Clueless Delver

  #Tale25 Failed! Haha! I lost steam around a 3rd of the way to the end, writing 280 out of 365 entries to a novella I attempted to write. Alas, I think I was getting to ahead of myself, thinking I could write a full novella bit by bit.   While there were some neat moments I wrote, the interactions between each character were extremely shallow with only a few moments having any meaningful interaction. Thanks to this exercise however, I've learned my weaknesses and will attempt to address them by writing shorter fiction in the upcoming #Drama26 , which I plan write several short plays / fairy tales based on both #Calamupa and #Ulrunir .   Like the other reflection, I've listed the top 9 tale fragments. Only 9 stars were lit in the world of Calamupa during the endeavours of Hajer , Gumue , Domel and Shurmo . Thankfully, each character had at least 1 star, which means at least their narrative resounded with some people, which surprises me.  In terms of char...

 #Lore25 Complete! Looks like I'm the only one who participated in it! Through the exercise this year, I gained a lot of insight and learned of several shortcomings of my approach to making exciting lore. One thing I've realised is that narrative driven fragments are more exciting to write and read, though it can be a bit taxing as it requires some effort to make the narrative coherent.  Delving into engaging narrative is what I will be attempting next year with #Drama26 , where I try to elevate myself from simple exposition to hopefully more riveting narratives. Like last year, here are my top 10 starred lore fragments. Alas, things have gotten significantly busy for me and I think I won't be able to draw any of them - though I did draw a map of #Ulrunir . Due to no one else participating, only 36 stars were lit in the skies of #Ulrunir . Because they are so few in number, I shall name them in a manner inspired by their names - keep a look out for them! Top 10 starred l...

 The great feeling of liberation surged through Kur-Aked as he broke free from the Quilt - and he roared, shaking the Canyon with his voice alone. Kur-Aked soared the High for several days - as a great understanding manifested within his mind. Despite his newly earned freedom, he sought not to return to his homeland - as he had now grown a mad passion for the Canyon of Thorns which nurtured his enlightenment and revealed to him this secret of divinity.

Eventually, a vision came to Kur-Aked - of himself soaring the skies alongside the venerable Deity of Clouds, Ul-Dungur. And when he woke, he took flight as he willed.

 But it was this suffering that made Kur-Aked grow in wisdom and might - unbeknownst even to himself. Salts of Fortune replaced the the Salts that previously occupied his sinewy physique, and the severe lack all other Salts that bestowed him weight and bound him to the Earth made him even lighter than a Cloud Serpent.

 As time passed, Kur-Aked, in his solitude and starvation, grew in madness. His attempts to scale the canyon were futile, for the thorns that coiled about every crop of rock pierced his flesh and drew his blood until he fainted and found himself at the bottom of the canyon time and time again. The meagre amount of barley he grew could not subsist his strong body, which in turn wasted.

 Despite the fall, he was graced by rare Salts of Fortune which gathered at the bottom of the Canyon of Thorns where none dared to tread.  Unable to escape from the thorns, Kur-Aked could only survive by painstakingly cultivating Barley, which he planted upon the earth imbibed with Salts of Fortune. Due to the depth of the canyon, and the dryness of clime, only a meagre portion of the Void of Fire and Water could nourish the Barley - and so in desperation, Kur-Aked fed his Barley his blood.

 Despite his best efforts, Kur-Aked's temperance and endurance was not requited. After navigating to through the Canyon of Thorns after successfully escaping from an ambush from the exemplary army of Kur-Misim of the rival Amim tribe, he was plotted against by his own lieutenants who caved in from the pressure from having to endure the same burdens that were forced upon Kur-Aked. When Kur-Aked was at his most fatigued state, he struggled in a battle against his own companions and fell into the depths of the Canyon of Thorns.

Despite the machinations of his father and many rivals, Kur-Aked prevailed over tribulation after tribulation - what he initially saw as a means to better himself he soon despised and he despaired as he realized it was the result of those whom he loved and protected. Despite this resentment however, he bided his time, maintaining his decorum and heir apparent as he saw all those who opposed him would eventually be forced to follow him eventually when he inherited his father's Seat.

The first Warlock who rose to great notoriety was the Warlock of Fangs, Kur-Aked. Born as the heir to the Scaled Nest of the Isot tribe, he was beloved by his peoples for his strength, beauty and heroic feats. Yet, his sin was his perfection, and many envied his talents, even his father Kur-Akgal who plotted against him due to how he allured even members of the harem he had owned.

 The five tribes Isot, Amim, Ukus, Kamet and Akar ushered the Early Primordial Age which involved centuries of strife between the five, punctuated by brief periods of peace.  It was during this period that numerous heroes of legends rose and the secrets of divinity were discovered by the blasphemous Warlocks who sought to gain the power of the Deities for themselves.

Of the Land Serpents, three tribes formed - named after their Chieftains, Isot, Amim, Ukus. Of the Cloud Serpents, there were two - named after the leaders of their Ascetic Cousins in the high, who soon became deified due to their now extremely rare ability to fly - Kamet and Akar. Seeking to dominate the land, the Five Tribes prepared for war.

 Peace prevailed in the coming centuries, but soon the Serpents grew dissatisfied with a life of idyll - they forged weapons but none were used. Initially, to sate their lust for battle, they held gladitorial battles, but that was insufficient to remove them from ennui. As the blood of the leaders of the previous generation of Serpentine leaders thinned, the pacts between the two factions and even within the factions dissolved. Several leaders of the new generation of Serpents quickly formed their own cliques around the fortresses they built.

 Eventually, with both sides fatigued by war, the the Land Serpents and Cloud Serpents made peace. The landed Cloud Serpents took the initiative to negotiate peace as they grew weary of combat and had gotten used to the comforts of living on land, and quickly lost the ability to take flight. There were several other Cloud Serpents however who were of more temperate disposition, and limited their consumption of Barley to only the amount required to stay in control of themselves.

In the beginning the Land Serpents forged weapons they saw their enemies brandished - maces and javelins which struck with greater might than their counterparts shaped from ice. Thereafter they were graced by the prodigious Kur-Ustam who invented the Barley-woven Sling and the copper Sling bullet which struck the flying Cloud Serpents with great accuracy. With these new arms, the Land Serpents reclaimed several holdings.

Having nowhere to expand due to the rapid assault of the Cloud Serpents, the Land Serpents could only dig deep into the Quilt of Ul-Ki'us to make space for living. And it was through this, they struck Copper, which they learned to forge using the Veins of Saltfire which they discovered down deep.

 The first fortress that the Cloud Serpents took over was Ma-Imdur, from the fortress they stole the secret of cultivating Barley, and sought to grow it upon the Clouds - but to no avail. Soon, several of the Cloud Serpents took to the ground, and quickly lost their ability to soar the skies. But with a foothold on the land, they were able to feed their brethren in the skies. Thereafter, facing pressure from both Land and Sky, the Land Serpents were cornered and faced a great crisis.

With the first fortresses, the battle with the Cloud Serpents drew longer and neither could successfully defeat the other. But having the bounty of Ul-Sedu's Barley bestowed upon them, the Land Serpents slowly gained the upper hand, as more Cloud Serpents starved and became less sound in mind. Seeing her children who flew alongside her suffer, Ul-Dungur begged Ul-Margur for help, seeing that they both dwelt in the domain of the high.  In exchange for mandating his worship among the Cloud Serpents, Ul-Margur bestowed the Cloud Serpents the ways of commanding hail, and from the ice of hail, they fashioned maces, javelins, and the ability to sculpt large balls of hail which would crush the fortresses that the Land Serpents built.

With a ravenous fury, the Cloud Serpents assailed the land, sacking the domiciles of mud within which were stored the precious Barley harvested by the Land Serpents. Shocked by this transgression, the Land Serpents sought to respond in kind, but their ability to soar the skies were long gone, and they could only find ways to defend themselves. The most gifted of these Land Serpents was Kur-Amat, who built the First Fortress.

As the Serpents ate, the Barley that was upon the Quilt diminished and the number of Land Serpents grew. As Barley grew scarce, the Land Serpents fervently prayed to Ul-Sedu for her mercy and grace. And in return for their prayer and faith, Ul-Sedu granted them Barley in their domiciles. Soon, Wild Barley grew scarce, and the Cloud Serpents who were not bestowed Ul-Sedu's Blessing grew desperate.

To sate their hunger, the Cloud Serpents descended from the clouds to eat the grains from Barley. Several of the serpent's, in their greed ate Barley in excess, and became too heavy to fly alongside Ul-Dungur, these Serpent's became Land Serpents who decided to follow Ul-Sedu instead.

Barley covered much of Ul-Ki'us' Quilt as Ul-Sedu tended to her first creation.  Inspired by Ul-Sedu, Ul-Dungur sought to fill the Clouds with her own creation - which formed the ancestral Cloud Serpents who soared the skies alongside Ul-Sedu. However, unlike Barley, which had their fill of the Void of Water from the High, and the Salt of Earth from the Low, the Cloud Serpents could only eat the Void of Water and hungered for the Salt of Earth.

The three deities Ul-Sedu, Ul-Dungur and Ul-Mar'gur lived in harmony for centuries, tending to the Quilt beneath which Ul-Ki'us slumbered, seeking to make it beautiful and peaceful as a means to not disturb the Deity of Earth's Slumber. The first creation was the grasses - the very first of which was Barley.

As Ul-Gisba and Ul-Ubzi fought, while Ul-Inag wept, the Salt and Void that was cast from the heavens soon layered into many kinds of Salts which settled onto the belly of Ul-Ki'us, forming layer upon layer upon her like a blanket which kept her slumbering.  These layers eventually joined to formed the next generation of Deities, freed from the base inclinations of their primordial ancestors. The first was Ul-Sedu, the Deity of Trees who fed on the void within the tears of Ul-Inag, alongside the Salt of the Earth.  The second was Ul-Dungu, the Deity of Clouds, who fed on the Light from Ul-Gisba's Salt, and the Void of Ul-Inag's tears.  The third was Ul-Mar'gur, the Deity of Storms who fed on the scraps of Ul-Ubzi's Void, and the Light from Ul-Gisba's Salt.

 Due to the force of Ul-Ubzi's strikes the Salt that was beaten out of Ul-Gisba spun upon a different spoke.  These fragments soon gathered to form Ul-Ki'us, the Deity of Earth.  Unlike her creators who commanded Fire and Air, Ul-Ki'us was of a slothful disposition. Though she hungered for Void as she supped on the Salt struck from Ul-Gisba, and the Salt shed from the tears of Ul-Inag, she sat unmoved.   To this day one can still hear the rumbling of her belly, when the land is violently shaken, causing the Salts of Fire to erupt from the deep. These Salts are quelled by the Salts of Air, forming the Salt of Earth.

Yet Ul-Ubzi was not easily consumed, though it was part of her left foot that was gnawed by the starving Ul-Gisba, in her fury, she let go of Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu to strike Ul-Gisba in retaliation. However, having become accustomed to eating the Stars, more of Ul-Ubzi's Void was consumed by Ul-Gisba with every strike she made, even as the Salt was knocked from his bosom.

Yet Void was not as easily gained as Salt. And Ul-Gisba suffered much in his hunger for Void. He labored to eat part of Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu in his desperation, but naught came frome it, for they were too quick and too large. Soon, he was brought to the brink and sought to eat his mother, Ul-Ubzi. And to his surprise and to his mother's horror, he had managed to eat the Void that belonged to her.

In recognizing is lack of power, Ul-Gisba sought to gain it. Like his ancestor, he began to grow a hunger for Salt, and fed himself from the Salt that broke from the thrashing of Ul-Asu and Ul-Asi. And so, as Ul-Gisba's body grew in Salt, it desired more Void in turn.

Like their parents, the First Stars were deities in themselves, few remember their names for they were flung about by Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu, several collided with one another inadvertently merging into Ul-Gisba the Deity of Fire. Unlike his parents, the Deity of Air and Deity of Water, Ul-Gisba sought to end the chaos that was wrought by the Primordial deities Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu, but understood his powerlessness as he bore only a meager portion of Salt and Void within himself.

By chance, the Deities Ul-Ubzi and Ul-Inag were born of an equal proportion of Salt and Void. Half of Ul-Ubzi's Salt spun upward, while Half of Ul-Inag's Salt spun downward in unison. From birth they hung onto their parents' bodies, crying tears of salt and void. These formed the First Stars.

Before the seas, only void and salt existed as two stones, mingling in a tenuous balance. Void sought Salt, and Salt sought void - both substances sought to consume one another, causing both Void and Salt to break apart and multiply. The first breaking of Salt and Void caused the birth of the Primordial Deities, the Deity of Time Ul-Asu and Deity of Space Ul-Asi, who both bore the likeness of colossal serpents that soared across the newborn world. Ul-Asu bore more Salt in her body, and Ul-Asi bore more Void in her body. Due to the nature of their bodies and the great hunger they felt due to the incompleteness of Salt and Void, they chased one another - Ul-Asu seeking to consume the Salt of Ul-Asi, and Ul-Asi seeking to consume the Void of Ul-Asu. In their struggle to eat one another, they bodies clashed, causing Salt to spin, unknowingly giving life to the Deity of Air Ul-Ubzi and then the Deity of Water Ul-Anag.

 A wonder of engineering constructed by the direction Master Builder Mis-Olsu who served the Throne of Sandstone, Kol-Atem who ruled the north-eastern lands near the border of Agash several centuries ago. The Kol-Atem Falls was created from the transcendent confluence of sorcery, river engineering and architecture - built to form a channel which propels boats from the Agashic Lowland to the higher altitude of the Ninur-Sinic lands, giving it the appearance of a waterfall when seen from afar. Apart from its utility, its design, proportion and placement of sculptures are highly regarded. Today, the Kol-Atem Falls remain as the most profitable toll gates owned by Ninur-Sin by many travellers and merchants who seek to expedite their journey across the land.

The most common kind of river boat found in Ulrunir, made of tight bundles of reed or cane that are watertight and highly buoyant. It is propelled by a combination of paddles and wind. Despite having many land locked regions, Ulrunir is home to numerous large networks of rivers which many travellers use to travel through the regions. The only exception is Shur-Qamet whose rivers are largely dried up due to centuries of desertification.

A transcendent state of existence caused by the resonant layering of the Salt within one's body. In the state of Saltform, one is able to dissociate one's consciousness from the constraints of one's body temporarily and have manifest the magical effects of their Salt. It is said that Saltform is the form that ghosts take, created from the residual salts formed in their mind due to resentment.

As described previously, I have introduced the major polities of Ulrunir. I plan to share with the good reader my ten year journey through the land which was completed with the assistance of several guides, both local and foreign which shall hopefully give a fuller picture whose framework was hopefully bestowed by this sketch.

Despite Ka-Absur's bearing as significant authority in terms of religious influence, it is paradoxically the most open as evidenced by the Republic having the largest proportion of foreign visitors, largely from across the Western Seas. It is also home to several renowned adventurers and missionaries seeking to spread the Ka-Absuric denomination of Ulruniri faith.

Should one skirt the western coasts of Ulrunir and move southward, one would eventually find themselves in the Holy Republic Union of Ka-Absur, which borders Agash and Ka-Abir. As implied from its name Ka-Absur had its roots from Ka-Abir, which it was originally a part of until their separation after the War of Schism which saw a separation due to differences in methods of government between the Councils of the two polities.