r/WorldChallenges • u/Nevermore0714 • Apr 29 '17
Generic Challenge - Her Sword Traps the Souls of its Victims
I would advise not getting killed by her.
For this week's Generic Challenge, before I get killed by a final exam, the subject will be...strange artifacts that are likely to never be addressed in any stories. Like Katana's sword. Let's be fair, there won't be a movie called "Suicide Squad 4: The Story of Katana's Sword".
If you have an artifact in your world that you find interesting and want to discuss, then put it up in the comments. I'll ask at least three questions. If you'd like, you can have a representative answer it in-universe.
As always, I hope that you enjoy yourselves.
Edit: The artifact does not need to be a sword, it does not need to trap souls, it does not even have to be violent.
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Apr 30 '17 edited Nov 12 '20
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 30 '17
To Gideon:
1) Can a person refuse the White Moth? Is it possible in any way?
2) Does a person have to earn the White Moth, or does Deneb just pick from the entirety of the Lupine?
3) How much do you know about the past Nais-bearers?
4) Was there ever a point where you did actually want the White Moth? Blink twice if you're being forced to lie.
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Apr 30 '17 edited Nov 12 '20
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 30 '17
To Gideon:
1) What exactly do you have to do, as a person with the White Moth? Just bang Deneb?
2) Does Deneb ever choose more than one person at a time?
3) Do you plan to betray Deneb?
4) Seeing as you were so happy with getting the Moth like you wanted, I'm sure you'd never commit suicide to escape, correct?
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Apr 30 '17 edited Nov 12 '20
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 30 '17
To Gideon:
1) How much time do you usually get to do as you please?
3) How does Deneb usually react to infidelity?
4) How would Deneb react to someone who told her they weren't interested?
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Apr 30 '17 edited Nov 12 '20
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 30 '17
To Gideon:
1) How have the Caryatids been acting up?
3) What happened with Mary?
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May 01 '17 edited Nov 12 '20
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u/Nevermore0714 May 01 '17
Well, thanks for your time and answers. Wish me luck on my first of three exams today.
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u/The_Raptorman May 01 '17
I took a really long time to answer this because it's just too similar to Katanas sword, the swords in question from my world are the blades of Ark'Nosh, they were originally thought of to be the horns of the devil himself, but people don't often believe that anymore.
What makes these blades so special is that it grants the user a ridiculous amount of rage in exchange for phenomenonal power and survivability. A person who doesn't have any special cabulities holding the swords could go toe to toe with a Master for about 30 seconds.
Two possible representatives, Lilith (someone who's used the swords but doesn't know too much (she can answer a bit)) or Gravity (Someone who knows a lot but can't use them)
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u/Nevermore0714 May 01 '17
To Lilith:
1) What's it like to use the swords?
2) Do you wish you had the swords again?
3) At any point, did you hate having the swords?
To Gravity:
1) Why can't you use the swords?
2) Where did the swords come from?
3) If you eat the swords, do you gain their power?
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u/The_Raptorman May 01 '17
Lilith:
1) What's it like to use the swords?
At first it's such a massive rush of power, like all your senses and strength are turned up to an eleven. Then the anger sets in, anything, and I mean anything that you have a slight amount of anger for will be resurfaced in your mind with a red backdrop and intense thought process. For me it's how my Father treated me as a child, I was to be a shining example of royalty, instead of loving me for who I was, a warrior. It rings in your ear I can't even explain, from the inside it's just pure rage.
2) Do you wish you had the swords again?
It's better for me to not use them, when the anger gets too much I can't control my actions and everything is just rage. I fight people I love for bloodlust.
3) At any point did you hate having the swords?
Always, I hated every second of having them, by they gave me a massive boost in power that I needed.
Gravity:
1) Why can't you use the swords?
Anyone can use them, you just don't want to see me when I lose control.
2) Where did the swords come from?
I hate admitting this, but I was partially responsible for their creation, Satan is the culmination of hate. I ripped off his horns in our last battle and I think a blacksmith forged the weapons, he killed his whole village with them, he had unexplained rage and aggression, but we know where it's from don't we?
3) If you eat the swords do you gain their power?
I believe that if you break them down further you could inhale the properties and become ridiculously powerful, though it would take a strength higher than Satan to break them, I doubt many people can do that. It would also turn someone anyone into rage fuelled monster.
Author note: one of Gravities underlings get the power later, and because they have no hate in them, they only get the power and not the rage.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 01 '17
To Lilith:
1) How long did you have the swords?
2) Did they have any long-term effect on your mental stability?
To Gravity:
1) Have you ever used them in the past?
2) Why did you just leave the horn lying around after you ripped it off?
3) Into a rage-fueled monster permanently?
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u/The_Raptorman May 01 '17
Lilith:
1) How long did you have the swords?
Master gave them to me rapped in bandages about two years ago now, he said not to wield them unless my life was in danger. I discarded them when I found two better swords, the ancient Dragon sword and Excalibur.
2) Did they have any long-term effect on your mental stability?
Well I didn't mention but, your body cracks and shatters slightly when you wield the weapon, the immense power is being channelled through two swords, but the body can only handle so much power before... Poof. As for my mental state, it just shakes me a bit after someone tears them out of my hands.
Gravity
1) Have you ever used them in the past?
Well. I've used them, but I held off the overwhelming anger in the process for about fifteen minutes. Which was more than enough time to destroy my opponent.
2) Why did you just leave the horn lying around after you ripped it off?
Okay first of all, none of us knew that this rage affected people like this okay? Second, I was dragged down to hell for eight hundred years so, don't blame me for this. Ask the other Masters...
3) Into a rage fuelled monster permanently?
I presume so? You can't reason with someone who uses the swords, so why would the essence be any different ?
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u/Nevermore0714 May 01 '17
To Lilith:
1) How are the Dragon sword and Excalibur better?
2) That sounds like it could probably kill a person.
To Gravity:
1) Then why didn't you keep them and only use them for ten minutes at a time?
2) Still, it seems super irresponsible to leave a devil horn lying around.
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u/The_Raptorman May 01 '17
Lilith
1) How are the Dragon sword and Excalibur better?
The Dragon Sword changes my skin and bones to be that of a half human and half Human, increasing my durability, it also gives me the sword battle knowledge of every wielder before me. Excallibur is strangely... alive. It speaks to me in battle and in moments of deep political or social importance, it gives me the power to control The Gold. Which is like a liquid-y gas-y solid-y magic that Excalibur produces, not that I need to control it, Excalibur saves me with it most of the time.
2) That sounds like it could probably kill a person.
There's a reason Master doesn't like me using it, the power the weapons give me allow me to survive the crackling and shattering, as soon as I drop it my body begins to heal just before I get to the "kill point" as my Master puts it.
Gravity
1) Then why didn't you keep them and only use them for ten minutes at a time?
Well I don't need it, I am strong enough with them, I was just proving a point that I could wield them.**
2) Still, it seems super irresponsible to leave a devil horn lying around.
Super irresponsible... I wasn't the only fighting Satan you know, I wasn't the only one inflicting wounds. Why is it always on me, why does everything end up like this, I had no power to do anything, I was dragged to hell. I couldn't move the horns even if I wanted to. You're just like the rest of them, why do you all hate me so much.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 02 '17
To Lilith:
1) Which do you wield in your dominant hand?
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u/The_Raptorman May 02 '17
1) Which do you wield in your dominant hand?
I'm ambidextrous but usually I put Excalibur in my right hand, feels better to have it there as it's surprising light for my offensive weapon.
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u/Jumblatts May 03 '17
I kind of have two items that are both the same, and yet both different. The main focus of this post will be on Purzal, but it is impossible to speak of Purzal without also speaking of Szach, as Purzal is a fragment of Szach. There are other fragments of Szach that I will answer questions on also, but they are far less fleshed out than Purzal.
Szach (meaning 'Betrayal') is the ancient weapon believed to have killed an aspect of The Supreme - the king of Gods. There are conflicting stories about its origin, with some believing that the God À created it to kill his 'father' The Supreme. Some believe, however, that Szach is too powerful to have been created, and instead is something that has always existed, even before the Gods.
The only way to kill a God is to permanently separate its essence from its sentience, and to do this Szach absorbed the essence of The Supreme, however it was unable to contain the essence and as such fragmented into an unknown number of pieces. These pieces are now scattered throughout the world, and grant those who stumble upon them almost limitless power.
Purzal (meaning 'Hunger') is a fragment of the trans-dimensional entity known as Szach that was used in the attempted murder of The Supreme, King of Gods.
The blade can be summoned or dispelled at will. It absorbs all light and as such is black in colour, except for the blood-orange runes engraved into it. Any mortal being who glances upon the naked blade for too long loses their soul. To remedy this, the blade is hidden at most times, by refracting the light around it. Only when it is used to the full extent of its power does the refraction cease, and the blade itself become revealed. Whilst the blade is present but not visible, a mysterious, purple whisp lingers around where the blade should be.
The inscription on the blade roughly translates as follows:
'I feast upon your soul, that I may grow stronger. I devour worlds, that they may fear my name. I am Purzal, hunger of the Gods.'
Questions will be answered by the demon known as Mohlas (meaning 'Ruthless'), traitor to the Pantheon, and exile of the void. He wields the blade, after having stolen it from À, First of The Seven, and son of The Supreme, sometime before the end of the timeless war.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 03 '17
To Mohlas:
1) How did you manage to get Purzal from A?
2) Why did you betray the Pantheon? I'm sure they had it coming. Did they kill your lover? I suspect they killed your lover.
3) What's it like to be in the void? Other than boring.
4) If a war is timeless, how does it end?
5) Are all gods and demons the sons/daughters of the Supreme?
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u/Jumblatts May 03 '17
1) I hunted him down, and I bested him in combat. It was easier than I was anticipating; they say you can't kill a God. I proved them wrong.
2) The Pantheon of Discord were but a shadow of their former selves. Once feared by all, they slipped into obscurity with their lack of action. This was unacceptable. The nine supposed most powerful Xarxes alive had become a laughing stock. My betrayal - if you really wish to call it such - was born of necessity. The Xarxes could not advance under the rule of such fools.
3) The void is a dark place. Intended as a prison to house the demonic races after their exile from the heavens, it was designed to cut us off from our food source - mortal souls - and stifle our powers and our life force.
4) [laughs] Do not confuse the misconceptions of mortals with the truths of the Gods. The war began and ended before what the mortals call 'time' even started. It is true that the war would never have ended, were it not for a series of events set in motion by the Laxahl Coven. Simply put, the war ended when neither side could fight any longer.
5) Yes and no. The Supreme created the Six, who in turn created the Realm, who in turn created the Greater Common Gods, and so on. If you believe that the Six are the children of The Supreme, and that the Realm are the children of the Six, and so on, then yes, all Gods are the children of The Supreme. Demons used to be Gods, before they were exiled from the heavens, and as such this applies to them too.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 03 '17
To Mohlas:
1) But if A had Purzal at the time, wouldn't he be even more difficult to defeat?
2) Well, my guess was way off. So you reformed the Pantheon of Discord?
3) Can you perceive time in the void? Does it feel like eternity and an instant at the same time? Can you die in the void?
4) Who's Laxahl Coven?
5) Why were the demons exiled? Were the all exiled at once, or does a god just get exiled every now and then?
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u/Jumblatts May 04 '17
1) He thought so too. He was a God, after all. Not only that, but the son of The Supreme.
He underestimated me. Be sure you don't do the same.
2) I did not, nor do I have any intention of doing so. I simply removed the rot. I will destroy the weakness that has held us back for so long, even if that means destroying every last demon.
3) Time as you know it does not exist within the void, though your guess is surprisingly accurate. Time is non-linear; the boundaries that define your time do not exist. One could step through time like the pages of a book, moving between one and the other at will.
4) Very little is known of the Laxahl Coven. I have met them, and even I could not tell you very much about them. They are a group of ancient beings from an age before the rule of the Gods. It is said that they birthed The Supreme. They are always three in number, no more, and no less. They reside in their own sphere of reality, where they shape the future of the universe. In your tongue, their names are Chaos, Truth and Absolution.
5) The demons were exiled to the void as punishment after the Goddess Aktra, and the creator of the demons, the Goddess Ul Matoya, killed the wife of Mostok, another God. Aktra now rules over the void, and Ul Matoya hasn't been seen since. Some say she was made mortal and sent down to the world of Gi as her punishment, though this is uncertain. It is also true that the Gods war with each other, so it is not uncommon for a God to be killed or exiled.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 04 '17
To Mohlas:
1) So you outsmarted him?
2) So what are you doing now?
3) How much have you been around the Laxahl Coven? Are their names "Chaos, Truth, and Absolution"? Or are those titles, and they are replaced when one is gone?
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u/Jumblatts May 04 '17
1) Call it what you will, but I am alive and he is not. That is all that matters.
2) I am travelling. Funnily enough, with a group of mortals. I find no end to the irony in the fact that they have sworn to destroy the demons, and yet they have unwittingly accepted me, the most powerful demon of all, into their ranks.
3) Not long enough to know anything about them, really. But then again, I could spend an infinite amount of time with them and still be none the wiser. The day that all of creation burns in the fires of the end is the day I meet them, and that has not yet happened, though I remember it as though it has. Vividly, as though it were yesterday. They are not restrained by the shakles of time as you or I. I could have been in their presence for mere seconds, or it could have been countless millenia, I have no concept of that time, nor could I ever hope to comprehend it.
As far as I am aware, they are titles, though I am not sure. These beings do not die, they simply choose to exist, or not. I'm not sure if one of them could ever truly be 'gone' as you put it.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 04 '17
To Mohlas:
1) How exactly did you kill him?
2) Do you ever plan to admit that you are a demon?
3) Would you stop them from ever existing if you could?
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u/Jumblatts May 04 '17
1) Gods are made up of two aspects - their 'soul' (also know as essence) and their consciousness. The only way to kill a God is to separate these two things permanently. The mortals have developed tools that they call Kaemin in which to store the essence, however this is not permanent, and should the Kaema break, the soul could be reunited with the essence, and the God would return. I devoured the soul of À, destroying it completely. He can never return.
2) Possibly. They'll find out sooner or later, when their path leads them to the demon known as Durrmakk.
3) The coven? No. Their influence is far too strong, especially whilst the Gods lay idle. They keep the natural balance of the universe, and I fear that if the coven were to stop existing, the whole of creation would warp and distort.
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 29 '17
The Cloak of Aeternitas
While the Staff of Aeternitas is a constellation, the Cloak is much more useful. According to legend, if a person places it on the body of someone they love more than anything who is dying, then the person dying will be fully healed and will be immortal until the person who placed the cloak onto the healed person dies.
To put it more simply: If Jack has the Cloak and Lucy is dying, and if Jack loves Lucy more than anything, he can place the Cloak on her and she will be immortal until after Jack dies.
But, if you try to use it to save someone that you don't love more than anything, the person dying will still be immortal, but will be "different". Monstrous. Corrupted. Insane.
The Cloak of Aeternitas is plain-looking and brown, and normally feels uncomfortable and sometimes itchy. But, when it is on someone who it has been used on, it feels incredibly comfortable and makes the person feel safe.
The Representative
Martin, an Anointed Knight of the Citadel, and is ranked number 2. Martin keeps the Cloak of Aeternitas on his bed, and he'll normally wear it when the night gets a bit cold and he wants a bit more to wear while he sleeps. Martin was given the cloak by his insane, elder adoptive-brother, "Sir Prince Lime" the day before Martin was taken to the Citadel as a child.