of the end of the world certainly resembled the horror that Calitus envisioned, their scale was nothing in comparison.
Calitus rose. He had lived in the dark under-tunnels of Saromare for centuries, the only constant in a life of shifting faces, identities, temporary homes and friends, and he knew how to navigate them from only memory and touch. He shuffled to the end of a long corridor. Tripping slightly, Calitus lurched forward and shot out a hand to support himself.
A bad move. The moment his bare hand touched the side of the corridor, he threw himself backwards. No, no! And then, like the times before when he had accidentally touched Saromare's stones, he wept. Because what was the state of the world, when he couldn't even touch the stones he had shaped, in that most glorious moment at the Beginning, without writhing in pain?
The stones were crying. They rang with a song of sadness, a symphonious peal of the stones' vibrations that resonated deep in the diaphragm of all who heard it. Something disturbing was occuring in the Skyweave, which manifested itself often through the stones of Saromare. The stones had always sung - unheard by the Altraitors populace, though, and only Calitus had the ability to make their song audible to the masses - but in recent days, their songs had grown distressing, like Saromare was sobbing. Calitus had been worried about them for months, and then the visions in his dreams had arrived; and as much as Calitus tried to push those thoughts aside, he couldn't help think they were connected.
He shook his head clear, and looked ahead, to the third piece of puzzle. Despite the pitch blackness, white words blazed in front of him, at the end of the long corridor. They hung suspended in the darkness, brightly illuminated by magic. And around them, a blackness darker than dark collected, in the outline of a sword: the Obsidian Devastation. In reality, it was a single, massive obsidian shard, ragged carved into the shape of a sword, upon which fine white words were inscribed. A Gemsong, carved from the darkest gem reserved only for songs about the dead and gone.
It was a gift from Reste and Lanmila, old (and the true meaning of the word, centuries and centuries old) friends that Calitus visited often. They had had the dreams too. There were too many coincidences: the shared visions of ruin, the crying stones, the Obsidian Devastation. It was as if the lines of fate had conspired to alert them, and whatever message was being communicated, Calitus knew it could not be a good one.
The Obsidian Devastation's very existence was troubling. How could Lanmila have carved a Gemsong? In the centuries that Calitus had known her, she had never shown any affinity for the Skyweave, of which this (and all other Gemsongs) was unmistakeably a child. Something had to be happened, happening in the very heart of the Skyweave, enough for the stones to cry and for a new, prophetic Gemsong to be created.
The six-stanza long song sang of great decay and the death of all things; in short, everything that complied with the nightmares he had dreamt. It was undeniable, unavoidable, unignorable: the world's death was coming. He knew it now, the disarrayed thoughts from too many sources assembling and slotting into place. It was apparent, and drawing nearer: the time of war and blood that the song sang of. Damnation was spreading, and the nothingness that came from nothingness would reach out and become everything.
Action was necessary. He would have to break a promise made to himself long ago, but such were the necessary casualties in the face of the world's end.
More to come.
Obsidian Nightmares by Megiddo
The Call to War and The Crying Stones by Lanxal
The only thing I've picked up so far is a desire for individual advancement. And that's certainly not a universal thing on our team anyway. (Considering we have the two ancient lizardpeople)
Actually, I just don't see anything really.
EDIT: I just realized that everyone but me has red as a color. That seems sorta significant.
We could very much be banding together because of a common enemy. But since we have three rival teams, that is significantly more difficult to sketch out.
Well the Illika to have a place in a warlike faction. Warlike groups make corpses, which they can feed to the Illika for lack of a better use. Basically, the more fed the Illika spawners and networks get, the faster they reproduce, and can very rapidly infest.
Still, that is hardly a rapid enough process to satisfy any fast acting war effort. (However they do reproduce startlingly quickly.)
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Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
I actually don't see any sort of alliance here unless there is a common enemy. If there is, though, I think it's not a huge logical leap to forming a united front.
DL: So basically, we kill stuff, you eat it? And then infest the lands we're trying to invade? Interesting.
I also want to mention that my old guys would need a compelling reason to come down from their mountain.
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Can we have Megiddo removed from the forum forever please?
i'm pretty sure i can find your ***** online within 3 minutes
This is quite a puzzle. We need to have a purpose strong enough to bring the old pair out of retirement...
If we're going for an opposition coalition, lets discuss what we all detest/fear most. (As our races.)
As this pertains to the Illika, I can't think of anything. But I think that is alright, because the Illika don't need to be here for anything more than to consume. It's a symbiotic relationship.
Maybe seers/holy people/wizards/sages/whatever from all of the tribes have received a simultaneous premonition of utter ruin that can only be stopped if we ally together?
Maybe seers/holy people/wizards/sages/whatever from all of the tribes have received a simultaneous premonition of utter ruin that can only be stopped if we ally together?
It's reasonable, but we seem particularly... un-righteous.
I'm tempted to let some of the other groups mold their designs to see if any are particularly offensive.
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Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
I mean, we can totally do it, but it doesn't seem to line up fully. We have a lot going toward that, but we also have the hedonistic suicidal crows and the devouring plants with know real moral code.
What I think would be best is if another faction seems to have the goal of domination. What we all get from red is the desire NOT to be dominated. Think of it as a rebellion.
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Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
EDIT: Provided that we have that kind of thing. DL seems to think not.
The Verbines would pick up on a "disturbance in the Force" fairly easily, the Scallomourn have plenty of clerics to have visions about the fate of their gods befalling them, Reste and Lanmila might conceivably get a very specific bad feeling, the Illika could all envision a future with no life left to consume/infest, the Corvites would be deathly afraid of being painfully wiped out without getting the chance to enjoy their short lives, and maybe there are some Altraitors who can't create any any art anymore except that depicts future devastation.
If we're discussing what we hate, Altraitors hate: 1) Mindless, uncreative, purposeless races, and 2) Invaders/people seeking to attack us/acts hostily. Altraitors are quick to action so they'll readily enter the fray if there's a reasonable cause.
If necessary, I can get Calitus to come out of hiding and lead his people to war for... some cause that he deems necessary. That's also what I'd go with if we decide on the "Collective Sight of Destruction" line, since Calitus is badass. :/
Also, perhaps we could shape the world map so we're all geographically close? If we do, Altraitors live in a big-ass desert, so we could use it as a sort of obstacle that had separated our team from the other races of the world, giving us another reason to band together.
The Verbines would pick up on a "disturbance in the Force" fairly easily, the Scallomourn have plenty of clerics to have visions about the fate of their gods befalling them, Reste and Lanmila might conceivably get a very specific bad feeling, the Illika could all envision a future with no life left to consume/infest, the Corvites would be deathly afraid of being painfully wiped out without getting the chance to enjoy their short lives, and maybe there are some Altraitors who can't create any any art anymore except that depicts future devastation.
Alright, I'll work with that. So our goal is to stop the coming war, or at least win it and ensure our survival. I really like that last bit with the Altraitors.
Lets run with it.
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Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
If you guys enjoy the idea of Altraitors art foretelling the devastation to come, I'm willing to go with it, with some changes (and definitely get Calitus all up in there). Maybe:
A hidden Gemsong, deep in the stone heart of the Saromare, where Calitus the Mage makes his home when he's not leading double lives above. A pitch black sword made from a single, massive, carved piece of obsidian, with the words written on its blade: the Obsidian Devastation. Foretelling the Last Act that unravels the Skyweave and sunders Saromare. The Devastation's song is seeping into the Skyweave; Altraitor mages are beginning to see their art going awry, and soon, they will all know of death to come. It grows nearer, the time of war and blood that the song sings of. Damnation will spread and collapse the world, and the nothingness that came from nothingness will become everything.
Or something along the lines. Other races can have similarly epic prophecies.
If we do run with this, the Altraitors are definitely going to have to be the ones who reach out.
I like that prophetic bit so far, and I'll try working on one for the Illika.
The watcher's beady eye clenched fast and would not open. The other Illika questioned this, not understanding it's plight. Finally, a vessel reached out to try to communicate with it. With a burning stil, the vessel retracted it's tentacle nearly immediately. It was almost as if the watcher was trying to kill it.
Desperately desiring to understand the watcher's plight and it's implications, a group of vessels converged, detached the watcher, and carried it to the Codex to be examined.
Upon connecting with the Codex, the Codex writed in pain as it took in the message. The Codex saw a terrible, empty wasteland, with no life visible aside from a few shriveled Illika. The Illika eventually collapsed, starved and weary, and the Codex could feel this was the end of it's race. The Codex knew it would never let this happen.
Also, perhaps we could shape the world map so we're all geographically close? If we do, Altraitors live in a big-ass desert, so we could use it as a sort of obstacle that had separated our team from the other races of the world, giving us another reason to band together.
Or something along the lines. Other races can have similarly epic prophecies.
The clergy and laity of Fort Gevnizar used to say that their Highgrave, Bishop Kynti Deadbone, feared nothing.
That was until the night Kynti awoke from a fitful sleep in a cold sweat, with blood seeping from the corners of his eyes and ringing the bases of his horns in dark stains.
His was no ordinary nightmare. In it his own consciousness, proud and mighty though he though himself, was swallowed up in the vastness of the events he witnessed. Colossal marble images of the gods appeared over the sand-gray horizon, and were pocked one by one with ashen gouges and molten cracks.
He witnessed the gods fall, as he was sure they did eighty thousand years in the past.
And then the cities fell. Mountains uprooted themselves, flung themselves into the skie, and exploded into dust and the very fragments of dust, or were dragged into gaping pits that yawned beneath them and subsumed into the blackness of the bottomless sand.
Not the terrors of the battlefield, of great beasts, of death itself could compare to the inexorable fear Kynti felt upon waking.
He missed his first temple service in thirty-two years as bishop, locked in his cell, weeping inconsolably.
So this is what we have to work on. After a quick scan through our team composition I'm not really sure where we should take this. Any ideas?
UR Altraitors - Lanxal
BR Corvite - Zelderex
GB Illika - Doom Lich
RW Reste and Lanmila - Megiddo
RWB Scallomourn - void_nothing
RWU Verbine - FuriouslySleepingIdea
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
[B]BESTIARY[/B]
[B]SOLDIERS OF SALVATION
[/B]
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Desert Twirler[/B] 2R
Creature - Altraitor Warrior (C)
Whenever Desert Twirler becomes blocked, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
"Dance upon the dunes of Damnation,
And from the nothingness, create."
—Stanza 1, Opal Teachings
2/2
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Altraitor Historian[/B] 2UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (C)
When Altraitor Historian enters the battlefield, return target instant or sorcery with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand.
"Here is the secret of our past and our present and our future: that which is created never truly dies."
—Galfoera, the Storysinger Artisan
2/2
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Novice War-Crow[/B] 1R
Creature - Corvite Warrior (C)
Trample
Inspire R (You may cast this spell for it's inspire cost. If you do, it gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield.)
When news of the war hit, there was not a soldier in all of Savrasov who did not answer the call to arms. Some just answered it faster than others.
2/1
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Corvite Killsmith[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Artificer (C)
Remember—1B: Target creature you control gets +1/-1 until the end of turn. Activate this ability only if Corvite Killsmith is in your graveyard.
The weapons they made were perfect for killing the enemy, if not for winning the war.
2/2
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Noxious Bloom[/B] 3B
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender
1B: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Target player loses 2 life.
Some harvesters with particularly potent toxins are taken away from their role in processing and instead relegated to furthering the war effort.
4/1
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Cannibalistic Harvester[/B] 1G
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender
Whenever another Illikum creature dies, put a +1/+1 counters on Cannibalistic Harvester.
The Illika believe that in consuming their ancestors, they bring themselves closer to their god. Some Illika have become so fanatical that they will only eat the remains of ancestors.
1/3
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]A Tale of Strength[/B] 3R
Creature - Lorespun Warrior (C)
First strike, haste
When A Tale of Strength dies, target opponent draws a card.
"Ah... Reste, I've heard that one at least one thousand times..."
—Lanmilla the Proud
4/1
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]A Tale of Valor[/B] 2W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (C)
Defender
When A Tale of Valor dies, target opponent draws a card.
"Do you remember, Lanmila, when we held our own against one hundred of the greatest warriors in all of Wesbereq?"
—Reste the Blind
2/5
[B]Warrior[/B]
[B]Mace-Guard of Pryjia[/B] 2WB
Creature - Scallomourn Soldier (C)
Lifelink
Backswing 1 (Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to that creature's controller. Whenever this creature deals damage to a player except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to target creature that player controls.)
Any army attempting to invade Pryjia would discover that its walls, its weapons, and its soldiers have all the hardness - and pity - of marble.
2/3
[B]Townsfolk[/B]
[B]Sharp-Tongued Partisan[/B] R
Creature - Scallomourn Scout (C)
T: Sharp-Tongued Partisan deals 1 damage to target blocking or blocked creature.
"If that's what you call 'fighting', it would be a mercy if I just cut you down myself. My friends would do worse."
1/1
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Hymn of Wisdom [/B]2UU
Instant (U)
Draw two cards.
Spellspark—If you had cast another instant or sorcery this turn, draw three cards instead.
"Upon vivid melodies, Skyweave shines,
Giving us wisdom on harrowing chimes."
—Sapphire Revels
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Dance on Fireswept Dunes[/B] 3RR
Instant (R)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +2/+0, first strike and must be blocked if able.
"We have survived these sands for generations. If any blood is to be spilled on these dunes, it will be at the end of our blades."
—Vinrai, Combat Dancer Artisan
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Corpse Burning[/B] R
Instant (C)
Corpse Burning deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Whenever a Corvite creature you control dies, you may cast Coup De Grace from your graveyard.
"It doesn't matter if you were a Man, God or Hero: your body will fuel the fire on which the world burns."
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Trueblood Slaying[/B] 1B
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature that was turned face up this turn.
Draw a card.
"Their shells and facades may be fragile, but their true form bleeds a prettier color."
—Karis, of Flight Indigo
None Yet.
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Retirement[/B] 2W
Enchantment — Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block, and its activated abilities can't be activated.
2RR: Destroy Retirement. Any player may activate this ability.
"He likes to think of it as an extended vacation."
—Lanmilla, the Proud
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Blind Aggression[/B] 1R
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. If it has defender, it loses defender until end of turn.
"Stand back, Lanmilla, I can't see where I'm swinging!"
—Reste, the Blind
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Drassikull Ascendancy[/B] RW
Enchantment (U)
Tap an untapped creature you control: Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
Tap three untapped creatures you control: Aggravate damage dealt to target player this turn by 1. (If damage would be dealt to that player this turn, that much damage plus 1 is dealt instead.)
"We cannot escape our rage, so we must rage more sublimely than the cacophony that created this world."
—Kynti Deadbone, bishop of Fort Gevnizar
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Bishop of the Bleak Arsenal[/B] WBB
Creature - Scallomourn Cleric (R)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls blocks or becomes blocked, you may remove all counters from it. If two or more counters were removed in this way, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
"Your armaments are dross! Your faith is ashes! Your souls are dust!"
2/2
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls.
"Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Elder Loreseer[/B] 3UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (R)
Whenever an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, instead reveal it and shuffle it into your library.
Whenever you cast an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card, draw a card, then discard a card.
"A century of listening to Reste is enough, thanks."
—Lanmilla
2/3
[B]Task 2[/B]
[B]Dreadpriest of Mountgrim[/B] 1BRR
Creature - Corvite Cleric (R)
Scallomourn creature cards in your hand have inspire X, where X is half their mana costs rounded up. (Half the colorless mana cost and the number of colored mana symbols, rounded up. For example, a card with a mana cost of 3RRR would have inspire 2RR.)
"The gods are dead; pray to yourself!"
4/3
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Tragic Death-Crow[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Warrior (U)
Flying
When Tragic Death-Crow dies, you may pay B. If you do, target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn.
Inspire 1R
2/2
[B]Archenemy[/B]
[B]Monument to Shattered Gods[/B] 5
Legendary Artifact (MR)
3, Sacrifice two creatures: Destroy target creature.
At the beginning of each end step, if exactly nine creatures died this turn, you win the game.
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
—Percey Shelley, "Ozymandias"
None Yet.
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls.
"Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]The Tragedy of Iskun Pass[/B] 1W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (U)
XR, Sacrifice The Tragedy of Iskun Pass: The Tragedy of Iskun Pass deals X damage to target creature. That creature's controll gains X life.
The Corvite asked Reste to help man the Dread Legion. A short story later, and he had the perfect volunteer.
2/2
[B]Archenemy[/B]
[B]Vit the Immovable[/B] 2WW
Legendary Creature - Lorespun Soldier (R)
Defender
Vit the Immovable can block an additional creature.
When Vit dies, target opponent gains 10 life.
"Without Vit, I would have died at Iskun."
—Reste
3/6
[B]Task 1[/B]
[B]Rootmaul Rapparee[/B] BRG
Creature - Scallomourn Illika Barbarian (R)
Whenever Rootmaul Rapparee blocks or becomes blocked by a creature with greater power, than creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
Whenever Rootmaul Rapparee blocks or becomes blocked, put a +1/+1 counter on it at end of combat.
Just insane enough to take tactical advice from his hammer.
2/2
[B]Task 3[/B]
[B]Adamant Tragedians[/B] 4B
Creature - Scallomourn Soldier (U)
1R: Adamant Tragedians gets +X/+1 until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures that died this turn.
Brygyai of Mountgrim once wrote a script on the death of his nemesis requiring a cast of sixty hammer-bearers.
4/2
[B]Archenemy[/B]
[B]Dyvzol, Scourge of the Hollows[/B] 2BR
Legendary Creature - Scallomourn Berserker (R)
At end of combat on your turn, if Dyvzol Scourge of the Hollows attacked this combat and two or more creatures died this combat, untap all creatures that attacked this combat. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
Drassikull theologians speak of him as the new God of Inescapability.
3/3
[B]Altraitor Historian[/B] 2UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (C)
When Altraitor Historian enters the battlefield, return target instant or sorcery with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand.
"Here is the secret of our past and our present and our future: that which is created never truly dies."
—Galfoera, the Storysinger Artisan
2/2
[B]Dance on Fireswept Dunes[/B] 3RR
Instant (R)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +2/+0, first strike and must be blocked if able.
"We have survived these sands for generations. If any blood is to be spilled on these dunes, it will be at the end of our blades."
—Vinrai, Combat Dancer Artisan
[B]Desert Twirler[/B] 2R
Creature - Altraitor Warrior (C)
Whenever Desert Twirler becomes blocked, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
"Dance upon the dunes of Damnation,
And from the nothingness, create."
—Stanza 1, Opal Teachings
2/2
[B]Elder Loreseer[/B] 3UU
Creature - Altraitor Wizard (R)
Whenever an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, instead reveal it and shuffle it into your library.
Whenever you cast an instant, sorcery or Lorespun card, draw a card, then discard a card.
"A century of listening to Reste is enough, thanks."
—Lanmilla
2/3
[B]Hymn of Wisdom[/B] 2UU
Instant (U)
Draw two cards.
Spellspark—If you had cast another instant or sorcery this turn, draw three cards instead.
"Upon vivid melodies, Skyweave shines,
Giving us wisdom on harrowing chimes."
—Sapphire Revels
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls.
"Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]Corpse Burning[/B] R
Instant (C)
Corpse Burning deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Whenever a Corvite creature you control dies, you may cast Coup De Grace from your graveyard.
"It doesn't matter if you were a Man, God or Hero: your body will fuel the fire on which the world burns."
[B]Corvite Killsmith[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Artificer (C)
Remember—1B: Target creature you control gets +1/-1 until the end of turn. Activate this ability only if Corvite Killsmith is in your graveyard.
The weapons they made were perfect for killing the enemy, if not for winning the war.
2/2
[B]Dreadpriest of Mountgrim[/B] 1BRR
Creature - Corvite Cleric (R)
Scallomourn creature cards in your hand have inspire X, where X is half their mana costs rounded up. (Half the colorless mana cost and the number of colored mana symbols, rounded up. For example, a card with a mana cost of 3RRR would have inspire 2RR.)
"The gods are dead; pray to yourself!"
4/3
[B]Monument to Shattered Gods[/B] 5
Legendary Artifact (MR)
3, Sacrifice two creatures: Destroy target creature.
At the beginning of each end step, if exactly nine creatures died this turn, you win the game.
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
—Percey Shelley, "Ozymandias"
[B]Novice War-Crow[/B] 1R
Creature - Corvite Warrior (C)
Trample
Inspire R (You may cast this spell for it's inspire cost. If you do, it gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield.)
When news of the war hit, there was not a soldier in all of Savrasov who did not answer the call to arms. Some just answered it faster than others.
2/1
[B]Tragic Death-Crow[/B] 2B
Creature - Corvite Warrior (U)
Flying
When Tragic Death-Crow dies, you may pay B. If you do, target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn.
Inspire 1R
2/2
[B]Trueblood Slaying[/B] 1B
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature that was turned face up this turn.
Draw a card.
"Their shells and facades may be fragile, but their true form bleeds a prettier color."
—Karis, of Flight Indigo
[B]Noxious Bloom[/B] 3B
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender
1B: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Target player loses 2 life.
Some harvesters with particularly potent toxins are taken away from their role in processing and instead relegated to furthering the war effort.
4/1
[B]Cannibalistic Harvester[/B] 1G
Creature - Illikum (C)
Defender
Whenever another Illikum creature dies, put a +1/+1 counters on Cannibalistic Harvester.
The Illika believe that in consuming their ancestors, they bring themselves closer to their god. Some Illika have become so fanatical that they will only eat the remains of ancestors.
1/3
[B]A Tale of Strength[/B] 3R
Creature - Lorespun Warrior (C)
First strike, haste
When A Tale of Strength dies, target opponent draws a card.
"Ah... Reste, I've heard that one at least one thousand times..."
—Lanmilla the Proud
4/1[b]
[B]A Tale of Valor[/B] 2W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (C)
Defender
When A Tale of Valor dies, target opponent draws a card.
"Do you remember, Lanmila, when we held our own against one hundred of the greatest warriors in all of Wesbereq?"
—Reste the Blind
2/5
[B]Blind Aggression[/B] 1R
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. If it has defender, it loses defender until end of turn.
"Stand back, Lanmilla, I can't see where I'm swinging!"
—Reste, the Blind
[B]Retirement[/B] 2W
Enchantment — Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block, and its activated abilities can't be activated.
2RR: Destroy Retirement. Any player may activate this ability.
"He likes to think of it as an extended vacation."
—Lanmilla, the Proud
[B]Stanzas of Warsong[/B] 2RW
Creature - Lorespun Altraitor Warrior (U)
Stanzas of Warsong must be blocked if able.
When Stanzas of Warsong dies, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature target opponent controls.
"Write this down, old friend. I can tell you Altraitor war stories from even before your time."
—Reste, to Calitus
4/4
[B]The Tragedy of Iskun Pass[/B] 1W
Creature - Lorespun Soldier (U)
XR, Sacrifice The Tragedy of Iskun Pass: The Tragedy of Iskun Pass deals X damage to target creature. That creature's controll gains X life.
The Corvite asked Reste to help man the Dread Legion. A short story later, and he had the perfect volunteer.
2/2
[B]Vit the Immovable[/B] 2WW
Legendary Creature - Lorespun Soldier (R)
Defender
Vit the Immovable can block an additional creature.
When Vit dies, target opponent gains 10 life.
"Without Vit, I would have died at Iskun."
—Reste
3/6
[B]Bishop of the Bleak Arsenal[/B] WBB
Creature - Scallomourn Cleric (R)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls blocks or becomes blocked, you may remove all counters from it. If two or more counters were removed in this way, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
"Your armaments are dross! Your faith is ashes! Your souls are dust!"
2/2
[B]Drassikull Ascendancy[/B] RW
Enchantment (U)
Tap an untapped creature you control: Target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
Tap three untapped creatures you control: Aggravate damage dealt to target player this turn by 1. (If damage would be dealt to that player this turn, that much damage plus 1 is dealt instead.)
"We cannot escape our rage, so we must rage more sublimely than the cacophony that created this world."
—Kynti Deadbone, bishop of Fort Gevnizar
[B]Dyvzol, Scourge of the Hollows[/B] 2BR
Legendary Creature - Scallomourn Berserker (R)
At end of combat on your turn, if Dyvzol Scourge of the Hollows attacked this combat and two or more creatures died this combat, untap all creatures that attacked this combat. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
Drassikull theologians speak of him as the new God of Inescapability.
3/3
[B]Mace-Guard of Pryjia[/B] 2WB
Creature - Scallomourn Soldier (C)
Lifelink
Backswing 1 (Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to that creature's controller. Whenever this creature deals damage to a player except by backswing, it deals 1 damage to target creature that player controls.)
Any army attempting to invade Pryjia would discover that its walls, its weapons, and its soldiers have all the hardness - and pity - of marble.
2/3
[B]Sharp-Tongued Partisan[/B] R
Creature - Scallomourn Scout (C)
T: Sharp-Tongued Partisan deals 1 damage to target blocking or blocked creature.
"If that's what you call 'fighting', it would be a mercy if I just cut you down myself. My friends would do worse."
1/1
[B]CROSSROADS OF THE LEGION
[/B]
[B]ENTRIES[/B]
Altraitors - Lanxal
Corvite - Zelderex
Illika - Doom Lich
Reste and Lanmila - Megiddo
Scallomourn - void_nothing
Altraitors - Lanxal
Corvite - Zelderex
Illika - Doom Lich
Reste and Lanmila - Megiddo
Scallomourn - void_nothing
Altraitors - Lanxal
Corvite - Zelderex
Illika - Doom Lich
Reste and Lanmila - Megiddo
Scallomourn - void_nothing
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 1
Round 2
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
[B]REVIEWS[/B]
Lanxal
Zelderex
Doom Lich
Megiddo
void_nothing
Lanxal
Zelderex
Doom Lich
Megiddo
void_nothing
Round 1
Round 2
Round 1
Round 2
Round 1
Round 1
Round 2
Round 1
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Today, though, Lanmilla simply traced the runes with her nail. Delicately, so as not to disturb her handiwork, she followed the shapes over and over. She must have done it a hundred times since she "completed" the shard last week. It felt complete, at least. Where before her fingers knew exactly how to move, the precise shapes to etch into the stone, now they felt only uncertainty. Lanmilla shuddered as she finished tracing one side of the shard, and flipped it to the other.
The giantess stood, still clutching the stone. Today she and her mate were to receive a visitor. Catilus, the Mage, one of the skybound Altraitors, was an old friend and ally who first met the couple hundreds of years ago, toward the end of their campaigning. As they aged, the friendship deepened. The list of beings with whom to swap firsthand stories of times long passed is very short, after all.
Lanmilla spent time working around her slumbering partner Reste to prepare their home for Catilus. The yeti-fur blankets were rolled and stored, the boulders strewn around as chairs and tables were rearranged in a pleasing manner, and the various bones and entrails of yesterday's dinner were swiftly disposed of. Lanmilla had re-stoked the hearth and was preparing to boil a yak when Catilus arrived.
"Lanmilla, greetings," said Calitus.
"I hope the journey was smooth," Lanmilla replied, "The clouds look especially foreboding today. And please forgive Reste, I believe he kept himself up all night recounting for the two hundredth time the story of his conquest of the southern coast. Our conquest, really."
Calitus laughed. "I certainly forgive him, the great warrior Reste! And indeed, I found the sky rough today, but don't worry about me. I think by now I know how to handle a little bit of wind." Lanmilla let out a laugh of her own, though she was secretly somewhat embarrassed by Reste's sleeping form.
Calitus took the opportunity to locate a small boulder to sit on, and adjusted his cloak. After a bit he spoke again, "What is new since I've last arrived?"
Lanmilla sighed. Calitus's visits were infrequent, often months or even years apart, and so there was often much to tell. However, this time, there was only one item to discuss.
"Your timing is fortuitous, Catilus. I have been suffering from nightmares the past few weeks. Nightmares unlike any I've ever had." She stared into the flames of her hearth, smelling the yak as it cooked. "I haven't told Reste."
Calitus paused and reflected. "It must be serious then," he said, "for you to withhold it from him."
"Yes. I've been seeing visions of a great calamity. Something far greater, far more terrible than anything ever to touch Wesbereq." Lanmilla shuddered again, and reached for the obsidian shard. She started tracing the etchings again, which calmed her somewhat.
"Lanmilla, I must confess, I have been having similar visions lately," said Calitus, quickly adopting a serious tone. "And I can only assume that there is a reason. For us to both see the end of days?" Catilus trailed off, clearly disturbed by the realization that there might be something to his own recurring nightmares.
Lanmilla pulled the yak off the fire with her free hand and then turned to face Calitus. "Do you think there is really something to this? Are we foreseeing a great catastrophe?"
"That I do not know, but—Ah, Lanmilla, what is that?" Catilus pointed to the obsidian shard Lanmilla held in her hand, clearly intrigued by its strange appearance. "Did you make that?"
"I do not know what it is, to be honest," Lanmilla said, "but yes, I did carve this. I etched whenever I had that nightmare to calm myself."
She lowered her hand and outstretched her fingers. Catilus came close and traced the deep gouges with his hands, feeling the glyphs as much as seeing them. He then took a few steps back to take it all in at once.
After a minute or two, he spoke with excited tones, "Lanmilla, do you know what this is? Do you know what you've made here?" Lanmilla shook her head, and Catilus continued, clearly excited, "This looks just like a gemsong! How did you know to carve this?"
Lanmilla looked taken aback. She had no idea how she had known to carve what she did, and she told Catilus so. As far as she was concerned, those etchings sprung from her subconscious right onto the shard. As for what they meant, she was completely oblivious.
Catilus sat down again, and thought. The words were unfamiliar to him, like nothing he had ever seen before. However, there was no mistaking it — Lanmilla had crafted a gemsong! Practically minuscule, perhaps six stanzas long, but the form resembled that of the greatest stanzas of the Ruby Verse. How did she know? Lanmilla had never seen the writing of the Altraitors before, and certainly had never seen any of the gemsongs, though she had heard of them.
Calitus watched Lanmilla tend to her yak dinner with a new fire in his eyes. He had to study this song. This obsidian song, a stone reserved for elegies of the dead, weighed hard on his mind. If it truly was a gemsong, what could it say?
"Lanmilla," said Catilus, breaking the silence, "I know this may be a lot to ask of you, but you must allow me to study that shard. I think it may hold answers about to the nightmares we've both been having."
"I was hoping that you would say something like that, Catilus. Please, do whatever you need. I just want these nightmares to stop." She turned to him and gingerly set the stone down on the ground. "But please, take care of it."
Catilus bowed. "Of course, friend. I wouldn't dare treat it poorly."
As Catilus took a step toward the monstrous slab of obsidian, Reste stirred from his deep sleep. Catilus couldn't help but laugh.
"Smelled the yak, did you, Reste?"
"Hm... Catilus? is that you?" Reste sat up and sniffed around, trying to pick out the odor of his friend from among the yak smell. A few sniffs later, he settled on the right direction to turn his head. "I hope you weren't leaving just yet."
"Unfortunately, Reste, I was. Though, before I go, I have to ask what all of that on your snout is? You look like you're covered in something." Catilus strained his neck to see what was covering his friend's face when Reste sneezed, sending a cloud of yellow-green dust flying all around.
"There have been some weird plants around here lately," said Reste, "Yesterday I finally decided to eat one. It made me sneeze a lot."
"This is why you shouldn't go out without me, Reste!" Lanmilla sounded annoyed with her partner, though realistically she knew that there wasn't much she could do about his curiosity.
Catilus brushed the dust from his cloak and then laughed. "Lanmilla, it was good catching up with you again. Reste, maybe next time you won't sleep through my entire visit!" Catilus laughed as Lanmilla chuckled to herself, and Reste couldn't help but laugh as well.
"When you will be back, Catilus?" Reste leaned forward, sniffing to confirm Catilus's position. "I have a great story to tell you."
"Soon Reste, soon! And I can't want to hear your story," said Catilus. "But now I have to go. Thank you for your hospitality."
The three said their goodbyes, and then Catilus walked to the shard. As it was much too large to be carried normally, Catilus morphed into a form nearly the size of Lanmilla, complete with wings to bring him back to Saromare. After grabbing the talisman he bowed once more, and then spread his wings and was off.
Lanmilla sighed as she divided the yak into portions. She hoped that these nightmares were just that, and not really a prophecy of things to come.
"On the eve of our ascension,
We must collect on the stone circle,
At the heart of our fare world,
That is in constant fear of falling,
To the empty maw of Damnation."
On the Anniversary of the Rising of Saromare, centuries after the first ascension of the Altraitors, the race gathered on the huge, open forum at the center of Saromare called the Stoneworks. They gathered as they had never gathered before, and the surrounded the raised, circular pedestal at the center of the forum, awaiting the reason for why they had come.
That reason stepped up, wreathed in a heavy, face-concealing cloak that jangled with sapphires and rubies. All went quiet, watching the stranger step onto the pedastal. Behind him followed the Circle of the Artisans.
And then, in the wake of the silence, the stones sang. All around, the stone structures of the Cloud Palaces vibrated, humming a tune from the heart of the Skyweave. They reveberated all around, a crescendo of an unmistakeable sound, unheard for centuries. Every Altraitor stared up, shocked to inaction.
The stranger ripped off his cowl, and Catilus the Mage, centuries old and with the visage of an Altraitor in his prime, stood forward, greeting his people as himself for the first time since his 'death', centuries before.
"My people!" Catilus shouted. "I am Catilus the Mage, and we Altraitors are needed!"
Nobody could reply, far too shocked. Catilus retrieved a staff from his cloak, and tapped the ground, hard. The Stoneworks lurched, the pieces of stone that made up its floor begin to split apart and shift. Altraitors quickly retreated, as a maw opened up into the heart of the clouds themselves. And from the darkness rose a construct of infinitely darker hue, a million shades blacker than the heart of the night. A sword carved from a single piece of jet gemstone, ragged and massive. Upon its words were carved, white as bone, a Gemsong.
The stone pedastal on which Catilus and the Circle stood remained untouched, at the center of a pitch black pit, standing on a pillar that descended into the pit. Behind Catilus, the obsidian sword gleamed.
"This," said Catilus, gesturing to the Gemsong, "is the Obsidian Devastation. A Gemsong that foretells the future, and the spread of Damnation, and the collapse of days."
Worried chatter exploded across the Altraitors, who collected around the rim of the maw. Could he be serious?
"The Skyweave is threatened," Catilus called out, his voice rumbling like the belly of thunderstorms. "Saromare is threatened. We are threatened. We are on the verge, on the tipping point, to either maintain our proud way of life as artists, or return to wandering Damnation, to the mere act of surviving." Catilus paused for a moment, allowing the crowd to take his words in. "And we will not simply survive this calamity, my people. We will prevail!"
The raucous call of approval began in a crowd of young combat dancers, and swept through the crowd like a wave. Soon, all of the Altraitors were unified under the single cause that their returned leader had issued.
"Storysingers," Catilus said, stepping to the edge of the pedastal. "Read the Devastation. Remember it. And know that it will never be."
And he disappeared, over the side into the insatiable pit. There was silence, and then a flurry of activity, as the Circle took control and the Altraitors dissipated in preparation for action.
Somewhere in the crowd stood a Corvite warrior, on his way home from the Illika Colonies in the south. What luck, he thought, to have chosen to pass through Saromare on his way home! He quickly raced away, ears hot with the news of war.
Calitus pondered in the darkness of Saromare's belly, in the heart of a massive and eternal cloud. He was hundreds of stones below the Stoneworks, the largest open forum in the Cloud Palaces. He thought often of the Stoneworks, of the days when he had stood upon that pedastal at its center and led the Altraitor people. It was a place Calitus hoped he would never have to stand upon again, and yet feared that he must.
Before his light-deprieved eyes, images from his dreams formed, far too crisp and detailed for the gruesome subject matter they depicted.
He saw murky green-brown water, full of disease and infection and death, surging forth from full riverbanks and roiling tides and a heartless ocean. He saw the spread of Damnation, the dusty winds carrying emptiness to the edges of inhabitance, collapsing the pillars that held up life and grinding them into a dust that fuelled the growing desert. He saw a calamity that deserved all names - Apocalypse, Armageddon, Cataclysm, the End of Days - and yet accepted none, for while those age-old stories of the end of the world certainly resembled the horror that Calitus envisioned, their scale was nothing in comparison.
Calitus rose. He had lived in the dark under-tunnels of Saromare for centuries, the only constant in a life of shifting faces, identities, temporary homes and friends, and he knew how to navigate them from only memory and touch. He shuffled to the end of a long corridor. Tripping slightly, Calitus lurched forward and shot out a hand to support himself.
A bad move. The moment his bare hand touched the side of the corridor, he threw himself backwards. No, no! And then, like the times before when he had accidentally touched Saromare's stones, he wept. Because what was the state of the world, when he couldn't even touch the stones he had shaped, in that most glorious moment at the Beginning, without writhing in pain?
The stones were crying. They rang with a song of sadness, a symphonious peal of the stones' vibrations that resonated deep in the diaphragm of all who heard it. Something disturbing was occuring in the Skyweave, which manifested itself often through the stones of Saromare. The stones had always sung - unheard by the Altraitors populace, though, and only Calitus had the ability to make their song audible to the masses - but in recent days, their songs had grown distressing, like Saromare was sobbing. Calitus had been worried about them for months, and then the visions in his dreams had arrived; and as much as Calitus tried to push those thoughts aside, he couldn't help think they were connected.
He shook his head clear, and looked ahead, to the third piece of puzzle. Despite the pitch blackness, white words blazed in front of him, at the end of the long corridor. They hung suspended in the darkness, brightly illuminated by magic. And around them, a blackness darker than dark collected, in the outline of a sword: the Obsidian Devastation. In reality, it was a single, massive obsidian shard, ragged carved into the shape of a sword, upon which fine white words were inscribed. A Gemsong, carved from the darkest gem reserved only for songs about the dead and gone.
It was a gift from Reste and Lanmila, old (and the true meaning of the word, centuries and centuries old) friends that Calitus visited often. They had had the dreams too. There were too many coincidences: the shared visions of ruin, the crying stones, the Obsidian Devastation. It was as if the lines of fate had conspired to alert them, and whatever message was being communicated, Calitus knew it could not be a good one.
The Obsidian Devastation's very existence was troubling. How could Lanmila have carved a Gemsong? In the centuries that Calitus had known her, she had never shown any affinity for the Skyweave, of which this (and all other Gemsongs) was unmistakeably a child. Something had to be happened, happening in the very heart of the Skyweave, enough for the stones to cry and for a new, prophetic Gemsong to be created.
The six-stanza long song sang of great decay and the death of all things; in short, everything that complied with the nightmares he had dreamt. It was undeniable, unavoidable, unignorable: the world's death was coming. He knew it now, the disarrayed thoughts from too many sources assembling and slotting into place. It was apparent, and drawing nearer: the time of war and blood that the song sang of. Damnation was spreading, and the nothingness that came from nothingness would reach out and become everything.
Action was necessary. He would have to break a promise made to himself long ago, but such were the necessary casualties in the face of the world's end.
More to come.
Obsidian Nightmares by Megiddo
The Call to War and The Crying Stones by Lanxal
Actually, I just don't see anything really.
EDIT: I just realized that everyone but me has red as a color. That seems sorta significant.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Yep. I actually just editted that into my post. I'm the token green man. Like the token black man but incapable of dunking.
I suppose I'm just the "You have to put him somewhere" race. I'm just your pretty pet siege plants.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
The Illika could be co-opted into that, I suppose, though I'm not sure why or how.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Still, that is hardly a rapid enough process to satisfy any fast acting war effort. (However they do reproduce startlingly quickly.)
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
DL: So basically, we kill stuff, you eat it? And then infest the lands we're trying to invade? Interesting.
I also want to mention that my old guys would need a compelling reason to come down from their mountain.
What the hell have all of us agreed to conquer, and why?
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
If we're going for an opposition coalition, lets discuss what we all detest/fear most. (As our races.)
As this pertains to the Illika, I can't think of anything. But I think that is alright, because the Illika don't need to be here for anything more than to consume. It's a symbiotic relationship.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
It's reasonable, but we seem particularly... un-righteous.
I'm tempted to let some of the other groups mold their designs to see if any are particularly offensive.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
EDIT: Provided that we have that kind of thing. DL seems to think not.
EDIT 2: Doom lich appears to be correct.
What I think would be best is if another faction seems to have the goal of domination. What we all get from red is the desire NOT to be dominated. Think of it as a rebellion.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
The Verbines would pick up on a "disturbance in the Force" fairly easily, the Scallomourn have plenty of clerics to have visions about the fate of their gods befalling them, Reste and Lanmila might conceivably get a very specific bad feeling, the Illika could all envision a future with no life left to consume/infest, the Corvites would be deathly afraid of being painfully wiped out without getting the chance to enjoy their short lives, and maybe there are some Altraitors who can't create any any art anymore except that depicts future devastation.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
If necessary, I can get Calitus to come out of hiding and lead his people to war for... some cause that he deems necessary. That's also what I'd go with if we decide on the "Collective Sight of Destruction" line, since Calitus is badass. :/
Also, perhaps we could shape the world map so we're all geographically close? If we do, Altraitors live in a big-ass desert, so we could use it as a sort of obstacle that had separated our team from the other races of the world, giving us another reason to band together.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Alright, I'll work with that. So our goal is to stop the coming war, or at least win it and ensure our survival. I really like that last bit with the Altraitors.
Lets run with it.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Gonna go out on a limb and say "not Megiddo's lizard seniors".
Probably not us, too, until we see others making moves.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
A hidden Gemsong, deep in the stone heart of the Saromare, where Calitus the Mage makes his home when he's not leading double lives above. A pitch black sword made from a single, massive, carved piece of obsidian, with the words written on its blade: the Obsidian Devastation. Foretelling the Last Act that unravels the Skyweave and sunders Saromare. The Devastation's song is seeping into the Skyweave; Altraitor mages are beginning to see their art going awry, and soon, they will all know of death to come. It grows nearer, the time of war and blood that the song sings of. Damnation will spread and collapse the world, and the nothingness that came from nothingness will become everything.
Or something along the lines. Other races can have similarly epic prophecies.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I like that prophetic bit so far, and I'll try working on one for the Illika.
The watcher's beady eye clenched fast and would not open. The other Illika questioned this, not understanding it's plight. Finally, a vessel reached out to try to communicate with it. With a burning stil, the vessel retracted it's tentacle nearly immediately. It was almost as if the watcher was trying to kill it.
Desperately desiring to understand the watcher's plight and it's implications, a group of vessels converged, detached the watcher, and carried it to the Codex to be examined.
Upon connecting with the Codex, the Codex writed in pain as it took in the message. The Codex saw a terrible, empty wasteland, with no life visible aside from a few shriveled Illika. The Illika eventually collapsed, starved and weary, and the Codex could feel this was the end of it's race. The Codex knew it would never let this happen.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
We could have it that the Altraitos and Scallomourns were collecting allies separately, and then joined together to form one coalition.
And what do people think of the geographic thing I was suggesting earlier?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
The clergy and laity of Fort Gevnizar used to say that their Highgrave, Bishop Kynti Deadbone, feared nothing.
That was until the night Kynti awoke from a fitful sleep in a cold sweat, with blood seeping from the corners of his eyes and ringing the bases of his horns in dark stains.
His was no ordinary nightmare. In it his own consciousness, proud and mighty though he though himself, was swallowed up in the vastness of the events he witnessed. Colossal marble images of the gods appeared over the sand-gray horizon, and were pocked one by one with ashen gouges and molten cracks.
He witnessed the gods fall, as he was sure they did eighty thousand years in the past.
And then the cities fell. Mountains uprooted themselves, flung themselves into the skie, and exploded into dust and the very fragments of dust, or were dragged into gaping pits that yawned beneath them and subsumed into the blackness of the bottomless sand.
Not the terrors of the battlefield, of great beasts, of death itself could compare to the inexorable fear Kynti felt upon waking.
He missed his first temple service in thirty-two years as bishop, locked in his cell, weeping inconsolably.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝