So, I was meant to be writing up the aftermath of Iron Kingdoms today, but then work shifts were changed and... well, to be fair, I'm spending the weekend in Stevenage, so you should just count yourselves lucky that you're getting anything.
So, what are you getting? Well, a bit of talk on various settings. An update to the Isles, a bit more on the Guardians of a Galaxy thing, and maybe an independent Planet/City I've had on my mind for a while...
So, to start... Dwarves. Or Dwarfs. Or Dorfs - doesn't matter really. The point is thus; I've had a brainwave on them. You know how I mentioned that, in the Isles, they don't do the typical dwarf-y thing of digging into mountains and then just staying down there, like Scottish moles? Instead, they live atop the mountains, and have a thick Inca theme? What if they're both?
... No, hear me out here. So, a few millennia ago they were your archetypal dwarves, digging for wealth in the mountains above Tyros. Then, one day, they quite literally dug to deep... Into the Underdark. Too dark for even their eyes, and filled with creatures that were both Alien and hostile, they made a spirited attempt to fight it back, but in the end it was a lost cause. The dwarves flooded the surface, abandoning everything unnecessary to their immediate survival, and collapsed every tunnel. This might actually be the cause of the massive inland sea...
So, they stood then in an unfamiliar world, with a near uncontrollable fear of the dark, their greatest warriors, craftsmen and builders lost along with virtually all their knowledge... a complete blank slate for their race...
And they looked up, to the heavens, and saw this great light - brighter than any torch, and eternal... And they named it their god. The moon became his consort, and the stars their children. Fire became sacred, because it was an earthly manifestation of their pantheon, and also held back the night.
But the day was fleeting, and so they climbed higher - closer to their god, and to a place where days were longer. Now, the highest building on any mountain is the temple - made tall to reach out to their god, and painted orange and yellow in memory of his gift of fire.
So, religion down... almost. Two more things well need to mention. First off - their king... or emperor, or [insert mayincaztec term here]. Basically the head dwarf. He's a monarch, the firstborn of the previous monarch, but with one condition; he - or she - must receive the unanimous approval of the high priests. If they do not, the priests may elect one of their own as a suitable heir to the throne.
A great way to abuse power, right? Wrong; because (and this is something I should have mentioned earlier), the high priests are all oracles. They use their visions to divine whether the firstborn is worthy of the title, and failing that who is. And, of course, if they lie they'll lose the Sun's blessing, which will cost them their position... And life.
So, the ruler is anointed by the gods, and holds some limited clerical powers.
But, as we all know... fire is hungry. A small household fire needs only a few logs, but the one in the temple requires a holy animal every week.
... And the sun demands a greater life.
Four times a year, on the Solstices and Equinox, a single dwarf is brought to the capital, to the highest point on the Isles. They have been chosen especially, sought out by the high-priests for this honour, the most sacred and noble duty a dwarf can do. Dressed in the finest of clothes, bedecked with gold and precious gems, they are lead to the roof of the temple, and doused in sacred oils. There, before them, they shall see a platform, the edge of which burns with a sacred flame. They shall cast themselves from it, burning, as they fall down, through the only tunnel not sealed in the evacuation, into the heart of the earth. And, as the sun itself did, they shall banish the darkness from the dwarven race.
... do you know, I reckon I'll leave this update here. I know I promised more, but I really don't feel like it's necessary... it'd just feel tacked on, if you understand. I'll do it next week instead.
... so, yeah. Thanks for reading. Volodanti out.
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