Building Mernac 2 god lore (half raw version)

Building Mernac # 2 – Lore – Lets talk about the Gods.

Mernac’s long term story, a more than 10,000 season (year) journey, will be many things. Among these things, it will be a challenging, heartbreaking, and adventuresome tale that joins a group of characters finding and understanding their souls, accepting their fates in a larger picture, and understanding that elusive “why” all sentient creatures ask themselves at one time or the other.

10,000 is a nice number, but it’s completely inadequate to the task of encompassing all of Mernac’s history. The 10,000 seasons refer only to time’s passage after the birth of “man”. The gods, and indeed much other history and lore, will have stories dating long before the advent of “Man”. (Ie. Siberlee Good). How long the history stretches was never a concern, as the original intention did not include giving specific dates. If you think this a mistake, please comment in the associated forum.

I thought it better to be a little ambiguous like we see in the Bible and other real world religious texts. Just as scientists and most religious leaders do not think God literally created the world in 7 days, future Mernac ages will not always believe in the literal creation stories. Like most mythology, these stories are fully intended to be metaphoric. In the early ages, up to Steampunk and approx 3000, these creation stories are treated literally.

After the advent of Man, the groups mentioned in the first paragraph, the 20 Gods of Mernac, takes on the mantle of The Mothers and The Fathers. Disciples and other Mernac characters will also go on meaningful spiritual and literal journeys, but Mernac is very God-centric. The gods’ personalities, idiosyncrasies, and desires have huge impacts upon the races, classes, religions, and even geography.

Where do the god’s come from will be mapped out in Siberlee’s Good and the subsequent creation series. (Terees, these will be closed saplings under my name and can only really be completed by me). Each God comes from another world; they do not just “appear”. To quote Siberlee, Mother of Nature and all that is Good, the gods come from “a world not unlike Mernac”. Each in their world was originally a Mortal who became a Disciple or a Champion of the world they come from.

-------------------------- Interlude -----------------------------------

• Terees – New list – “Lore that Rick needs Completed”

Here I will identify the lore that need to be completed and give the base info. We will also assign this or ask for volunteers.

Add to this List

Disciples (Volunteers – must be a God)

Champion Of Mernac (re-write)

Disciples Lore Story

(this should be added to the Scribe notes at the bottom of the closed sapling_

1. The first disciple belonged to Siberlee and his name was Onas.
2. Each of the seven Mothers has 20 disciples. Each of the thirteen Fathers has 10 disciples with the exception of Barak, who has 20. Thus, “Good” and “Evil” have equal Disciples.
3. Disciples are immortal.
4. Each Disciple has one “godlike power”.
5. There is always a “Trauncha” (consequence) to the God for creating a disciple and to the Disciple for becoming one. For Example, Siberlee must choose her Disciples from a different Race of Mernac. In addition, her Disciples have all been love by her and died on a task for her. After being resurrected as a Disciple, their Trauncha is that they and Siberlee may never physically touch again, upon pain of “ceasing to have ever existed”. Also, Siberlee’s Disciples age to the point when they would have naturally died at which time the process reverses and they get younger with each season until they reach the age when they became a disciple. This cycle continues for all time.
6. Disciples will appear in stories throughout the history, however, they will mainly be featured in stories belonging in the Age for the god of whom they are a Disciple.
7. Disciples (unlike Gods) are free to walk Mernac with no consequences
8. Disciples further the work and wishes of the God on Mernac.
9. Disciples (like the Gods) are not 100% black and white of “Good” or “Evil” characters. They lean one way or the other according to the god they serve, but at times, they will help the other side according to their own values and circumstances.
10. Each disciple has one weakness or “Chanuart”. Any foe who discovers it will be victorious over the Disciple. A disciple defeated by their “Chanuart” is out of commission for 200 seasons. The Fathers’ Disciples fall to the underworld to further learn from the Fathers. The Mothers’ Disciples go to the Heavens to learn from the Mothers.
11. Gods decide on the same Trauncha for all their disciples. Disciples decide their own individual “Chanuart”, and these should be different for each character.

Champion of Mernac Lore story

Each age will have 7 Champions of Mernac. At the time, only one set in Siberlee’s age is identified, and only Five of Seven have been discovered. Each age feature a major battle between “Good” and “Evil”. The Champions are the “Good guys” who save, or attempt to save, the day.

1. To become a Champion, the character must make the “Decision of Good”, which places the greater good above something that would have benefited the character.
2. The champions are always directed by one of the Mothers, often by Siberlee herself.
3. The champions usually, but not always, hail from the races of the light (good).
4. Occasionally, just as with Disciples, The One selects a Champion to start their own world and be a God. In Siberlee’s Good, we find that Siberlee was once a Disciple and Barak a Champion of the world they came from, Chandralee.
5. In each set of seven Champions, one will be corrupted by Barak and betray the others. Though this always happens, each set of Champions has no knowledge of it, and the stories will hide the betrayer well.
6. Upon betraying the others, the rogue Champion earns immortal and a place among Barak’s Avengers, a group that counterbalances Siberlee’s Champions.
7. Champions are often gifted with a power, weapons, and/or magic to help them in their battles against evil. For example Mootill receives the Staff of Caljeron in Five of Seven part 3
8. Champions are forbidden to be intimate or romantically involved with each other.

---------------------------- Interlude completed --------------------------------------

With the exception of Barak and Siberlee, both from Chandralee, and Quont and Kala, both from Quontas, all the gods come from a different world. Their mortal experiences shaped their personalities and motivations. The individual Gods, aside from Barak, Siberlee, Quont and Kala, will decide what world they originally came from and how many flashbacks the god has to that other world. Many of Mernac’s words and cultures are imported from the gods’ home worlds.

Each God has a dominant trait or two that overshadows their personalities. The Mothers tend to have two, while the Fathers tend to have one. For example, Quont is the God of Lust, and Terees is the Mother of Wisdom and Harmony. The traits will be motivating factors which dictate nearly everything that god does. Siberlee’s Good creation series will expound upon the gods and their traits. The Gods are brought to Mernac each “Chandralee” as the result of the last dream or thought Siberlee and Barak have after making love. The trait (and what they are god of) is somewhat different when they are gods than when they are a Mother and Father.

The Gods (Mother and Fathers) are introduced to Mernac is as follows:

1) Siberlee and Barak

2) Sola

3) Elsen

4) Trajen

5) Quont and Kala

6) Werk

7) Abuba

8) Tul

9) Terees

10) Roadius

11) Picu

12) Gorb

13) Canola

14) Tellen

15) Bu

16) Dulan

17) Linthur

18) Witriss

Each God is a matron or patron to a specific race that shares many qualities and values esteemed by that god. As with all things, gray areas exist. For example, the Kezians, a geographical subsection of Siberlee’s Race of Man, tend towards evil. In addition, each God has specific God powers that correlate to what they are the God of and often correlates to the Class or Classes they will be patron/matron of. The Gods, with the exception of Siberlee and Barak, cannot learn or use the powers of another God. So Bu, Father of Death and Destruction, cannot simply use Dulan’s healing god powers.

Siberlee’s Good shows us some limits to Gods’ powers. When Sola, Goddess of Light and Life, can only make so much life in a given day, she says, “Each of us has only so much Ga.” The limit to the gods’ powers can be most keenly felt in situations of obtaining power over life and death. Gods cannot simply bring back the dead, creature or person, with that being’s soul intact. This limit is pivotal to the Mernac overstory and sparked the conflict that spilled onto the land. The gods, particularly Sola can all creat plants and animals, but they have trouble creating life on a higher order, that is with intelligence equal to the Races or with souls. Creating Disciples, an exception to this rule, costs them deeply as we have discussed.

The gods and all magic users on Mernac have a magic reserve of energy called Ga. The stronger the magic they do, the more Ga is used. Ga returns very slowly, and thus, it acts as a limiting factor to the gods. Mortals almost never realize the gods’ limits.

Led by Bu, who eventually becomes the Father of Death and Destruction, Wolves, Lions, and Dragons are created with the ability to think. This partially explains why Siberlee slept with a Wolf, a Lion and a man all in the same night to bear a child for the barren Dulan to create the Fur race. Though sentient, these creatures still possess no soul, so when they die, they simply cease to be.

Dragons, the first and most successful of these experiments, can think, speak, and sometimes even write. Many dragons seek to find their soul. In this case, that has become synonymous with finding Truth. Dragons seek truth and are evaluated every 1000 years by the Mothers for The One. Dragons who discover “truth” are awarded souls. The most famous dragon, Kalos the Fire dragon, helped Onas Brushstroke and Sara Dragonmist write the fabled One Book. For a reward every 1,000 seasons the Mothers will evaluate him for The One.

Wolves and Lions however are only sentient sometimes. A sentient Wolf or Lion only has a one in five chance that their children will be. It will also often skip a generation or two. After the first age (elsens’) if is quite rare that a wolf or a lion is sentient, however it does happen on occasion all the way until the end of recorded time.

The Gods’ inability to create or restore life extends to themselves as well. Therefore, the various couplings between male and female gods, which happen quite often as they tend to be quite amorous, never result in a child. To a certain extent, this affects all the gods in the time before man. Siberlee, however, desires a child with Barak above all else and becomes very depressed, even feeling betrayed by The One, about her inability to conceive. The One had promised, “You will soon have your child, Siberlee, and that child will become the Race of Man, but it may not come as soon as you would like - or in the way you expect.” To add to her depression she discovers that her Love, has slept with all the different Mothers (her sisters) and not remained faithful as they had agreed. This contradicts the prev sentence about all the gods sleeping around…pick one and stick to it

Although several childless millennia Siberlee leaves Mirdoren, home of the Gods, and travels to Mernac to live with the creatures and the beasts who could have children. Siberlee places Winds Reflection spell on herself so that the other Gods cannot find her. During this time, she teaches Wolves, Lions, and Dragons. Meanwhile, the heavens go into chaos without the balancing force of Siberlee’s “Good”. Under Terees’s direction they come up with a plan to give Siberlee a “Child”. To create this child, what will become the Race of Man, the gods must sacrifice the portion of themselves they hold most precious.

The Divine Sacrifices:

Sola – eyes, though light and sight were most dear to her
Kala – heart, though love that originate from the heart is her passion
Canola – ears, though music and the ability to hear it is what makes her whole
Dulan – Womb, though like Siberlee her desire is to have children
Witriss – hair, Etc. Etc.
Terees – memory; part of capacity to learn quickly (Hence Terees’s penchant for keeping lists on everything)

Barak – Soul
Elsen – legs
Roadius – one eye, one ear, thumbs and first 2 finger of each hand
Quont – manhood (genitals)
Werk – limbs
Tellen – compassion
Bu – blood
Trajen – face and skin
Gorb – muscles
Abuba – bones
Tul – throat and neck
Picu – liver
Linthur – nose, sense of smell

With these parts and precious entities, Siberlee’s child, the Race of Man, came to be. Thrilled, Siberlee returned to Mirdoren and beseeched The One and The Other to reward her bothers and sisters. The One and the Other, seeing that they have erred in not giving the gods the ability to created sentient life, give the Gods the power to create one race. They still lack the ability to resurrect life.

STOPPED HERE

The Gods The all go about creating their different races (there should eventually be a lore story for each races and how it was created. These should be metaphoric in nature. The Gods still can not bear children with each other. So they will couple with the various creatures and beasts in Mernac to start their race. Most of the Gods try and create a race in their likeness…. Or more to the point in the likeness of the race they were in the world they came from before coming to Mernac.

All but 3 races are created within a few seasons of the Creation of Man. Man by the way was born (created) on Bella 1^st in the year one (the beginning of recorded history). This is where the Mernac expression meaning a self-evident truth comes from: “It has been that way since the first day of the first month of the first year”

The Three Races that were not created immediately were

Furs – Dulan

Dark Elves – Elsen

Undead – Barak

Furs

Furs will be created in the 101^st season. This is when Siberlee decide to help Dulan have a child (who gave up her womb for the creation of Man) by sleeping with a Wolf a Lion and a Man, all on the same night. The result was the Race of Furs.

Dar Elves

Dear Elves – the first Dak elves also come about in the early 100’s. As a Dark elf is the rare union of a true Elf and a fae and only determined after the 80^th season, the first Dark Elf took a little come to be conceived. The first Dark Elf is likely to be the Union of Elsen (whose original race was an Elf) and Sara Dragonmist (a Fae). Elsen will further develop this Lore.

The Undead:

The

Undead are the only reace to be created outside the first age (Elsen’s). Just as Siberlee held her decision of what would be her contribution to “The 20 Wonders of Miroden” for just the right time, barak saved choosing his race for just the right time. The Undead first come about in 666 when the fathers are being kicked out of the Heavens. Baraks Son Canu (from a lowly human peasant) is mortally wounded – Barak makes him “undead” and creats the Race of undead. Undead live for many thousand of seasons. They are all spawn by one of Barak’s diciples. Baraks Disciples are all people that have died valiantly in his service. Each disciple (like Siberlee) must come from a different race. Each grows the race by spawinging or spreading the race. This is done in a variety of ways depending on the Sub-race of undead the disciple is. The most common way is by drinking of blood (yes vampires) – if a disciple drinks the blood three times of another race they also become “Undead” and vampires. And those new vampires recruit others in the same way, and so on and so on ever expanding the network. The Lore here is that if a Vampire is killed (and we need to develop lore here) then all the vampires under him are released from being vampires (sets up some nice plotlines to save loved ones who become vampires).

There are other type of Undead. Warewolf (type thingsd at least), Zombies, and other thing that go bump in the night in the RW. The Undead Race is meant to be a Mernac solution for those that tend to write horror.

Another quality about the undead (and one of the resons Barak created them when he did), they tend to be resistant to the Magic of the Mothers and the Fathers. – not immune but resistant. Undead Disciples and completely immune (but are not immune to the magic from other Disciples). The undead like other races roam Mernac. Their prime directive is to capture a Mother. Which they do in 681. This is Canola (who is eventually save by the “Champions of Mernac” in the Age of Bu. On her release in 683 The One mandates that Mernac is no longer safe for the Mothers to freely roam and mandates that from that point on, the Mothers can only walk Mernac on Chandralee (the rare time when not one but Both of Mernac’s Moons are full in the sky.) and the eve of Chandralee.

------------------------------interlude -------------------------------------

Terees

The current Lore Undead needs to be updated with this information. This is your lore so why don’t you take a crack at it. I would also like to get a volunteer to write the sub-race lore for Vampires. – I think good choices would be Elsen or Freelancer. But any good writer if they seem to have knowledge of Vampires.

Closed Sapling – Vampires

Of all the Undead, the most common are the Vampires. Though it is not thought that these creatures are immortal, it is known by the Scribes and Sages that know of such things that they live for many thousands of Seasons. Like all Undead, they seek a way to keep their soul and the energy which it gives, for if they do not, they will eventually die. For Vampires, they must replenish themselves by drinking the blood of a healthy creature with a soul. On the third time of partaking, the victim also becomes a vampire forever bound to do the bidding of the Vampire who brought them into the fold.

Vampires are incredibly strong and can not easily be killed. A vampire can only be killed in one of three ways. The first is…

Scribe notes:

Clean up note from above and place in that section.

---------------------------- end interlude ----------------------------------

The Mothers then all must come up with a way or ways they can keep tabs of Mernac. For example, Siberlee often uses a small calico cat to be her eyes and ears on Mernac. Alternately she often inhabits the body of “Soosa, the old Woman from the Woods”. In these forms (as with whatever other devices the Mothers come up with for themselves, their magical power is almost non existent (thus they are almost defensless).

Back a few hundred seasons to BM.

Before the advent of man the 20 gods were pretty much a very close knit group. There were the occasional spats and problems but pretty much they lived together well. Most of the darker side of the Fathers eventual traits are pretty subdued – they show every once in a while – but in this time it is very subdued and subtle.

During this time, once most of Mernac has been completed, the Gods decide to create a place for them to live. This is the Heavens of Mirodan. As for a reward for their work on creating Mernac The One and The Other gift Miroden with 20 Magical Qualities or what becomes to be known as “The 20 Gifts of Mirodan” Each of these gifts or qualities of the Heavens is chosen by each god (one each) – all the Gods, With the exception of Siberlee immediately choose a gift or a quality of Miroden. Siberlee feels there is on gift that will need to be given that will be the most important and decides to wait until it is revealed. These are the Gifts.

Here are the 20 Gifts of Miroden

Canola

Miroden shall be filled with the best of the arts. Painting and storis shall be apart of its fiber. Statues and carving of the highest quality shall be plentiful. The Halls shall be full of music, each hearing the music that lifts their soul the most. The outer Coutyard shall be a place of dance to celebrate Mernac and the arts.

Sola

The center of Miroden shall be in the same place but a different plane that the exact spot where Siberlee and Barak made love on the Glowing Cliffs and brought forth each of the gods. Though each of the windows on its Eastern side the view will be the same as that spot of Mernac. Over the ocean, this is where the most spectacular sunrises on Mernac have always been found.

Dulan

The Palace of Miroden shall be 20 palaces all connected by a great hall. All in all the will be 1,000 rooms each decorated in its own fashion but each having elements that tie them togethers, these elements are polished black oak found in Cathall and the polished red, pink and purple marbles founds in abundance in the mountain of Garran.

Kala

Miroden shall always be a place of Love and desire where all inhabitants can love and couple with who they choose. Behind the palace of Miroden shall be large heated pond for that purpose. Here hot bubbling flows of water shall sooth and seduce all that enter. Any two or more who bath in this this pond together shall be instantly and irrevokably filled with love and desire for those they choose to bath with.

Witriss

Miroden shall now and forever be a place to gain strength through virtue. The longer one spend in Miroden the stronger they will become is relation to the virtuous deeds that have preformed. This strength will be in the form of magical powers or physical attributes.

Terees

Miroden shall now and forever be shielded and protected for external Magic. Magic performed outside the shores of Miroden shall have no effect on any who reside ther

The Fathers

Barak

Miroden shall be the only place in the cosmos where Shadows do not fall, for in Miroden only things fully illuminated will be permitted

Quont

Miroden shall be a place of fertility. If any creature, plant or animal can not reproduce in Mernac, if taken to Miroden they can immediately become with child.

Tellen

Miroden shall be impenetrable by any who do not belong or are invited. Surronding the main palace shall be silver walls 20 paces in height. Thes walls will be of the stongest of metals and as slick as sheets of ice beginning to thaw.

Bu

Miroden shall have a great hall at its center, a round room with a round table in its center. The Table shall have 20 chairs, one for each of the Gods, the room shall have 22 doors, one for each of the gods, which will lead to their own palace. One shall lead to the Temple of The One, where Siberlee can go to speak with The One, the last shall be to the Temple of The Other, so that Barak may receive guidance from The Other.

Trajen

Miroden shall be an island in the skies far above Mernac, but taking the same space, both at the same time. It shall float upon clouds and at its edges, the clouds will lap upon its shores just as water laps the shores of a crystal blue lake.

Gorb

All in Miroden shall be constructed of the finest riches Mernac has to offer. The wall shal be ligerally decorated with gold, silver and other precious metals. Gemstones will decorate the floors and ceilings and the furnature shall be carves of the finest of woods and stone.

Werk

Physical pain and disease is non existent in Miroden, for any creature lucky enough to visit the heavens any pain or symptom of desease shall be abated during their visit.

Abuba

The grounds of Mernac shall mimic the greenest and most lush geograghy in Mernac. From the edges to the palace shall be 20 paths that lead to the center. Each of ther paths shall be lined with fruit tree, each bearing fruit and flowers of a different hue. Thes paths will be long to the point it would take 20 days for a grown lion to travse then, but for a god it shall only take but an hour.

Tul

In the many gardens that lay between the paths that lead to the place of Miroden shall be the Guards of the Heavens, these creatures shall be called Dragows and are thr result of the coupling of a wolf and a Dragon. Dragows shall be calm loving creatures to the gods and their guests, but near indestructible opponents to any that may come uninvited.

Elsen

In the inner courtyard in the entrance to Miroden shall be 10 fountains. Each shall not be of water but of ethereal energy, one each for the 10 ethereal elements that were used to Creat Mernac. These fountains shall be eternal and a source for the Gods to replenish themselves. The eternal nature of the fountains is crucial to the existence of Mernac, for if even one ceases to flow, so does Mernac cease to exist*

* Elsen this will set up some collaboration between the Mothers and the Fathers after the break when occasionally one of these fountains begins to faulter.

Roadius

With the exception to the 22 doors in the great hall of the palace, each Door in Miroden leade to every room in Miroden. Those that pass through and know the secret will simply will where they wish to arrive. Those who do not know the secret shall be forever trapped in an endless maze where they randomly arrive at a new location each time they pass through a door

Picu

The bounty of Mernac shall always appear in the Kitchens and cellars of the Palace of Miroden, whithout the gathering. By passing through the doors to the cellar, on has but to desire the bounty they wish for and the room where they arrive shal be full of that bounty.

Linthur

The Grounds of Miroden shall be dotted with ponds lakes and streams of crystal waters. Thos invited to Mernac can swin in these waters with the greatest of pleasure as the water is always clear and perfect in temperature. Those not invited will fall to a like body of water on Mernac, instantly leaving the Heavens.

The Last Gift

Siberlee

Miroden shall now and forever only be open the Seven mothers and those they choose to invite. Any Father, or servant of the Fathers shall cease to exist upon entering the sacred grounds of Miroden.*

This “gift” was decided by Siberlee in 666 and is how the fathers were ultimately extricated from the heavens…. After a few battles that is.

----------------------------- interlude ----------------------------------------

Terees, We need a closed sapling for Miroden – basically covering the Above. As for completing it I would like Quont of Elsen to volunteer if they have time – besides me, they know the lore of Mernac (particularly as it relates to the Mythological aspects – better than anyone else.

------------------------------ end interlude ------------------------------------

Gods and relationships

In early times before man and before guilt and jealousy the Gods interacted with each other freely, as friend, as brothers and sisters and as Lovers. In the earliest of times the Gods would work together during day and couple with each other at night – very often with different parties each time.

As time moved on (and often instigated by Traejen) special relationships and love triangles developed (Quont, Elsen, Terees please edit and make correction here as you have all written) In much of the time BM, though there were the occasional lustful relationship most of the Gods entered into love triangles with one Mother and two fathers in each.

Siberlee – Barak
Sola – Bu and Elsen
Kala – Trajen and Gorb (and each of the Mothers at some time or the other)
Canola – Quont and Tellen
Dulan – Werk and Roadius
Witriss – Abuba and Linthur
Terees – Tul and Picu

* In the stories throughout history much of the relationship between the various fathers will be impacted by the love triangles. Ther is always an unspoken dislike, distrust, and jeolouse between the fathers that shared a mother. For example, Bu and Elsen (who shared Sola) have a secret (sometime not so secret despise for each other) and so on for the rest of the triangles. The Mothers will use this fact to turn gods against each other or do things for spite against the father they have a discourse with. It will introduce some interesting plots

Special Notes:

Barak – Primarily Siberlee however over time (an usually secretly) he couples with all the seven Mothers and half of the Fathers.

Picu – has always had a secret passion for Siberlee which was never returned. This is one of the main reasons he sided with the fathers.

Sola Though she also coupled with Elsen secretly loves bu far more.

Kala – true free spitit and lover of all. Kala is a pure bisexual and prefer neither male of female more than the other and believes all should be alble to love all without consequences. She is often conflicted with this as she finds herself jealous of Traejen on numerous occasions and comes to learn that there is a difference between love and desire.

Canola – thought she loves Quont and to a lesser extent Tellen. She come to find that Kala is the one she desires the most and is shattered that Kala will not dedicate herself to her. This by the way absolutely drive Quont crazy.

Werk is completely infatuated with Dulan… Dulan loves him back and they often make love but it is always with far less passion and desire than what Werk would like.

Siberlee – completely in love and lust with Barak – she does however publicly has an affair with Quont (The Father of Lust) to rub Barak’s nose in it and in attempts to make him jealous. She even “marries” Quont for a brief time and he becomes her first husband (kinda like Lillith in Genesis and more to the point many Jewish texts) and is why Quont (symbolically) becomes a creature of lust not fertility and is portrayed that way throughout history. Quont is sometime referred to as “the forgotten husband” much to his chagrin.

(I am sure we will develop other relationships as we move forward)

To end this part on Lore – or more to the point god lore I want to identify the different “stats” the gods have. These are all thing that should be coverered in in their God character story. I would also like to develop a page that lists all of the Gods and their stats – the “stats” are what make up the core personality of the Gods and their motivations.

Siberlee’s Stats:

God of: Mother of Nature and all that is Good

Home World: Chandralee

Religion in her Honor: Natures Own

Matron Race: Man

Matron Faction: The Greater Good

Matron Guild: Priazza (guild of non combative Magic users)

Matron Title: Champion of Mernac

2 Matron Classes: Tember, Scribes

3 Marton Places: Glowing Cliffs of GoldMont, Hooklock Mountains, Traddlbow*

* any place but no continents

3 Matron Creatures: Wolf, Lion, Dragon

Trauncha:

Each of Siberlee’s Disciples is required to be from one of the 20 different Races. Each is someone that she has loved. Each Disciple is someone who is killed (usually when on a task for Siberlee). Each is resurrected from death in order to become a Disciple. The Trauncha is that in exchange for them becoming a Disciple, they and Siberlee may never physically touch again. If they do, the Discple “ceases to have ever exist”. The Second part of the Trauncha for Siberlee’s Disciples is that they continue to age to the point when they would have naturally died. At this time the aginf process reverses and with each season they get younger until they reach the age when they were made a disciple. Then they begin to age again. This cycle continues for all time.

One Desire: To be able to have a true child of her own with a “Good” mad that she loves.

1^st half of One Book Page: To come to truly love at least one from each of the 20 races (many will become her disciples)

Well that about wraps it up for the Gods and the God lore for now. I have no doubt that I have forgotten something, so please post it in the associated forum and I will comment on it.

The Next installment Building Mernac#3 is odd meaning it will be operational/business plan related. Due to popular demand I am changing the order of some on the chapters in my outline. Chapter three will deal with the different ways I see where we (Mernac) and you (a contributor) can make money from this project when it is fully operational.

Quont's Question of the Week – 11 Simple Pleasures

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 11

Terees's Answer: Having a nice conversation wherein I can learn something about the person I'm speaking with. A lot of people have a whole lot of nothing to say. To actually be real with someone and share their joys, pains, frustrations, and triumphs is amazingly relaxing. Reading's also nice.

Arleas's Answer: Finishing something. Whether it be a story, a poem, a song, a lesson, or a piece of actual work, finishing is the most enjoyable part. I suppose it's not really a simple pleasure, but I didn't think you'd find eating koomba treats and shooting the breeze with the other Shadow Guards a good answer.

My Answer: Reading a children's book. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something, even if I can only read for 20 minutes. Taking walks. I don't get to do it often, surprisingly. RW keeps me in meetings or hopping about planning my head off. Writing RW letters. Don't get me wrong here, emails are wonderful things, but a RW letter takes time, effort, and far more thought than tapping out an email response. There's more of a sense of accomplishment when it's done.

Overworked RW Avatar

It figures, the Mother of Wisdom and Harmony would choose a frazzled, unassuming teacher-type from the world they call Earth to be her avatar. Not saying that's a good or bad thing, it just is, as are many things. This does have its drawbacks though, however, in that I can't get much done while she leads her crazy life. So, most godly duties are on a temporary hold, until my RW avatar can get her life straightened.

BTW, the bossman still needs to send me things to edit.

Who would you like to have dinner with?

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 9

Terees - I'd like to meet with my brother Quont. He's always been good with making anyone feel special. That quality has not diminished over the seasons. He knows how to play emotions like a lute. I have not experienced fine wordplay in ages. Siberlee's been all sorts of distracted lately. Witriss is too busy waging noble battles to talk to me long, and Dulan does more healing than I do thinking or breathing. The best conversations I have with her concern the most obscure potions and healing plants. Anyways, there's still good in Quont, as there is evil in me, and so holds the balance in all the Mothers and Fathers. My deepest desire, that which drives me, is to unite the gods once again, like in the days of old. I must find the balance, and I feel Quont would have some answers I seek. He, of course, would probably try to tease out the little sanity I have left and dig for answers to our plans - that is the grand plans the Mothers have for Mernac - but fair is fair and flowing information might just mend some of these millenia old schisms.



Arleas - *grumbles* why can I only pick one? I would love to have a pleasant dinner chat with Traesha. If I recall correctly, the last conversation I had with her had us on the opposite sides of weapons after she'd tried to seduce my Shadow Guard brother, Shanyaks. See, now such hostilities aren't always the way things need to go. Just a nice dinner, no swords, would be lovely, for she is a wonderful person. We probably would have come to sword blows too if Ryna hadn't gotten all jealous and shown up then. Kidding, sis, you know you don't always have to practice Complete Attraction on poor Shanyaks.



Me - Rick. Oh wait, did that:-) Again. Well, then I'd have to say The Other. There must be balance, dontcha know.

The Shadow Guard Gets a New Home

Although I will probably babble much about my spirit children and their exploits here, I think they deserve their own home. You can find the details of all Shadow Guard contests here http://tereesshadowguard.blogspot.com/.
In the coming moons, I hope to do more explaining about who the Shadow Guard is and what they do to preserve harmony on Mernac.
The blog is still under construction. We hope to have our wonderful banner up by the end of the week. If you think of anything to add to the blog, please PM Terees or post your comment here.
If you have any questions for members of the Shadow Guard, please email terees.mernac@gmail.com. Place the name of the Guard you wish to contact in the subject line. You can always reach the SG by contacting Terees: terees@mernac.com

How the Monthly Art Challenges Work

I would like everyone to pause and thank Traesha for the wonderful job she does with the monthly art challenges. So much time and effort goes into each one. I asked her to describe the process for our benefit. Here's what she said:
The time consuming thing for me is setting up the Monthly challenge based on the theme chosen by the winner, writing it all up, submitting it to the God for approval, creating an image for the initial challenge and getting it all posted on the site. I usually have 3 days to get that all done, so sometimes it's a bit stressful due to the time guidelines. I usually check out the challenge arena once a day to field any questions or problems that arise. I give the artists 3 weeks to complete their renders and get them posted to the thread. I also try to create another render to submit to the challenge too. Then I set up a poll for the voting to begin and select the winner. Then, I contact the winner to find out what the next months theme will be and start the process all over again.

Thank you, Traesha!

Shadow Guard Artisan Contest 1 - Family Portrait

As I've been rambling about for several days now, the Shadow Guard has grown immensely in the last few weeks. I believe it is therefore time to have a family portrait made. I will try to remember all the rules and record them here, but forgive me if I forget to define something. Since I'm in question, answer mood, I'll run this that way.

What's going on?
Terees is going to launch a whole series of monthly art contests. They will hopefully run like the Art challenges Traesha has been doing such a lovely job with, minus the initial example as I don't think we'd get any inspiration from my horrible little blotchy-penned stick figures. The artsy parts of me must have walked off the current plane with my memory.

Who can participate?
Any registered member of Mernac may participate. If you don't have an account, but still love doing art and want to partake in this free contest simply sign up for an account, read a bit of the Shadow Guard background and about the current members... then give it all you've got.

Where do I submit my picture?
I will open a thread in the general discussion forum. You will initially submit here. Eventually, the art must be submitted to the Shadow Guard Lore story.

What kind of picture should I make?
As this is a family portrait, your picture should include Mother Terees and at least two of the guards. If you can get all five in, wonderful. If you can make it a scene where they're not just staring out at people, wonderful. But if you want to go for traditional "family portrait" style, that's wonderful as well.

Are there any stuffy rules I should be aware of?
Yes. Mother Terees wishes all pictures to be rated PG-13 or less. That means the characters should be wearing decent clothes and there shouldn't be too much gore/violence/other questionable material. Now, I don't think you could show too much gore in a family picture of the Shadow Guard, but hey, you never know... and this rule applies to all the monthly SG contests.

Why are there stuffy rules?
Because I'm old-fashioned, a goddess, and I said so:-)

Is there a prize for all my hard work?
Of course. At the very least, there will be silver. The exact amount will be determined at a later time, depending on how many submissions we have. I'd love to give at least one silver to everyone who enters and 25 silvers to the winner of each monthly art contest, as determined by a poll.

Is there a deadline?
Yes, I would like the submissions to be posted to the thread by the 21st of each month. Then, I will create the poll and let it run for a week. That should let everyone know who the winner is by the 29th-ish of each month. The winner will be acknowledged on the thread. Please note, to receive their prize of 25 Mernac silvers they must be a registered member. I will also send a PM, so the winner should also be an active member... meaning you show up more than once a month:-)