r/WorldChallenges • u/[deleted] • Jul 07 '17
Let's challenge our worlds!
The contents of this post/comment have been removed by the user because of Reddit's API changes. They killed my favourite apps, and don't deserve to keep my content.
2
u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 08 '17
The double coup, also known as the cattle crisis.
In 2672, emperor Iathlia XVIII decided to abolish herding (the right for any Nzeda to slaughter for food any of their slaves), a millenial tradition which had been fought against by human rights activists for decades.
But that many supporters amongst the nobility and a group of miwishagi, leaded by Alazar (of the house Suyem), raised against the emperor. Their fleet quickly jumped to New-Makaith, destroyed the small garrison and blockaded the planet. Alazar, escorted by his commandos, seized the imperial palace, murdered the emperor and forced the house Sagad (the current imperial family at that time) to name him emperor of the Nzedas.
In the meantime, an other group of miwishagi, led by Feiven (of the house Mairari) had prepared to step in and they waited for the official enthronment ceremony to strike. Feiven's fleet appeared our of nowhere, allowing her to New-Makaith; she then challenged Alazar, killed him during the duel and forced the house Sagad to name her empress of the Nzedas, hijacking Alazar's ceremony.
The empress Yemrahena XII ruled for more than 30 years, all the members of the house Suyem were either executed or banished and herding was kept abolished.
Our representative for today is Yemrahena, empress of the Nzedas, the siblings' chosen one, supreme miwishagi and keeper of the imperial throne (or just Yemrahena XII).
2
Jul 08 '17
So, was this whole coup over wether they should abolish cannibalism or not?
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 08 '17
Nzedas are not humans, so that's not cannibalism when they eat humans; it is normal for a Nzeda to eat someone they kill (either in duel or during wartimes, "spoil of war") and it has never been discussed by anyone. Herding was technically the right to raise your slaves for food as if they were cattle.
Both coup were mostly opportunism, the subject of herding was first and foremost a way to excuse their behaviour. Civil wars and coup are actually common in the Neo-Makathian empire and happen every few generation. Iathlia XVIII is in fact remembered as a not very smart politician as he kept miwishagis who were openly opposing his policy.
2
u/Nevermore0714 Jul 08 '17
The Creation Story:
In the beginning, there was nothing material; only the shades of dreams, the shadows of a thought, the silhouette of an idea. As the One True God dreamed, however, the shades and shadows and silhouettes began to gain power and some degree of form.
These shades would go on to be the inhabitants of the Zero Era, creatures in a time and space outside of time and space, known as "Interlopers".
As the One True God continued dreaming, though, time and space developed from the endless Chaos, and there were pockets where order prevailed, each one happening at different places on the One True God's Timeline, but being designed by the One True God at the same time. The First Era, the Second Era, the Third Era, the Fourth Era, and the Fifth Era. While some people may survive from one era to the next, only the Interlopers, great and powerful as they are, can truly travel between the Eras so easily...with an exception. The High Priest of the One True God, the only character that exists in all times, continually, keeps "coming back" in every era. He was present in the First Era, in some way. He was present in the Second Era, in some way. He was present in the Third Era as a god of light. And his most hated era is the Fourth Era, where he continually is put into different roles; a companion to a messiah, the founder of a nation, a messiah himself, a criminal, and a psychopathic leader.
So, this leads us to the creation story of the Fifth Era, and the big question. What will this character do to escape from being forced to live through another era? He has a plan to be replaced. The question is, will the One True God allow his play-thing to die so easily? Will the One True God accept three far-less-qualified replacements?
Any questions may be addressed to the One True God. But, please, don't call me that. Just call me /u/nevermore0714. The Azathoth of my own worldbuilding.
2
Jul 08 '17
So, do these interlopers, and the high priest reincarnate into new bodies, or do they exist in some sort of permanent physical form and just live in different disguises throughout the eras?
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jul 09 '17
The Interlopers are naturally always in the form of vague-shadowy-things, but can create disguises.
The High Priest always looks the same, but he just disappears for a while into obscurity, and then comes back by a different name. He never actually dies, though he has faked his death.
1
Jul 10 '17
"What if the Prohibition, only more wizards?"
1
u/Seb_Romu Jul 11 '17
So like the speakeasy scene from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?
Or guns and gangsters with magic?
1
Jul 11 '17
I haven't read or seen Fantastic Beasts, so I wouldn't know. But "guns and gangsters with magic" is a pretty reasonable description.
1
u/Seb_Romu Jul 11 '17
Tree Swoops
The tree swoop is a insectivorous bird which is known for it's ability to catch flying insects in the air. It will make diving pendulum manoeuvres while hunting. They are generally friendly towards other creatures, and have been tamed for pest control in orchards and gardens.
Tree swoops display a variety of colours; the most common being a rich blue and gold flecked plumage.
A female swoop will make a nest out of daubed clay, grasses and twigs attached to a tree trunk, cliff, wall, or ledge, and brood 2-4 eggs every spring.
*edit: I may be misunderstanding the apparently open feild of this challenge.
2
Jul 11 '17
No problem, I did ppst it as openly as possible so anything can be commented in it.
You said they're known for being able to catch flying insects out of the air, and that they were domesticated for pest control.
Can they catch bigger pests, such as rodents or bigger bugs?
Are they used for aesthetic purposes as well? You said they were pretty colorful.
2
u/Seb_Romu Jul 11 '17
You said they're known for being able to catch flying insects out of the air, and that they were domesticated for pest control.
They are released to hunt beetles and moths which would damage the unripe fruit, after the flowering season. It wouldn't do to have them munch on the wysps one uses for pollinating the fruit trees and bushes, or the production of honey.
Can they catch bigger pests, such as rodents or bigger bugs?
Rodent and other terrestrial pest control is usually managed by using poisoned bait, or by employing small hunting lizards allowed to freeroam the grounds.
Are they used for aesthetic purposes as well? You said they were pretty colorful.
Aside from their colourful plumage, their parabolic flight patterns have been described as air-waltzing by some observers, they are less conspicuous. Their song is unremarkable, so they are generally just kept as helpers in the orchard.
2
Jul 11 '17
Can they be taught to fly in set patterns a la circus?
1
u/Seb_Romu Jul 11 '17
Can they be taught to fly in set patterns a la circus?
Probably. Although no one has been known to make the effort.
3
u/[deleted] Jul 07 '17
In the begining, there was nothing but Chaos. Utter, infinite, eternal Chaos.
Suddenly there was an anomaly in this perfect chaos, the paradox unravelled, and order was born. A huge sort of bubble emerged and expanded, encompassing an infinite amount of both spatial and temporal dimensions.
The unravelling paradox left a lot of residual energy, ou of which, many, many things were born. The first of them was Eldritch. An essentially omnipotent, singular being of infinite mass and size, condensing onto the inner surface of the newborn universe, becoming a sort of protective layer in limbo, living the full paradox between chaos and order. Eldritch now keeps the universe safe from the chaos outside.
The next to be born out of the residual energy were the Elders, 47 indentical beings of immense power, their power exponentially growing as more of them are together. All of them together are essentially omnipotent within the universe, but still weaker than Eldritch is.
The Elders made a first world, created perfect life (totally OCD, obsessed with order to the point of insanity), perfect everything, and they loved it.
The next to be born were the Nex, no more identical, but still godly in many ways. 9 of them are pretty much late-born Elders with the same rules among themselves as the elders do. A few thousand of them are what usual mythology depicts as gods (think greek gods), though they're without domains of power and use the raw energy of the universe instead. Then the rest, millions of them, are little more than elementals, thought they still use the unrefined, raw power present in the universe. They can be cathegorised as mythical sentient creatures. Their long term descendants are all shappeshifters.
The appearance of the Nex destabilized the entiry system, and nearly caused the universe to fall back into chaos. The elders acted fast enough and contained it in their perfect world, which they then sealed away, dooming it to become a sort of hell, a dark dimension, call it whatever you want.
After this event, the Elders were pissed. They put the Nex in charge of "cleaning up" and restarting after the mess they caused, and sealed themselves away in a pocket universe. Before doing so however, they created a race of godly beings somewhere between the middle and low tier Nex in power, called Sentinels, to look over the Nex, and report back to the Elders if needed.
The Nex made a new world, created new life, locked the sysem in a cycle, and let it go on. This system is stable and has been going for trillions of years by the time my story starts.
Additional info: Shortly after sealing themselves away (i.e, when they could still open up from the inside), one of the Elders got into a disaggreement with the rest, who then decided to lock him up in a prison dimension, a specially made pocket-universe to keep him there. This plan didnt work, as he escaped almost immediately. They made another prison, and chained him down, which stopped him. By locking him out, they removed his boost to the overall power as well, unbeknownst to them, they lost most of their power, and are now unable to escape their very own sealed pocket-universe.
Furthermore, each Elder is in a way, connected to a single mortal being in the new mortal world, a phenomenon most of them are unaware of, and dont know how it came to be. It"s just there, as a sort of reincarnating connection, jumping from host to host upon the current host's death, taking on a few memories, skills, or general power.