Equines of the Steel Realms

Posted on March 14, 2024 in Steel-Realms

(Part of the Bestiary) There are several sub species of equines/horses that are found in the Steel Realms.

Rite of Disgorgement

Posted on February 26, 2024 in Steel-Realms

The Rites of the Unholy Trio are powerful rituals that use the Divine power of Connexion and specific knowledge to evince an effect. The Black Heralds of Everdark are known to invoke the Rite of Disgorgement when leading raiding parties.

This is the primary power that uses the power of The Deeping to twist time and space in transporting raiding parties from the Dark Lands to the lands of light, casting them out under the night sky near an entrance The Deeping or a breach point they have sacrificed that is near it. The rite is invoked again to take raiding parties home to the soothing Dark Lands with captives and goods.

This rite leaves a visible mark on the targets, usually consisting of a splotch that appears vaguely to be a worm or serpent leaving a cave mouth.

Repeated Use: The Rite of Disgorgement also seems to weaken the rock and soil around its anchor point when used repeatedly on the same area and the Orrish spend weeks ensuring that their forces can escape using the same ritual, back to the Dark Lands, if needed.

Shadren (Nurthling “faith of the shadows”)

Posted on February 20, 2024 in Steel-Realms

The Shadren is an evolving faith, founded by the Nurth of the Steel Realms but has spread outside their society to some of the lesser and oppressed Orrish. It is primarily focused around “family” stratification. Their faith is a simple one, oriented around the family and survival. The mother is both she who gives sustenance and protects the young, and walks her children from the grave into the depths and the Cave of Shadows – were their spirits dance to the music of their clan on sacred nights, and consume the sacred offerings she shares with them – and they are but shadows and cannot hurt forever more. The Nurth understand on some primitive level all that has befallen them, and that their faith is one that is symbolic and constructed for them alone. It is based on a search for allies and a means of survival over a thousand years or more.

The modern age is heavily defined by the clash of faiths in the “Affray of Darkness and Light” in which it seeks to remain apart from.

The Nurth are bound to their 6-limbed Black Mother (Gloombringer) who has her helping hand in every crib and womb, the Blind Father (an animalistic aspect of The Lord of Beasts – Darupet) who casts about blindly in his endless hunt to feed the people, and sometimes the son – the “desired one” (Sun Stealer) who enforces his parents will and teaches the people how to fight in anger (this is bad, but necessary – he is the ‘Son Stealer’ in this regard, a corruption of the original idea). Also sacred to them is the great demon Tizre’al – Lord of the Flies – a servant of Mog Creoch; his clergy are known as the Grub Masters, and able to summon a Devouring Spawn of Mog Creoch.

These three are the cycle of life to the Nurth. Lastly they believe The Deeping to be a manifestation of divine will of Sun Stealer – though he takes Nurth and teaches them to be angry, he blunts the anger of intruders with The Deeping, causing confusion on their enemies.

Grub Masters: The Nurth have a saying – “All will be food” – this means nothing is wasted. Those that die are food for those that live. The Grub Masters are servants to the great demon Tiz’real – Lord of the Flies – a servant of Mog Creoch.

They also serve su_permalink id=”17072″]Umbravoep[/su_permalink] the ‘Night Flier’ – and tend to the bat caves that produce guano for fertilizer in the fungus caves. The grub farms of maggots that produce flies and other insects help feed the bats.

Offerings

“Light Swallower” – Offering [major]: Sacrifice a living, sentient creature as part of rite + 1 essence (temp; returns in 1 day). Requires consumption of Nurth blood to function as well – One use of Channel PER to be used in the next 24 hours. Any use of the radiance spark to make light has a 50% chance of being “Dark Light” – swallower of light and darkness. Illumination is washed out gray/yellow/sepia, and this will do [hard] damage equal to the Conviction of the ceremony leader to any who brought forth the light or darkness for a number of rounds = Power Level each round the illumination effect in active (doing the same damage to ceremony leader once as well). Otherwise, it will shower the area in a spark shower. Each mote (2-12) in the shower has the chance (Conviction check) to dispel any light or darkness based effect it touches, and aggravate every wound those touched have, no matter how small (VGR to resist).

Promise of the Afterlife

It conforms to the standard Afterlife processes and manifestation.

The Cave of Shadows: The mother is both she who gives sustenance and protects the young, and walks her children from the grave into the depths and the Cave of Shadows – were their spirits dance in front of a warm fire to the music of their clan on sacred nights, and consume the sacred offerings the gods share with them – and they are but fluid shadows without form imperfections and cannot hurt forever more.