The Celestial Vergence

[Hyperion]

Beyond the Third Fractal, past the archons of Madness, lies the shores of a universe. Risen from the chaotic darkness, a celestial machine pulls aloft three planes of existence. Upon these plains, driven onward through space by two timeless spires, live three races. Those that would live forever, those that could live forever, and the ones that are doomed to relentless Finity. All are composed of thought, and through their minds their bodies are forged. Each creature different from the rest, each with a purpose defined by appearance.

Beyond their worlds connected by ground and sky, are two machines: An engine of light, and a weapon of the night. Driven onward by a celestial disk, they cycle through Overlight and Underdark. The Sun and the Moon.

The guardians of this reality are varied, and reminiscient of other worlds. They have a God, a Deity, all powerful and omniscient. However, he is as indifferent as he is interested in his creation. As a result, his children are not persecuted for their morality, but only for their rebellion. Good and evil, light and dark, are necessary for the wheel to turn, and both entities are part of the Heavens. However, there are the Fallen, who would have had the cosmos ruled by Good, and not by Law. They have been cast away.

Amonst the cavernous underworld of the Firmament that seperates the overside and the underside, lie other imprisoned beings, deemed harmful to all creation. They lie in wait, and gnaw at the bars that keep them from the rest of the Underdark...


(Unwritten version: img405.imageshack.us/img405/1299/vergence.png)

Video of the Celestial wheel at work (When it is day in Overlight, it is night in Underdark):
img137.imageshack.us/img137/4673/celestialarc.mp4

What I was trying to create here is a combination between the Ptolemaic view of the universe and Christian theology (Without the benevolent part, or anything that happened on Earth). Expect to see many battles between Immortal beings, with the mortals caught in the crossfire.

As an added thing, since all beings are defined by their thought (Especially the immortals), I will let you, the reader, create an Archangel. Be creative!

[Fleetlord Atvar]

Besides this forum, I think this is the most awesome thing you've made.

[Hyperion]

Thanks!

So what do you want to hear about first? The Celestial Arch? The Spire of Rise? The Harvesters?

Anything on the map is fair game.

[Fleetlord Atvar]

For something completely random and awesome sounding...
The Manic Prisons.

[Darth Grievi]

First.... WOW!

Second... does that say Trow? Eastern Underside?

[Hyperion]

DG- Yes, they are Trow, the peaceful, yet weaker counterparts to the Western Trolls, who constantly burrow upward, seeking to wage war against the Overlight.

Now for the Manic Prisons:

Envision an endless sea of slimy tongues, shrouded in boiling mist and darkness. Collossal islands of discarded, shifting teeth move slowly through this vast, writing mass. Now envision this landscape as an army of bodies, their skin covered with chattering mouths, each one reciting beautiful, beautiful lies with each breath, in raspy, almost pleasing yet unearthy voice.

Welcome to the Manic Prisons.

The beings described above are called Tricksters, and were entrapped for the crime of unravelling existence since before the celestial disk was even put into place. Their true bodies have never seen the sun, never touched the moon, or even encountered another being that exhibited morality. The concept is alien to them, as it was first created after they were cast away into the depths of the Underdark. They know only the Sea of Chaos, their original home, and the shore to the Third Fractal. They have dealt only with Reapers, Harvesters, and most notably, The God of Vergence.
They delight in practical jokes and mischief, their primary goal being to mold existence into something interesting and ever changing. Unfortunately for the mortal races, they cannot grasp the ideas of mortality and the difference between good and evil. Their "jokes" could range from having your dead relative dance in front of you, to tearing apart your soul, and have the seperate parts have in-depth philisophical discussions. However, they do have the gift of speechcraft, being able to convince most entities of their innocence and playful nature.
They have been known to manifest in the Overlight while the Celestial Weapon is overhead, and all the angels that watch over the mortal planes have gone to the Underdark. They are able to capture vessels, such as animals and madmen, who then can wreck havoc upon the witless creatures they encounter. However, having their true forms trapped deep under the planes, they cannot truly create the vast amount of chaos that they are capable of.

The thing they find the most funny and entertaining in the Mortal and almost Immortal races is that of their fear of death. They absolutely love tormenting a mortal soul to the point where they no longer fear death, but wish for it instead. They themselves, however, know fear more than others, being the only Immortal cowards. They absolutely are panic stricken by the darker minds of the Reapers, who, even by the Trickster's definitions, are undoubtely not fun at all...



What do you wish to learn about next?

[Fleetlord Atvar]

Ooh, how about the Bay of Time?

[system32]

the city please.

[Hyperion]

At the edges of reality, there is a point of fracture. A Vergence. It is the veil of the unimaginary. A palpable edge to all the things you thought to be true. It appears at the shores of the world, deep below the surface lands. On one side, a rising fall. On the other, the descending one. There is silence in the center of all things.

Upon the muddy banks, the black waves crash, empty of life or substance. The chaotic sea no longer threatens the engines that keep the Creation aloft. The dark beings that lie within find... other avenues to infiltrate the mortal realms. They dare not touch foot upon the edges of the Underdark. Not anymore.

Immortals made mortal...


Twelve beings entered the True Work at its beginning, during the War of Creation. While the Angels and the Reapers split planes asunder through their conflict, eleven Harvesters crawled up upon the Bay of Time's slimy shores, and sought to manipulate it to their own dark designs. The God stopped them. For the first of two Interventions, He spun the wheel of time, and gave rise to the Celestial cycle; the Sun and the Moon. The light shone upon the abominable intruders, and they were imprisoned by Order. The Reapers were cast away as the World rose above the Sea of Chaos, and interlocked its reality with the veil that marks the shores of time.

Thus, the Mystics were born. Harvesters caught behind masks of permanence, feeding hungrily upon the godlike entities' immortality, and leaving them with nothing but their All-sight. Forced to become the protectors of the Underside, they stalk the blackened lands, chancing on some unlucky Trickster or Fallen that have escaped their respective prisons. Those that have been caught are at best forced back to their dark corners. At worst, the Eleven Masks may not just undo Immortality, they can unravel its existence altogether. Being Harvesters at their corrupted core, they are the few that can actually destroy souls. Forced into their good works, they are not forgiving, or even just. All they need is an excuse to their imprisoners to lash back at the world they sought to end.

img266.imageshack.us/img266/1386/bayoftime.png

The masks are breaking...

[Hyperion]

The deformed souls, the dark figures. They look before them, through the unforgiving motion of the Waters. They see the bustling of mortals before them. At the center of the Archangels' collective gaze. The pinnacle of the Work. They gaze forth, and are angry. They are hungry. And they despair at their failure to cast Creation asunder.

It is the City, home of the Traders. No one dares fight upon the streets sanctified by the Heavens itself. Domes of gold and autumn leaf rise above the populace, glinting in the light of the Celestial Engine. Orbs of power float calmly above the spires of their towers, providing City with all that it could ask for. The Builders and the Architects care not for the gaudy streets, and the Scavengers are not welcome past the silver gates. Despite this, nearly all of Overlight's civilized populace reside in this utopia. But all is not as well as one would think.

There are the beings that plan against this beacon, and wish it undone. Then there are the Razers, whose army marches steadily onward, ready to demolish all that remains of the Mortal power that remained after the War of Fall. The very citizens of City cannot even trust each other. There are the worshippers of other Lords, who prepare vessels and carry out disturbing rituals to release the destructive entities from their prisons.

The political structure of the City is based upon a ruling merchant class, known as the Traders, who facilitate trade between the various corners of Overside. The city straddles the two rivers, which flow in opposite directions. The both originate/end in the Celestial Ocean, the body of water that borders the Wheel of Time. Rumors have it that an immense machine, from before the War of Fall, resides underneath the city, powered by the flow of the reverse rivers.

i45.tinypic.com/332cuwo.jpg

[Hyperion]

The Tower of Fall

As the wheel of time turns, everything must fall unto itself. When the Moon rises, the sun must set. And when all good is gone, Nothingness must not be allowed to reign supreme. The void of creation must be filled. Unfortunately, it is filled with the stuff Harvesters are made of.

It is the fever dream. Upon the Obsidian plane, everything is both wonderful and terrible. It seems a fantastic world, filled with light despite the lack of a sun. It is an angelic place, connected with the divine machine.

But as has been established, The God is not always good. Everything within it is corruptive. It will engulf you, and make you its slave. It is the essence of obsession. It is neccessary to turn the wheel of time.

Behold!

(Original: i47.tinypic.com/344ccug.jpg)

What do you wish to hear about next?