The Many Islands (Comments Encouraged)

[thethief3]

Many legends tell of how Humans and Beastfolk became separate. The Foxfolk of the silver isles tell how two brothers were playing in the fields when they spotted a vixen who they mistook for a Beastfolk in her animal form. The younger of the two thought she was beautiful so returned to the same field each day sometimes seeing her, sometimes not until he grew to adulthood where he chastised the fox for never revealing its two legged form to him. It answered it had no two legged form but offered to take off his mask for him so they would live together as foxes in the wild. But she was mistaken because when he took off his mask he became a human no longer able to transform between animal and two legged forms.

The Catfolk of the Isles of Cats tell how those of them who were not as agile or clever often failed to find a place in Catfolk society. But one day one man and one woman decided to marry each other anyway. The children born to them didn’t have the features of cats or the ability to transform and when their house was burned by other Catfolk for being an abomination they developed human’s connection to fire. When it was discovered the family survived, the catfolk sent them off to live with others like them who became humans.

The truth is a long time ago all people were as the Beastfolk would say Beastfolk as they could transform into animals but they had the hairless bodies of humans in their two legged forms. But eventually the Beastfolk retreated into the forests guided by shamans while the humans lived closer and in harmony with their forges whose gentle flames marked every human child at birth in a form of fiery baptism.

[thethief3]

One time (it was a time before the sun when the world was only lit by lamps which hung in trees) some time after the creation of the world the god of light sought disciples. One of them, the first was a woman who could take the form of a fox and she loved him in all his resplendent glory. So she sought to create a gift for him, a light which could glow forever and not fade like the other lights. However her powers were imperfect so she created fire which could only glow so long as it consumed and which consumed everything including water. She showed it to her god and for a time he was pleased until he found out about what price you had to pay for it. So he rejected her but she had grown to love her creation so she gathered many disciples and taught them how to make fire before retreating to a different part of the island. She used it to burn forests and create fields where she built villages each centered on a great foundry which she offered gifts to which eventually gentled its nature and made it accustomed to the feelings of spirits.

Eventually she discovered these flames were friendlier when a child, a young boy accidentally stepped into them and came out with his skin charred but unhurt now bearing the distinctive bronze colour most humans now bear. She decided each child from now on would be marked by the fire of the foundry and so each new child would bear the bronze skin and glowing green eyes common to humans of this world.

Eventually this woman would found a school which broke the laws of nature with words and trickery and brought about many great and terrible things. The woman taught many disciples here who would become the first wizards. Although her own creations were suitable for the world, some of her disciples were excessive in their alterations to the whims of the world. Seeing this and how it twisted the sensations and sounds of the world, the goddess of the sky brought it low with a spark of lightning which created a fire of its own which consumed the school. Our woman took this as a chance to be absolved so leapt into the fire and added her own to it. In that moment she ascended to heaven as the goddess of fire. Seeing the destruction of the school many resented their teacher and took up arms against those who remained loyal to their teacher the battle raged in the fire for 3 days until the goddess of the sky again intervened creating a great being which would turn the tides in favour of the side remaining loyal to their teacher.

After this battle which expended a great deal of fire the ground grew black. But over time life burst anew and the forests which grew there now would stand up to even the harshest of flames. So the remaining disciples burnt the ocean between them and a nearby smaller island christening this one the island of learning and the one they previously inhabited, the island of black land. The school was led by a new woman, one who had been marked by the flames of a foundry and who was christened Burnt Face. She dealt with many subjects of magic but her favourite was light and when she died she ascended to the sky as the first and brightest of the stars of the world. Under the next teacher the school once again grew more corrupt and decided to burn the seas around them permanently to do so, figuring out a way to do this by converting the fire into earth. Enraged by this the goddess of the seas flooded the school and made it so fire could no longer burn water but would forever be snuffed out by its presence. After doing so she called upon her own mother to see if her actions were valid and she ruled it was done with the best of intentions but rebuked her rage. However she let the school be rebuilt only after her son (the god of light) pleaded for her to do so. She relented but forbid those of the school from doing fire magic.

[thethief3]

Beastfolk will tell you that in the ancient era all peoples were beastfolk. So naturally the title of the first leaders of the school of disciples would be beastfolk. And many of them would be beastfolk in later times when beastfolk and humans had split and a few would even be sunborn. But in time the school came to be dominated by humans who naturally wanted the age-old ban on Pyromancy: their own distinct magic to be taught there. The then steward, an aging female named Whispers Not was challenged by the leader of the faction a man named Wind’s Breath to allow Pyromancy but she objected saying it also didn’t teach Beastfolks own distinctive magic Shamanism. After much commotion and gossip amongst the upper ranks she named a Beastfolk named Fresh Dew who would have been the first man to ever hold the title of head of the school and the first Beastfolk in a thousand years. But he was assassinated under mysterious circumstances before she could pass onto the realm of death. She held a meeting where she asked whoever should name himself the killer of her successor to reveal themselves and if they did she would offer them the title of Understudy to the new steward. But no one came forth when she reiterated that Pyromancy would still not be studied at the school. So she banished all members of the scheming faction and asked any who held sympathies with them to leave. Fully half the school left and she provided them with many ships which took months to build to go on an island in the sea to the east. But they instead used their ships to travel to an archipelago then inhabited by some primitive human states without writing who had migrated from a peninsular to the west under Sabyrian (we’ll get to them later) pressure as well as a few scattered Beastfolk tribes particularly Catfolk, Foxfolk and Tanukifolk. They worshiped the sun as well as many other spirits of the land and were noted for their religiosity having many priestesses.

Wind’s Breath married the most powerful of them; a girl passed her youth but still fertile and here they would found the Court of Storms after the most powerful spirit of the land, a great storm dragon who had offered his blessing to the marriage. It was here they began to practice Pyromancy and began marking all newborn humans within the tribe with the mark of the sun. This family became the royal family of the budding nation which waged war for 500 years against outlying clans until they were brought under their fold gradually assimilating their language to the one the wizards learnt in school.

Soon the clans turned to burning the forests to expand their power except for a select few too heavily guarded by Beastfolk and protected by great magics to burn. This was done to expand their power as other avenues of expansion were tightly controlled by the royal family. As such clans near much virgin forest grew the most powerful, the most important non-imperial clans being those of the Crane, Wolf, Weasel, Crab, Bear and Star. In time the Beastfolk displaced by human expansion went into hiding only appearing at night or when humans weren’t watching, protected by magic which the humans could not break. They came to prey on humans and would often abduct young adults to be feasted on by their spirit guardians. Many humans in outlying villages began to offer blood sacrifices as well as firstborn sons (in later times firstborn daughters) and never dared tread in the few woods that remained.

The court continued the practice of Pyromancy and fire rites gradually morphing it into a practice centered around great central flames controlled by powerful clans in which would be burned copies of the clans' history. Any children of these great clans would be marked by the fire to learn the history of the clan. Commoners went unmarked and gradually developed lighter skin especially women and along the faces of commoner men as only the bodies of commoner men could be burnt in reward for their service.

[eldin raigmore]

I will follow this! It’s interesting!
But for at least the time being, I’ll lurk rather than comment.

[lurker]

Are humans the only ones able to use fire at all, or it pyromancy a human specific thing?

Was water once flammable?

If humans were also once beastfolk, what animal did they turn into?

Are there other races besides foxes, tanukis, and cats? Some of my personal favorite animals that I never see used as fantasy races are skunks (because they're basically badgers with chemical weapons), giant Pacific octopus (Nine brains and blue blood make them basically aliens), possums (They're America's only marsupial), and macaws (They look nice and live a long time, and they're technically dinosaurs).

[thethief3]

Are humans the only ones able to use fire at all, or it pyromancy a human specific thing?

Any race can use fire but only humans and Sunborn can use fire magic.

Was water once flammable?

Yes

If humans were also once beastfolk, what animal did they turn into?

Any it varied quite a bit but usually mammals or rarely birds and not often reptiles, amphibians or fish. Each person would have a specific animal form. I'm not sure it was chosen or innate. In later times for Beastfolk it would be one of your parents animals through mixing between different kinds of beastfolk is more common then other interracial relationships it isn't to common.

Are there other races besides foxes, tanukis, and cats? Some of my personal favorite animals that I never see used as fantasy races are skunks (because they're basically badgers with chemical weapons), giant Pacific octopus (Nine brains and blue blood make them basically aliens), possums (They're America's only marsupial), and macaws (They look nice and live a long time, and they're technically dinosaurs).

Catfolk and then Foxfolk are the most common types elsewhere but Tanukifolk are mostly confined to the archipelago. Many other types of Beastfolk are seen but most are really rare.

[lurker]

So the transformation between human and animal forms works similar to selkies, where you have an item/garment that needs to be put on or removed?

[thethief3]

Nah that's just a metaphor it's innate and happens instantaneously. Beastfolk are born in their animal forms and usually first enter two legged forms by 2 years old. They usually give birth to twins sometimes triplets (or a lone child) usually of the same gender.

[Visions1]

Firstly, I have yet to read this, but I plan on it.
Secondly, is this set in the same world as your stories?

[thethief3]

I haven't made much progress on any stories set in this world.

[Khemehekis]

Firstly, I have yet to read this, but I plan on it.
Secondly, is this set in the same world as your stories?

Are you sure you're not confusing thethief with lurker?

[Visions1]

Firstly, I have yet to read this, but I plan on it.
Secondly, is this set in the same world as your stories?

Are you sure you're not confusing thethief with lurker?

viewtopic.php?t=7978

[thethief3]

“Let me tell you dearest disciples about the speech of spirits. It has no words, it is a cacophonous mix of sibilance, humming, buzzing and music if you hear it. Say a spirit says for a rock to move you could all well translate that in the speech we craft as “rock step aside” or for those more direct “rock move” but if you translate the words of a spirit with say another spell the rock will never move for you as it did: because the speech of spirits calls upon things inner state as well as current state rather than any form of being. It’s also a game of call and response. The spirit calls out and the lesser spirit is dominated by its words, for all things are spirits and all things contain the weave and magic of the three sisters. You can dominate anything in our human tongue and you can name its form but you can never reproduce it as a spirit does. A spirit can wish to make you young again or to forget your most terrible memories. It can change your skills and aptitudes as well as manners and such. For every spirit has an innate understanding of what it means to be and in the tongue of spirits anything can be described in the most exacting detail in the most exacting detail. A spirit can replace what a human or beastfolk has lost in the most exacting detail yet you can never unless the spirit accepts the new thing either out of great wisdom or just overcoming its hunger for familiarities and of course evil spirits can lead you astray if you promise to replace something of theirs. One thing to know about spirits is they are bound to water and the call and response they have with the great sea or a great spring or waterfall is unlike anything else they produce. The sound of a spirit reacting to fire: its enemy also sounds like the darkest terror you can imagine and when dealing with a spirit it is wise to remember never to use fire unless it is of evil nature or only responds to intimidation. Offering it holy water from a sacred spring or purified by a priestess or paragon is wise if you want to win its favours as the daughter of the sea, great spirit of water is the most kind to spirits as the daughter of the land is most kind to humans and beastfolk. If you ever wonder why spirits don’t remake the world giving everything i tell you it is because they don’t wish to except for the most evil of them and evils power over good will not triumph until some say the end of days when all who have lived evil lives or wish to just simply rest the latter unwillingly return to the world and it turns over spilling the seas and hiding the stars. Hopefully when this happens the great spirits will shatter the earth and expose us once again to the glory of heaven and once again give us what we desire the most, a world to live in not so different from the one we currently live in and one which abounds with our friends and allows us to craft what we deem most precious.”

[Visions1]

First things first: I'm not finished reading this yet.
That said: Let's just say we share interests!

Also, like Lurker, I do wonder why these animals above all get to be sapient and not others. Then again, as the saying goes, "How do you kill a vampire? Any way that you want - they're... irealis." "Realism" isn't important, so do what works for you.

Spoiler:

Have you considered the humble gnoll?

Another thing: I like how this long history starts of with mythology. I feel that's an underrated way to start of a history.
Honestly, I'd even like to see work where people just ignore their conworld's history (except in the footnotes) and just write down folktales and myths (of one culture or many) and not much else.

(These stories would be a good excuse to draw cats - I'm rusty with them.)

[thethief3]

Same reason some spirits became rocks and trees instead of greater spirits. Just lesser animacy and spiritual power. Also i've mentioned before beastfolk are many and varied.

Also the proper term in universe would be Hyenafolk.

[thethief3]

Magic which is known in the Wizard’s Tongue as Speechcraft Alun Kani in contrast to divine power which is an unanalysable root Tana. Has existed as long as wizards have used words to shape the land and some say is even older. The first wizards of note (probably others existed) were those who formed the School of Magic on what would later become known as the Island of Black Land. The most powerful of these tongues descends from their speech with many additions from the Speech of Dragons as well as formations that would have been unfamiliar to the earliest wizards. The first wizards were also Pyromancers but later the schools became distinct due to differences as Wizards used magic of words while Pyromancers called upon their inner flame and did not need to speak to cast spells. Wizards use a little bit of the power of spirits in their spells but of course crafted with the Language of Forms Sawa an Kalan as any tongue of any humans, beastfolk or sunborn is known as in the Wizard Speech. Some say Speechcraft uses the speech of the Powers Below and wields their own tongue the Gnawing Speech which is like that of Spirits. While others say it is from the hidden realm of forms or a facet of the human mind and proof of their innate connection to spirits. Some even say it was a gift from the great mother, the mental extension of the physical hands which allow one to shape things to what is desired. All know it is powerful and not something to be taken likely.

[thethief3]

Named so because of their supposed location under the earth and sea which whisper to those who get close or to those which beseech them. Their motives are inscrutable and they rarely interfere with anything that doesn’t concern them. Some say they were enemies of the great mother which is suggested by her epithet first dragon in some Dragon Poems who she threw off in a great battle before time. The blood that was spilled is known as the Stars Below forever destined to be covered by the land and sea until the world spills over. Others say that they are her doubts which gnaw at her about her choices. Others say they are great wizards who sought immortality and were cursed to live below the earth instead of up in the stars as those who had good hearts did.

The most famous of the Power’s Below is called the Lost Son after an apparent stylisation as the lost son of the Great Mother who was destined to bring creative power to men but was rejected in favour of the Son of Light because he did not seek it. He was to be raised from the World Below by a rogue cult of followers seeking power and a new god but these efforts were thwarted when others stopped the ritual which involved the sacrifice of someone pure of heart.

[thethief3]

The events known as the First Night refer to the act of the first necromancer to send the Son of Light to the World Below in an attempt to achieve immortality. He did so but the world fell into darkness and would have been destroyed had his three sisters not devised a seal to prevent it. Meanwhile the necromancer ruled over his own realm with the power of god’s as the other islands lay dying. This was until four brave heroes, a warrior of strength unmatched, a rogue of shadow’s skulk, a priestess of the earth and a wizard of many names found the blessing of the three goddesses as well as the ascended goddess of fire who then restored life to the dead god by finding his body in the World Below and ending the spell which parted him with his life. The necromancer was then defeated with the help of the god.

[thethief3]

The Great Mother is known among the Isles of Cats as the First Cat who dreamt of the sea and sky in her dreams and raised up the islands of earth with a fishing spear. She (or sometimes he) spoke the name of everything in her own tongue and set those who wished to not be reborn when death first came among the stars. She took a husband (or wife) from among her creations and with them gave birth to the sun who she set in the sky so all could see her light. She also granted her brother (or sister) the Great Light a place within this world so he could walk amongst those who worshiped him as his presence invoked holiness, healed wounds and left her children in awe.

She then took her fishing spear and marked the sky with the great milk an oasis of stars and left the world but not before teaching the people of the world her own language which had been forgotten by everyone except the catfolk of the Isles of Cats and even then they only spoke a corrupted version of it. She then told the best of them would join her in the stars in a realm above the world forever to watch over those who came after and to provide guidance. So the stars multiply as do the isles of the world.

[thethief3]

Gradually the proto-humans found the lamps which lit the forest no longer grew in their lands. So one day a princess whose identity as human or beastfolk is long forgotten only that she could transform into a dog, the favoured companion of all peoples. She felt reverence for the great light and by his touch she developed great powers until her ability outshone all others and she was deemed only fit for the realm of heaven. There she romanced and eventually came to fall in love with the Son of Light and she wed him and their union was celebrated with light spilling over the world with no corner left unlit as she completed him. In later times this would be known as the first Summer Solstice and to this day nowhere escapes the light and all are exposed on this day. But at night she retreats into the west to make love to her husband. Meanwhile her dog was transformed in her presence into the first Sunborn and his many children and kin forever walk the earth to this day as the third race of the Many Islands.