COLONISERS: Season 7!!! (Colonisers of Nemain)

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  • Hum?  Oh.  I've had life shit.  Tryina get a job twice, handling car issues, and I kinda forgot this was still going lmao.  I've gone too far to give up, but i'll need to do some work.

  • I have also had some things to deal with, my entry will be forthcoming this week.
  • Part 1 of 5

    The soul was lost, was caught, it moved through the water trying to escape. Where was it? Who was it? The screams of the others trapped in the water filled its head. The lost one needed to be free from this place. How did she get here?

    That's right in life she had used this place, tapped into i's power to learn and control. Now she was trapped here, below the surface of the oasis never able to escape. It clung to her to stay alive and strong, the people around her fueled it to. All suffered in this place of death just as they suffered in life. This corrupted world assured that even the dead could not escape from the misery it bestowed.

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    It felt like ages she was down there, trapped in the terror of nothingness. Then she felt the terrible god get struck down and exiled from this plane. The wave of pain it caused to the world soul rippled through all in this afterlife. With this ripple came a pause in the suffering, one that the lost soul could use. It collected all of its power, the last that remained of its holy gift stolen from the gods long ago and focused a few words into existence one simple message that could save the Children from wandering once again. It sent the message out using up the last of its power as the pain came back.
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    It is dying, Ire, the ninth book, Valeck, free us.

    Part 2 of 5

    It was quiet under the desert sky, Ire watched the stars blink in and out of existence the remnants of the moon cracked across the sky.

    “Are you still awake?” Their traveling companion spoke out,

    “Yeah, just sky watching.”

    There was a steady silence for the next couple minutes, Ire and Lurai just watched the stars passed. Ire clutched the book closer to his chest, it was important, Lienne had said so in the dream. Ire had gotten the dream for many nights now, it echoed through their head fading as each night passed. Ire had been Lienne’s scribe for almost eight years now through all of their travels and was devastated by her loss.

    “Losing the Master Savant and the First Among Us in the span of a week, what’s going to happen to us?”

    The troops returned from the great battle where the Bone God fell, Jemaine had died after striking the great beast, only the Sword of Sorrow had been recovered, now dormant. The plane had now exploded into war, the conclaves were put back into action utilizing the many defenses The Children had put into place during their time here. They planned out outlast the others in a defensive war.

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              Ire had started having the dreams the night after the battle, none of Jemaine’s former council had listened. They were to concerned with wartimes to listen to the scribe with strange dreams. So what else was Ire supposed to do? They took the book from Lienne’s office with the Resoretian number nine on the binding and made their way into the desert. It was difficult to locate, and translating from the original Tikrish ,Lienne took her notes in the language of her ancestors, was difficult but they got it done.

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    Its contents were interesting and frightening, cracks in the world, ancient powers that lay below. Lienne had been studying what she called “The Split” for months, an oasis at the center of the desert that led to the World Soul. At the end of the book was a ritual, “The Valeck Ritual” she called it, a ritual designed to close this split and cut off the World Soul from its source of power. Ire had to complete it, that was what Lienne wanted them to do. The unfortunate part was what the ritual required,

              “A Godslayer”

              Ire had taken a Godslayer, they reached over to his bag to double check the shield was still there. It wasn’t easy to take, but he found the perfect moment while the weapons were being stowed inside the library. Ire knew the council would be after them, they would be hunted across the desert. It would be worth it though if they could finish the ritual and save the day. It would all be worth it.

              “It’s nice to have buildings for once.” Lurai tried to make conversation again, Ire had found her outside the city. They and the scout had been friends for some time and while Lurai didn’t understand their full purpose for going into the desert she was willing to help. Ire refocused on the conversation.

              “It is, I guess I didn’t realize how often we don’t get those.” The Children were rarely able to stay on a plane long enough to establish buildings. Usually, they just had tents and pack beasts. “No tents is good, we lost so many books to rain and storms.”

              “City walls are nice to, something to keep us safe.”

              “It’s nice to have a place to fight for, you know. I’ve wandered for my entire life it’s nice to be somewhere for once. Even if that somewhere is…”

              “Terrifying?”

              “Yeah, terrifying.” Ire turned over and closed his eyes. They could fix that problem if this worked, all they had to do was finish the ritual then Nemain would truly be conquered.

    The pair slowly fell asleep, one of them plagued by the same echoing dream.


  • Part 3/5

              The day was hot in the desert sun, all of them were. Riixt hated this place, off course it would end up being the plane they stood on the longest. The dark elf spy of the late First Among Us made his way through the twisting halls of the central building of their capital.

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              “This shouldn’t have happened; how did this happen. A single scribe made away with one of our relics?”

              “The guards on duty all fell asleep at the same time, we believe that they were an unnoticed Savant.” The guard captain responded to the Council member.

              “We don’t have time for this, we’re fighting a war. Get this Savant back and the Shield as soon as possible!”

              “Yes of course” the guard hurried away down the hallway, Riixt stopped walking and looked over the city in front of him. How did this happen? The Children were in the middle of a war, their most powerful warrior had been slain, and now the Shield was missing.

              “Maybe we should just leave, we have done it before. Back to the wandering and plane hopping. If something doesn’t change soon, then we’ll be forced to leave.”

              Ire and Lurai made their way across the scorching desert sand. The pair had risen at the earliest hour possible and continued their journey.

              “So, what are we doing here again, you keep on saying “Completing a Ritual” but that’s getting a little to nonspecific. Why do you need to go to some random oasis in the middle of the desert?”

              “It’s complicated, I’m finishing Lienne’s unfinished business. I’m trying to help the Children.” She turned to them,

              “Ok, what kind of ritual? What kind of business? You’re being so vague, what’s going on?”

              “You wouldn’t get it, It’s complicated.”

              “Try me.”

              Ire reached into their satchel and pulled out the book, “So basically I’ve been getting a bad dream recently and it told me to look in this book. In it I found a ritual that Lienne wants me to complete, so I need to be at this oasis to do it. It’ supposed to close the oasis which will save the day and protect the Children and”

              “Ire what are you talking about?”

              “It’s really important, look I can prove how important it is.” They reached into the satchel and pulled out the Shield of Silence. “I took this because it’s needed in the ritual. That’s how important it is.” Lurai stepped back.

              “Ire is that real? Why do you have that, we need to return it immediately. You know what kind of trouble this is going to cause”

              Lurai never get to finish her sentence, an arrow sunk into her head killing her instantly. The second arrow missed Ire’s head but found their back piecing through their robes causing a sharp pain to fly through them. Ire turned to face the assailants, riders, probably from the city. They rode on top of massive war beasts knocking arrows for a second volley.

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              Ire paused, “They sent people from the city to stop me, they don’t get it. They don’t believe me.” Ire held a hand forward as the riders released their second volley. Ire had never had powers before but, with the dreams came strange new abilities. A wall of force materialized in front of the volley deflecting the missiles. Ire counted, “One, Two, Three, Four, Five riders.” They needed to act fast the riders were fast approaching. Ire pressed their hand against the sand and focused the energy in the air into it. In a torrent of glass two of the riders were torn of their mounts flung into the air. The other three moved out attempting to flank them from the sides. Ire rose and turned to the two of them on the left, a mote of flame apparated in their hand, the scribe focused on the two souls that approached them. “Burn.” With that the two riders collapsed the arrows they began to knock fell from their bows. The final rider released a second arrow which missed again, this one found purchase on their leg causing them to collapse onto the ground. Ire focused on the sand once more pushing a hand covered in blood into the ground. The rider was grabbed by tendrils of sand pulled into the dunes below his mount made it to Ire still laying on the sand. It paused as their magic infiltrated its mind waiting for them to mount.

              Ire awoke on the back of a riding scarab sore from the two arrow wounds. “What happened?” they looked around, nothing but sand, no Lurai. She must have left? It didn’t matter They needed to get to the Oasis, they needed to finish the ritual…

  • Part 4/5

              Ire was bleeding out, they didn’t care. Getting to the oasis is what mattered, a singular focus in the back of their mind. The wounds would heal, but if they didn’t finish the ritual the Children would never be at peace. The riding scarab moved quickly across the desert sands, there was nothing around for miles, nothing except the split. They were getting closer, Ire could feel it, only a few more hours and they would be there.

              It was later that day the Ire pulled the beetle to a halt, they collapsed onto the ground and slowly stood up bones aching. There it was, the oasis, all they needed to do was finish the ritual.

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              The oasis glistened in the desert sun; it was silent here. Ire didn’t mind the silence; it would allow them to better focus on their work. As they approached the edge of the oasis they saw it, a slumped over body laying in the desert sand next to the oasis. Ire ran over, horrified at what they saw. Lienne’s body lay mummified in the heat, her sunbaked corpse smelled of death. They faltered for only a second at the body before continuing to the edge of the pool. “I’ll finish what you couldn’t, I’ll do this for you and the Children Lienne.” They pulled out the book picked up the Master Savant’s staff and began to set up the Valeck Ritual. Scribing a circle in the sand filling in the details, they pulled the Shield of Silence out of their bag and placed it at the center of the ritual circle. They began the chant, drawing the latent magic from the air and into the ground. The Oasis began to ripple, then the water started to rise pushing past it’s normal boundaries attempting to pull Ire under the surface. The circle shone with power keeping the water back. Then the screaming started, the screams of the people trapped under the surface poured out of the oasis, the water started to writhe and twist as Ire continued the ritual. The sun’s strength grew focusing on the oasis reflecting of the Shield of Silence. The heat of the sun beat down on the water causing it to evaporate away the screams continued as the water turned to steam the oasis shrunk as the water dissipated. The plant life around it lit into flame burning away with the oasis that once nourished it. The Shield of Silence held strong still as the heat from the sun eventually became unbearable, the last bit of the oasis finally turned to mist as it did Ire watched as a fountain of spirits erupted from the desert sand pouring into the sky and eventually fading away their screams dissipating into silence once more.

              Ire felt the heat of the sun alleviate and return to its normal form, they looked down at the their hands and body now burned and scarred all over. They watched as their finger tips began to crumble to dust. Then their hands, then arms, it was painless. Ire didn’t feel their chest and legs dissolve to dust, and finally their head the last thing they heard was their own thoughts “Finished the ritual, saved the Children.”

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              Eventually more riders would arrive at the bare desert dune, drawn there by the reports of strange ghosts and mists pouring into the sky. They would recover the shield of silence, the body of the Master Savant, one of her important journals, but they wouldn’t find the remains of the scribe who went mad and stole the shield.

    Part 5/5

              The soul felt the pain alleviate, heard the screams subside, watched as the rest of the souls trapped below the waters fled to the afterlife. The soul didn’t leave though, it had business to finish. Now that the world souls’ source of feeding was gone it was weakened, it was vulnerable. The soul drew in the power from the air its mystic power returning. It swam through the water deeper and deeper towards the place the world soul lived at the bottom. It swam for what felt like hours, days even, but the soul eventually found its prey, the dying soul of the plane of Nemain. It was simple for the soul to kill it, in its weakened state the world soul gave little fight. Absorbing its power was a difficult task. The soul had never felt so empowered though supplanting the world soul itself. It felt a connection now, to every part of the plane, every tree, animal, and element. The soul pulled that connection in attempting to supplant the world soul and become this plane’s new one. The connection was fading though this was a gambit that the soul hoped would worked, this was the last chance the Children of Neress had.

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    (This is my entry)

             

             


  • @ChoyBoi @DrakeGladis @Aggroman15

    The air is rare with anticipation
  • Sorry, my brother is moving into his own apartment and I've been helping him.  I will try to get to this sometime soon!
  • I have been on basically vacation for the past week, but I can get my entry done today.
  • @HeroKP so what’s the plan?
  • @IzItTru

    Well the plan is to, whenever possible, start preparations for the Grandmaster Tournament while my heir starts preparations for Season 8, but that involves @ChoyBoi @DrakeGladis and @Aggroman15's entries, which we do not have access to at the moment.
  • @HeroKP It is regrettably easy to forget about things in summer, especially since my life is slightly hectic right now. My entries are almost done, but I'm still missing two pieces of art and I am experiencing a little bit of writers block on how to finish off my story. I'll try to finish this weekend.
  • @ChoyBoi No need to apologise, we all know how it is.

    It's just that this is a story that's been in the works for nearly a year now, and frankly, the public is thirsting for a conclusion.

    But still, better to take your time than to rush it. Especially with that last available seat at the September Tournament on the line...


  • I now realise that my previous message may have come off as a little more passive-aggressive than I meant. Sorry about that.
  • edited August 2021
    This was it. Everything before had led up to this one moment. The battle, the hardships, killing a literal god. It all ends here. And Jael wasn't about to let his people lose their new home. The kingdom needed this plane. Their home on the plane of Razier was so overpopulated that there was no way they could go back. So it was kill or be killed.

    Jael knew that the other factions probably underestimated him. The Four Seasons Kingdom had been on the defensive for most of their time on Nemain, only engaging in full frontal combat during the defeat of the Bone God. Jael smiled as he thought of this. The other factions would soon learn that the kingdom was as powerful as any of them. They had bested a fundamental force of nature, they had bested a god's armies, and they would soon best any who refused them their new home.

    Seasonal Resolve 

    From the journal of Garthan Tellvia, head Springan researcher on the Arcane Isle

    Day ???

    I've been so busy I haven't been numbering the logs, and I'm not inclined to spend time remedying that at the moment. Jael has me preparing the Stormshapers for battle, a duty which I've pawned off on some general. I've never been one for war, but Jael has said that it must be so. The Stormshapers have had to learn a few new tricks, as fighting intelligent armies on land is much different than the Lunespawn in the sea we had them dealing with earlier, but they're picking up the new maneuvers quite quickly. I believe that they will be integral to defeating our opponents.

    Stormshapers Assault

    However, if we truly must fight, we must do more than simply prepare our armies. Our opponents have much more experience battling on this plane, and an advantage in general military prowess. This may be the time that our aversion to battle during our stay may come back to bite us. As such, I have been working on a project that may turn the tides in our favor. Our current citadel is powerful, but it doesn't have the reach to change the seasons on a major scale too far out of our territory. If we don't have the power to make the environment suit our needs, we have very little chance of victory. Luckily, we've made a breakthrough in our attempts to draw magic from the Dark Heart that we found before the assault on the Bone God. And with the help of that power, we've figured out how to draw arcane energies from the land of the Arcane Island itself, a challenge that had stumped us since we first discovered it. With this new influx of magical power, I can devise a new Citadel that can change the seasons all across the planet with pinpoint accuracy. With it, we can ensure something close to a home field advantage wherever we go.

    Oh, it seems I must go. They need my advice on something with the Stormshapers. Who knows when the next time I'll be writing in here will be, I've got loads of work to do. 



    Four Seasons Fortress (If you need just one card to count as the entry, count this one. Otherwise, it's all my entry.)

    Additional things that are happening that I didn't feel warranted a card:
    -Summran soldiers are being mobilized and prepared for war
    -Wintran mages are being stationed around our borders, with orders to freeze any incoming force.
    -Autumnal spies and scouts are being sent out to retrieve information about our enemies' plans.

    There's my entry! Good luck to all, it's been really fun participating in this! May the best faction win!

  • @ChoyBoi @DrakeGladis

    Look, I think I might have to give you a definitive prod.
    I shall declare this season’s winner in 5 days. Submit until then, or hold your silence forever.
  • I recognize this... I will attempt a submission.
  • Can't wait. Hope the new hosts do well.
  • The fight is over.  We have won.  The bone god retreated and I have arose.  It is sad that all of my chosen daughters fell, but I am here to reign.  We care not for the squabbles of mortals, our plan spreads for aeons.  Each have their flaws and shall succumb in time to us, their neighbors, or themselves.  Striking us would be foolish, our defenses are still raised, but we shall not strike first.  We do not need to lose more resources.
    Abandoned Negotiations

    To increase our defensive positions even more, we shall collapse the mines we have finished.  The land shall sink in and the sea flow.  The flooding will devastate most plans our opponents could have against us, and perhaps even each other.  
    Oceanic Reclamation

    This is no surrender.  We still will play for a complete domination of the other factions and their peoples.  They are resources too, and while we build up, they tear each other down.  Our research into the thaumaturgics will continue.

    Unveiling of the Library

    We have all the cards.  We have the skill, the material, and the time to do what we need.  There is nothing that our opponents can truly do to stop us.  Each blow they level at us will only make us that much stronger and more capable to stop them.
    Position of Power
    Thank you, my nodes, for your dedication to our cause.  Thank you, my nodes, for your dedication and devotion.  Thank you, my nodes, finally, for your sacrifices for the greatness of the Schwarmi Nodule!
  • Our remaining components are @ChoyBoi and 24 Hours.
  • My hell, so climactic! (No sarcasm)
  • edited August 2021
    @HeroKP Could you add me to the wish list for season 8, please?
  • @RegalGorgon13 I would be overjoyed to do so.
  • I'm just going to say my next faction is Mardu, which I don't think I've actually done yet. I'm also going to try to make noncreature spells some time during the challenge.
  • This has been, by far, the longest season of COLONISERS on record. Three-quarters of a year were required to bring this story to a close. But now, comes a question of who will outlast these troubles.

    A lot can change in 8 months. Factions can rise to prominence. Factions can fade away. That's certainly happened here. The lineup of the top contestants has shifted more times than I can count. Pleasant surprises were received from all and by all.
  • I would be lying if I said the winning faction didn't fly under my radar during the early game. When the geopolitical roil began to brew, they didn't rise to meet it in active combat right away. All the more impact when it finally happened.
This discussion has been closed.