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Azigarath

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Example 1a

World: A standard earthly place, consisting of several small continents, massive oceans, and constant mighty winds.

Main environment: None; a typical world of mixed climates depending on the regions, however, mighty winds dominate most landscapes. It consists of many forms of life as seen on Earth, however, it lacks flying animals due to the great winds that punish the world’s surface.

Almost all plants and trees are flexible to avoid snapping from the mighty winds, and most seeds have “wings” to travel great distances in the winds to grow elsewhere. The leaves of trees are thin and flexible, flapping in the winds and always making noise.

Most animals that “fly” actually glide along with the wind. As such, birds are larger, stronger, and glide instead of flying great distances. Mountains are small and smooth, eroded over many millennia by the wind and rain.

Most fish have elongated fins, allowing them to travel above water considerable distances. Even larger marine predators, such as sharks and manta rays, are narrower than seen on Earth and also have greatly extended fins, allowing them to glide after jumping out water to catch prey.

Since the great winds can send ships beyond the horizon, the people generally do not venture out to sea, and instead use their boats on lakes and rivers.

Setting: A standard ancient place of mighty civilisations that collapsed long ago, ripped asunder by inner-city wars, the great ruins breaking away bit by bit by wind erosion, or buried beneath dirt and sand. Now, in the rubble of the old realm, younger civilisations begin to emerge as little shadows of their former glory. They prefer to make their conical homes in large holes, to get as much shelter as possible from the wind. Almost no-one is found along beaches or deserts for obvious reasons (sand flying into the face). Almost all animals have thick, long eyelashes to better protect the eyes.

18-Jan-2014 03:44:35 - Last edited on 23-Mar-2014 22:03:33 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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22

Notable creatures: Besides ordinary animals like mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, there are huge translucent scorpions that can glide in the direction of the wind, as their legs can unfold wing-like projection. The scorpions are man-sized and have greatly extended tails and pincers. Such scorpions are found almost everywhere as long as it’s not winter. These vile oversized bugs are called “dust devils.”

There are a few types of giant flightless birds, measuring up to nine feet tall with powerful legs and huge talons. These giant bipedal birds have short but thick beaks, large heads, and tiny, rather useless wings. They are simply called big birds.

The most fearful of all creatures are the great sea serpents, colossal snakes that can grow over thirty feet long, who occasionally slither on land for prey. Despite their large size, these serpents are very quick.

Notes on notable creatures: The inhabitants sometimes hunt big birds and sea serpents but it is a dangerous hunt. They are afraid of dust devils, which are capable of poisoning and killing most people they encounter.

Notable sentient inhabitants: Humans are the only sentient land species. There is an aquatic race of Naga-like creatures, people covered with skin like a shark but who grow feathers on the top of the head, back, tail and back of the arms, who, instead of having legs, have the lower body of a snake, and a snake’s head that ends in a pointy nose.

Their heads have natural hoods that can greatly expand to make themselves look bigger, but if they expand it during heavy winds, their heads will be thrown back and potentially sprain the neck. The Naga can swim very well, and younglings can glide in the wind due to their small size. An adult Naga can grow up to sixteen feet long, head to the tip of the tail, though it is the snake body that gives them the most length.

18-Jan-2014 03:44:39 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2014 06:06:31 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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23

Notes on sentient inhabitants: The Naga only seem to come onto land to forge bronze weapons and armour, as bronze does not rust. Underwater they only use variously shaped daggers, because longer weapons are difficult to move underwater.

The humans can make bronze armour and weapons in the fashion on Ancient Greece, but some prefer to wear shirts of mail made of iron. As such, bronze and iron weapons and armour are used extensively by many of the humans, from the colder north to the deserts, from the exotic tropics to the windy plains. The humans have also tamed horses and farm animals.

Dominant race: The humans have the knowledge to make the best armour and weapons available, however, the Naga are physically larger and stronger. Nevertheless, the Naga cannot hope to defeat their human rivals nor keep up in the arms race.

Notes on dominant races: Humans and Naga generally do not fight each other in large numbers, though the Naga are open to stealing and getting into petty conflicts with fishermen. Naga are known to kill big birds, dust devils and sea serpents as well. Like humans, the Naga are often fighting amongst themselves in blood feuds, though most of the action takes place underwater.

The high winds of this world has blown away much of the good farmland remaining, hindering food supplies for the humans.

Military: Humans are often at war with each other, with the Naga open to taking what is left behind. Humans fight primarily with spears, javelins and swords, on foot and horseback. Naga tactics are usually to attack from the shoreline, lakes or rivers, slithering out to hurl small boulders at enemies, then to quickly slither back into the waters to avoid trouble. To counter this, humans prefer to use javelins while on horseback, to better chase retreating Naga.

18-Jan-2014 03:44:43 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2014 06:06:48 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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(placeholder)(add new category/categories here):
(placeholder example) Naga history: The Naga have been around for a long time, having seen the ancient civilisations rise and fall. Naga seem to breathe air and are used to fresh and salt water. During those ancient times, Naga avoided humans, who were of greater population than now. But, now that humans are separated and sparse, they make easier targets, and Naga have even driven away entire fishing villages. The great winds and Naga are pushing humans farther away from the waters.

(placeholder) (add another new category here if you want):
(placeholder example) The Ancients: The Ancients seem to have been a coalition of many tribes and peoples, who built great highways, temples, pyramids, aqueducts, and sewers. The Ancients’ accomplishments collapsed at an alarmingly fast rate, just a few years.

How an empire spanning a few continents faltered in so short a time is often blamed on Naga, who were believed to have filled their bellies with mass quantities of salt water, only to blast it over suitable farmland and prevent young plants from growing. With less food, riots, rebellions and mass violence became commonplace and the empire was no more.

Protagonist: None; third-person storytelling will manage the setting.

All unnecessary categories deleted from Word.

Heroes: Samaelos, Yenaelos, Baebos, Braakaos and Kilios are five human knights, who each wear a hauberk, and over the hauberk they wear bronze breastplates with backplates. They wear bronze greathelms with Y-shaped openings on the front, and are armed with swords, daggers, and spears. Their spears are long and thin, usable as light lances and javelins. Their horses are strong but mostly used for transport rather than fighting. When sand or dirt is blown about heavier than usual, the knights wear veils beneath their helms, and everyone else wears scarves, veils and hoods.

18-Jan-2014 03:44:47 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2014 06:07:05 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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Each knight has one squire, the squires are Kelios, Gravos, Grifthas, Lukasos, and Bledaos. The squires have some training and skill in combat but lack experience, and mostly just carry the knights’ supplies. The squires ride ponies.

Accompanying the nobles is an old priest, who knows where many ruins are, and acts as a guide for the knights, who is armed with a greatsword, staff, and mouth full of prayer. He wears a full-length, loose-fitting robe with an attached hood. Their journey will take them to a beach that holds the submerged ruins of lost, ancient knowledge.

Opposing force: Karlakan, chieftain of a Naga tribe, and his Naga. Karlakan is a very large Naga, and earned respect of his fellows by killing a sea serpent by himself. Though he would never admit it, the sea serpent was already dead, floating through the water lifelessly in such a way that it looked alive, and Karlakan quickly cut its brains open while a flotilla of Naga happened to be in the distance, impressing them.

Plot: In a far-off world, the descendants of a destroyed empire must regain their lost wisdom if they ever wish to revive their Golden Age. A group of adventurous knights are on a quest to find lost knowledge that they believe will resurrect their dying race, who are unable to grow enough food for everyone, wind creating mass dustbowls for many parts of the inhabited land. The knights must travel to a submerged ruin, which they believe has hidden away somewhere relics of great power and knowledge.

However, living in the ruins is a large tribe of Naga, who have already attacked a village several times and killed dozens of villagers. The knights must finish their quest by conquering their greatest weakness that is their adversary’s greatest advantage, water.

The story... (insert story here)

18-Jan-2014 03:44:51 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2014 06:07:17 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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Example 1b

It was a sunny, hot day on the beach. As always, high winds pummeled the landscape, shifting sand into the waves and sending screens of golden sprinkles flying to and fro. Despite high tide, ruins could be seen poking out the ocean’s surface. The ruins were quite far out into the open ocean, and probably inaccessible even at low tide.

The ruins suffered from water and wind erosion, but the remains of statues, towers and aqueducts were visible amongst the waves dashing about. The most remarkable feature was a gigantic head, carved from granite, lying on its side and larger than anything else was, so huge that the waters only covered half of it. It must have been part of quite a giant statue, but not even it could best Mother Nature. The statues possessed magical powers of some sort, as the statues glowed every few seconds on the eyes.

Up the beach were a series of rolling hills covered with grass and shrubs, and later, trees. The closer to the horizon, the more trees grew.

A small Naga with dark blue skin had slithered atop the head, having climbed the severed neck area and then sliding herself like a slug to the top. She shook her head to shake the water off herself, and then making a big yawn, revealing her fangs to the world just as a flurry of sand flew into her mouth. She coughed and looked angry, natural hood expanding, catching the wind and causing her to balance and fall on her book. Instead of getting angry, she decided to bask in the sun, back facing the beach, hood open to act as a shield against the flying sand.

The Naga wore a special kind of tough fibrous seaweed, woven together to form clothing, making the wearer look like something in-between a snake and a plant at times. Another Naga appeared, popping her head out the water, an adult.

“Ninli, are you hiding up there again? You’re supposed to be down with us picking clamshells.” The adult Naga called, presumably the little Naga’s mother, whom had cream-colored skin.

18-Jan-2014 03:44:56 - Last edited on 23-Mar-2014 22:04:05 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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27

The Naga race had booming, metallic voices.
Ninli, the small Naga basking in the sun, remained silent and did not budge from her headstone.

“Hey! Are you coming down or what? You won’t get anything to eat just sitting up there not doing anything. You need to stop acting like a child and learn to get food on your own, too, it’s time to start growing up. We need to teach you these things so that you are ready for life.”

Well, Ninli grabbed her flappy projection that was her hood and pulled it over her heads to cover her reptilian-shaped ears. The Naga mother made an angry face, hood opening, tongue slithering in and out, and she disappeared into the water without saying anything. The young Naga just did not want to do any work today, preferring to enjoy the hot sun.

Ninli snuggled into a foetal position, tail curling around herself and the end acting as a rudimentary pillow, finding it hard to be comfortable on the decapitated chunk of rock, but the warmth put her to sleep. She awoke a while later, yawning, fangs sliding in and out. She was surprised to notice that the sky was dark.

“What? I did*’t sleep that long!” Ninli cried with a high-pitched squeaky voice.

She looked up into the sky, seeing the sun, as bright as always, yet the sky was black but cast no shadow anywhere. Ninli smacked her palms onto the stonework, unraveling herself instantly and going into a crawling position, as if ready to pounce on someone and rip him to pieces, tail slithering on the spot. She began wondering what was going on. The wind and the waves paused for some reason, sand falling down and waves looking like frozen glass, and a deathly silence arose.

On a section of beach, sand erupted as magical energies appeared, swirling and spiralling in a fantastic plethora of colours.

18-Jan-2014 03:45:01 - Last edited on 23-Mar-2014 05:24:31 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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A bolt of lightning struck the energies in a flash of enough light to blind a civilisation, but the lightning did not disappear, as if it zigzagged down from the black clouds and upon striking the magic, paused.

Ninli watched the lightning bolt be in place, from the clouds down to the sand and the swirling energies, lightning bolt still bright and reflecting off her smooth skin and eyes. The electricity was still active, visibly zapping about yet unable to escape the bolt of lightning itself.

The little Naga had no idea what was going on, and watched as a mirror formed where the moving magical stuff was. The mirror was spinning very quickly, bending every now and then. The odd disc deformed for a moment, and then the wind and waves returned, and immediately the bolt of lightning struck the magic, sending red-hot sparks flying everywhere. The sand near the magic turned to glass and many shards flew everywhere.

Ninli covered her ears from the sound and dove into the stonework, thinking that it was water and just hurting herself. As the lightning disappeared and echoed throughout the beach, the mirror turned into a portal, a vortex visible within the spinning disc. A creature slowly and gently stepped out, weird tapering limbs tapping against the glass-transformed sand, making clicking sounds.

A shiny red Shifter appeared, going out the portal, looking around as if lost. The Shifter hopped over the glass, feet stabbing into the sand. It looked down, lifting its feet one by one, perplexed by what it stood on.

As the Shifter stood there stupidly, many more monsters ran out the portal, trampling the Shifter into the sand. The new monsters ran out in all directions aggressively, Ravagers clawing the sand for some reason, a few Brawlers pushing their trunks into the sand, and a Spinner diving into the sand and being covered by it.

18-Jan-2014 03:45:06 - Last edited on 23-Mar-2014 05:25:09 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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29

From the rolling hills, a Naga slithered his way towards the beach, face bloody. He was slithering as fast as he could, but Naga moved rather slowly on land.

“Quick, don’t let him get away!” Someone yelled, a mounted knight trotting after the Naga.

The horseman leaned to the side, sword in hand, ready to behead the snake, but the Naga turned around and jumped into the horse’s shins, causing it to topple and hurling the knight into the ground. The knight landed on his front and the Naga continued his escape towards the water. Four other knights and five mounted squires were in the distance, trotting to the scene, a priest running on foot behind.

“Hey, you!” The Naga yelled at Ninli, getting her attention. “Go get me some help!”

Ninli immediately obeyed, sliding down the curvature of the granite head and plopping clumsily into the water.

The unhorsed knight and his horse got up, both slightly dazed. The knight saw the Naga slithering away, and as he reached the top of the small hill, the Brawlers appeared, trampling the Naga and beating him senseless within seconds, Defilers hurling spines from beyond the hill to rain down from above.

The unhorsed knight did not bother picking up his lance; he unsheathed his kopis, unslung his shield, and ran towards the fray, mail clinging, helm and scabbard bouncing, mail-clad feet kicking sand everywhere, and spines falling around him. The Brawlers noticed the knight and charged him.

“Kilios, wait for us, you’ll get yourself killed!” One of the knights yelled, getting his horse to a gallop; the other horses galloped after him, leaving their priest far behind shouting about something.

The pests, having never seen horses before, were briefly confused and hesitated. Kilios ran into a Brawler’s fist but surprisingly managed to slash his kopis downward into the Brawler’s trunk and sliced it open.

18-Jan-2014 03:47:21 - Last edited on 23-Mar-2014 05:25:39 by Azigarath

Azigarath

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30

The other two Brawlers attacked him; Kilios did not dodge, but simply dove into the midsection of a Brawler, avoiding the punches. Face-to-face with the Brawler, Kilios lunged his kopis several times into the beast’s belly while head-butting it with his helm.

Kilios ducked and slashed the monster’s leg off, and after it fell, he continued into the horde of pests; Shifters surrounded him and nibbled at him with their little limbs. Kilios simply slashed the Shifters’ limbs off with quick strikes, but also kicked, punched with the rim of his shield, and head-butted with his helm.

The galloping horses reached the fight; the knights couched their lances and drove them into targets. A Brawler received a lance into the trunk and it continued through his body and stuck out his back; the knight let go of the lance to withdraw a straight sword to fight in the melee. The other knights skewered Ravagers, Defilers and a Torcher. Once a couched lance pierced a body, it was discarded and swords were in hand. The horses continued galloping and trampled the smaller pests to the ground, horses’ spiked hooves clapping and digging into their flesh.

Once momentum stopped, swords still swiping to and fro, the knights rode off to the sides to avoid trouble. One Brawler grabbed a horse’s legs and tripped it, pummelling its neck and then striking a knight in the helm. The knight fell to his back and a Ravager jumped atop him, dragging its claws down his front but was unable to rip apart the mail.

Torchers and Defilers released their projectiles, aiming for the unarmoured horses to bring the knights down. One knight, knowing his horse was about to panic and run off due to the Torcher’s fireballs, jumped off his sword, landing atop a Splatter, which he bounced off of and flew through the air wondering what had happened, dropping his sword.

18-Jan-2014 03:47:27 - Last edited on 23-Mar-2014 05:26:03 by Azigarath

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