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OK it seems there's no opposition so I will count Rikalous's last votes and include everything that got 3 votes or more.

I said no, since they didn't contribute but whatever.

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Well, let it go this once, they just won't vote again.

Yeah, the new rules will apply in full in our next ballot.

Speaking of which, main page updated. *finally.* New ballot coming up soon.

Oh, and I have a proposal too: Art Gallery. As in, let's have a specific page to post images for our maps, characters , creatures etc. either here in TV Tropes or elsewhere- maybe even our own wiki? A picture is worth a 1000 words after all (not to mention that fantasy art is wonderful.) This would not be obligatory, but it would be nice if every submission could come with an image. You don't have to draw it yourself, just google something up (copyrights are not a problem, Google Advanced Image Search has a 'Free To Use" search option.)

"Free to use option" That's pretty badass. I'll have to remember this in the future.

—-

Aethersheer, The animate storm -

There are certain things mages should never one of them is giving self-awareness to a massive thunder-storm, another is giving it aether draining abilities.

Yet someone did both of these things and Aethersheer was born. Aethersheer is an animate intelligent thunder storm that travels the oceans of Domhan Sceal coming in-land to feed off cities and nodes. As many people know storms don't last forever and Aetherhseer is aware of this. So Aethersheer comes in-land to cities knowing that people will think it's just another storm and try casting magic for one reason or another and in turn feeding it and allowing it to live longer.

It generally will move up a coast line for a few hours or days then drift back out to sea.

—-

I think Aethersheer is a good addition for DM's who might be running "Dark and stormy night" adventures as well as any adventure where there is a coastal storm or hurricane coming.

edited 30th Jul '12 10:20:48 AM by Vyctorian

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New Ballot:

• Three Theories On the Birth of Celestial Gods
• Edits to Sphinx entry
• Dornuf, Patron of the Ancient Dwarf Civilization, God of the Forge, Machine, Progress, Advancement
• Hollic, terrestrial God of the forge
• Tiergan Khalon
• Fuinnimh, Sceal's equivalent to caffeine
• Kairosurgy, Temporal Magic
• Legends
• Ethrgy - Ethical energy
• Cobblers
• Cryptopolis - The hidden city
• Potion sleeves
• Staff of constructification
• The Forever Warriors
• Form Magic
• Mercenary Guilds
• Azalar Lifesbane
• Summons
• Ateniloc
• Bezylabalug Who Lies In Forbidden Chains
• Cheaper Magic Metals
• Arc of Youth
• Rooted fiber wood
• The twin sun gods
• Soledad, the Lonely Star
• Soledad, Ruleous and Ahulite

(yes, that's three options for Sun Gods here. Pick one.)

• Woolson, God of the dead as sacred
• The stones of adaptability
• Black Empire Facts: Necroturgy
• Black Empire Facts: Martial Arts
• Art Gallery
• Aethersheer, The animate storm

Man, I think this is our longest ballot ever! If I missed something or put in a wrong link, let me know ASAP!

Remember that our new rules are now in full force:

• only official Sceal members may vote
• options are Yes, No or Edit
• Only Yes counts for inclusion; entries with edit votes go to a "To be developed" list
• vote minimum is based on current membership (simple majority)

Please try to have your votes in by Sunday.

edited 9th Aug '12 5:12:21 PM by Sijo

My votes:

• Three Theories On the Birth of Celestial Gods: edit (who believes them? which is true?)
• Edits to Sphinx entry: yes
• Dornuf, Patron of the Ancient Dwarf Civilization, God of the Forge, Machine, Progress, Advancement: edit (relationship with Cloe?)
• Hollic, terrestrial God of the forge: edit (I don't think Terrestrial gods should be reborn due to belief; otherwise OK)
• Tiergan Khalon: yes
• Fuinnimh, Sceal's equivalent to caffeine: Yes
• Kairosurgy, Temporal Magic: yes
• Legends: yes
• Ethrgy - Ethical energy: Edit- needs better name
• Cobblers: yes
• Cryptopolis - The hidden city: yes
• Potion sleeves: yes
• Staff of constructification: no (I dislike soul-tampering in general)
• The Forever Warriors: yes
• Form Magic: yes
• Mercenary Guilds: yes
• Azalar Lifesbane: edit: I like Azalar but some of his inventions may be too dark for some campaigns
• Summons: yes
• Ateniloc: edit- I like the basic idea, but it needs an explanation eg. why is the system in place, how is it verified etc?
• Bezylabalug Who Lies In Forbidden Chains: yes
• Cheaper Magic Metals: yes
• Arc of Youth: edit- interesting, but might be too powerful a weapon
• Rooted fiber wood: yes
• The twin sun gods: no
• Soledad, the Lonely Star: yes
• Soledad, Ruleous and Ahulite: no
• Woolson, God of the dead as sacred: yes
• The stones of adaptability: yes
• Black Empire Facts: Necroturgy- yes
• Black Empire Facts: Martial Arts- yes
• Art Gallery: yes
• Aethersheer, The animate storm: yes

Well, just for the Three Theories, I'd point out the whole point is that that's left up in the air.

(In Editing)

Three Theories On the Birth of Celestial Gods

Edits to Sphinx entry

Dornuf, Patron of the Ancient Dwarf Civilization, God of the Forge, Machine, Progress, Advancement

Hollic, terrestrial God of the forge

Tiergan Khalon

Fuinnimh, Sceal's equivalent to caffeine

Kairosurgy, Temporal Magic

Legends

Ethrgy - Ethical energy

Cobblers

Cryptopolis - The hidden city

Potion sleeves

Staff of constructification

The Forever Warriors

Form Magic

Mercenary Guilds

Azalar Lifesbane

Summons

Ateniloc

Bezylabalug Who Lies In Forbidden Chains

Cheaper Magic Metals

Arc of Youth

Rooted fiber wood

The twin sun gods

Soledad, the Lonely Star

Soledad, Ruleous and Ahulite

Woolson, God of the dead as sacred

The stones of adaptability

Black Empire Facts: Necroturgy

Black Empire Facts: Martial Arts

Art Gallery

Aethersheer, The animate storm

edited 31st Jul '12 3:08:24 PM by Exelixi

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

There is not mention of being reborn in Hollic's entry. 0.o

• Three Theories On the Birth of Celestial Gods: Edit
• Edits to Sphinx entry - yes
• Dornuf, Patron of the Ancient Dwarf Civilization, God of the Forge, Machine, Progress, Advancement - no
• Hollic, terrestrial God of the forge - yes
• Tiergan Khalon- Yes, he's like Dexter plus superpowers
• Fuinnimh, Sceal's equivalent to caffeine - yes
• Kairosurgy, Temporal Magic -edit, I like the idea but I think gods of at least a celestial level should have some increased pull on time still highly limited but not to the same extent a mortal could.
• Legends - Yes, in universe nerdom!
• Ethrgy - Ethical energy- yes
• Cobblers - yes
• Cryptopolis - The hidden city - yes
• Potion sleeves - yes
• Staff of constructification - yes
• The Forever Warriors - yes
• Form Magic - yes
• Mercenary Guilds - yes
• Azalar Lifesbane- no
• Summons - edit
• Ateniloc - yes, I like this place. It seem like it make a great neighbor.
• Bezylabalug Who Lies In Forbidden Chains - edit.
• Cheaper Magic Metals - yes
• Arc of Youth- no
• Rooted fiber wood -yes
• Sun God Proposals:
  • The twin sun gods - yes
  • Soledad, the Lonely Star - no
  • Soledad, Ruleous and Ahulite - no
• Woolson, God of the dead as sacred - yes
• The stones of adaptability - yes
• Black Empire Facts: Necroturgy - yes
• Black Empire Facts: Martial Arts -yes
• Art Gallery - I approve of the idea but I don't think it should be a requirement for inclusion
• Aethersheer, The animate storm - yes

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By "reborn" I meant ascended to godhood. Belief in legendary persons alone shouldn't do that to mortals, otherwise characters like Hrod would be divine by now.

As for the art Gallery, it isn't necessary to submit any pieces, what I want is permission to set up a specific page for those images we choose to use. Possibly even hosted in another site. (I'm looking into free wikis.)

edited 31st Jul '12 7:09:53 PM by Sijo

I've had several gods previously submitted with that same explanation voted in with no issues.

Hawk and Natalia obtained godhood from fame and infamy respectively. As did Baton, Ipera, and Spira.

The fact that Hrod isn't a god has always bothered me though I could see it being justified by him being too many things to be the god of a single thing or simply the fact that he doesn't want it.

edited 31st Jul '12 7:28:52 PM by Vyctorian

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I'd say it's belief and Other Magical Aether Stuff We Can't Really Define. When in doubt, be vague and reference magic.

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

I've mentioned this; Hrod has actively resisted ascension.

Three Theories On the Birth of Celestial Gods Yes I have before said No to my own ideas when I felt they didn't work. I'm a tad confused why this one needs Editing and would love to hear input.

Edits to Sphinx entry Yes

Dornuf, Patron of the Ancient Dwarf Civilization, God of the Forge, Machine, Progress, Advancement Edit Yeah, I'm not as satisfied with this as I oughta be.

Hollic, terrestrial God of the forge Yes

Tiergan Khalon Yes

Fuinnimh, Sceal's equivalent to caffeine Yes

Kairosurgy, Temporal Magic Yes

Legends Edit

Ethrgy - Ethical energy Yes We can Errata the name later.

Cobblers Yes

Cryptopolis - The hidden city Yes

Potion sleeves Yes

Staff of constructification Yes Pretty wierd

The Forever Warriors Yes

Form Magic Yes With the caveat that I add more later.

Mercenary Guilds Yes With the caveat I add more later.

Azalar Lifesbane Yes Dark can be good.

Summons Yes But more later likely.

Ateniloc Edit This needs more altogether, yes.

Bezylabalug Who Lies In Forbidden Chains Yes I just noticed her name sounds like Beelzebub

Cheaper Magic Metals Yes

Arc of Youth No I... I honestly don't even know why.

Rooted fiber wood Yes

The twin sun gods Edit

Soledad, the Lonely Star Edit

Soledad, Ruleous and Ahulite Edit

Woolson, God of the dead as sacred Yes

The stones of adaptability Yes

Black Empire Facts: Necroturgy Yes

Black Empire Facts: Martial Arts Yes

Art Gallery Yes

Aethersheer, The animate storm Yes

edited 1st Aug '12 2:14:13 PM by God_of_Awesome

You know how they have bagged milk in Canada think that but for potions and you have potion sleeves.

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Canada is bizarre.

"Canadians are weird" jk jk

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I like most of the gods we have voted in; I have just never been totally happy with their origins. I think we should have a more definite explanation for Terrestrial Gods the way we are defining Celestial ones. Worship might help. But not be the only reason. Things that can help: artifacts, nexus point tampering, and of course, Celestial Intervention.

Potion sleeves are simply more practical than fragile bottles, especially for combat-prone adventurers carrying valuable magic potions. Also, more concealable. I'm amazed this is the first I ever heard such an idea.

edited 1st Aug '12 7:30:52 AM by Sijo

I think I'd prefer to keep it somewhat vague.

Basically "lots of attention and Magic!"

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

Changed my vote on Potion Sleeves to a resounding No. %^&* Canada and its kindly neighborly ways.

Black Empire Facts: Democracy, Grimholme and the Garl'gezmond Crime Family

Democracy

Black Imperial enjoy sporadic bouts of democratic election. This primarily happens when the Black Emperor has trouble deciding between a series of possible choices, usually because he feels each decision is about as good as the next or he's just unsure so he willing to let the people take a crack at it. This doesn't take the form of an official election but an unofficial polling whereas Hrod gets a counter on which decision is most popular and normally goes with it after that.

The problem is that Black Imperial don't take these decision as seriously as others would, trusting that the Emperor will brutalize any mistakes. This reflects a general feeling of apathy toward wide-scale issues within the Empire from the citizenry, caring only more and more as the scale grow smaller and more person down to level so micro that Hrod cannot interfere with everything.

Grimholme

A port city collected around a bay in the south-west portion of the Empire. It's history is both colorful and dark, long having been the haven of pirates and thieves, it's also a place of bustling trade. A status quo set by the most cunning, savvy and enterprising robber baron made it so that crime and trade could most coexist in a very unethical symbiosis. It paid lip service to the nation it was a part of but acted mostly independent and shirked on its taxes. The revenue pouring away from it and the frightening and powerful figures investing in it gave it that ability to do so.

Very little change when the Black Prince rolled through, they just failed to pay the proper tribute to someone else. The place is a constant source of irritation to Hrod but just leveling the place and starting over is more trouble then its worth. He even stepped in to save the place once.

Garl'gezmond Crime Family

The underground Sylvan Culture of the Chaukuku were eventually coaxed unto the surface by the Black Emperor, with promises of a better life. Before they had been driven there, the Chaukuku had been brown skinned, blond and pink eyed but as they went deep underground the magic that ran strong in all Sylvan made their colors turn deeper, till they were black, white haired and red eyed.

They had towns down there, ranging between villages and cities, all of them based around the economies of survival, mostly mining for resources. There were attempts, with varying success, towards a united government, settling mostly on a council of elder matriarchs who would settle intertown disputes and pooling of resources. Mostly though, outside the towns, no law held sway and there was only the rule of the bandit clans.

To this day, the Chaukuku nation, with its towns and councils and bandit clans remain down there, a wild frontier filled with danger and excitement. However, many did emigrate to get the hell away from all the excitement and possibly also the danger. However, not all of them were like that. For the Garl'gezmond Clan, a bandit clan, they saw on opportunity for riches.

Based in Grimholme, they effectively rule its criminal underground and their illicit empire extend farther out into the Black Empire and beyond and have done so for many generation. Neither Hrod nor his Black Police have been successful in taking them down but he has driven them into hiding several times, but they always return.

The organization of the family, its minion and activities are strictly ruled by a code of conduct, describing many things, even like how one might betray her peers or assassinate a superior properly to move up in the organization. It's a little bit insane and almost laughably vaudeville, but somehow it works. The top ranking members dress in a certain way, favoring fedoras and pin stripe suits, and talking in a certain way, "ya see, ya big maroon?" And this is oft emulated by their lesser too and styles change slowly.

The head of the family and whole organization is the Grand Matriarch, oft called the God Mother due her ritualistic closeness to the scorpion totem god spirit of the clan. The current God Mother is a cruel sadist and the way she's run the business is sloppy compared to her predecessors. However, she is very savvy against machinations to dispose of her and survived one attempted assasination upon her by all her children while she gave birth to her youngest son. She killed the mastermind of the plot, her eldest daughter but the rest of her children fled, taking her baby son with them. She disowned them all except the infant and offers his hand in marriage to any of her women who can find him, thereby making them the next in line in to be God Mother. The search for this Dark Prince of Crime has been ongoing for nearly two decades.

I always thought that since achieving fame requires that people be thinking of you a lot, mentioning you, focusing on you. If that can cause a celestial god to come into existence/ gain more power. Then if a mortal has a great bit of intense focus in one area that they embody they too would have a likelihood to achieve Terrestrial god status because the aether around them is being wrapped due to this focus. That's my logic anyways.

As for Hrod since he's such an effective and powerful wizard I wouldn't be surprised if he just research ascension ahead of time and found a counter measure to keep him outside of divine power. Or maybe he made a deal with a celestial force like Viek to keep any worship of him weak. Viek would love a deal like that, someone willingly weakening themselves, he'd eat that up. Plus that would mean Hrod doesn't really have to worry about Viek ever trying to cut him down to size.

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Hrod fears godhood for 1) the possible panic backlash it would cause from the rest of the world when the openly megalomaniacal lich with well known designs on world conquest becomes a god and 2) a personal fear of losing his own identity. He keeps some of the pressure off by routing some focus off himself on his daughter and his throne's spirit, any other means I'll leave up in there. He considers ascending to godhood as an emergency plan in case things ever go tits up.

I still think him and Veik having a deal would be pretty awesome. :3

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Just a reminder, those who haven't voted in the latest ballot, please do so by tonight if possible.