LOE Legends: The Bowerchests
November 27, 2020
Vith mythology and children’s tales tell of the great beasts of ages past: The Bowerchests. Metallic creatures crafted from the finest materials, they roams the mountainous passes of Vithland, so huge their lofty heads often broke the clouds. Each Vith Household had a unique Bowerchest guarding their most sacred treasures, and none would dare steal them.
As the old stories went, Bowerchests were created during the age known later as The Splendor of the Vith, when the Vith ascended in power rivaling that of the Sisterhood of Light. Built by Astral Craftsmen of the highest order and powered by an arcane heart, the Bowerchests were created first by the legendary hero Holt of the Mountain who had his treasures stolen by the tribes of Remnath to the south, treasures he never recovered. In response, he commissioned the creation of a “living” treasure vault, one that could crawl, run and fly and was aware of its surroundings, one that would be forever dedicated to he and the treasures he placed within.
Bowerchests of old: The Great Ophidian of Holt of the Mountain, The Golden Bird Cymbelline of House Durst and the Vulpex of House Blanchefort
As he filled its hollow innards with treasure, weapons and arcane items, the Bowerchest grew in size until it was taller than Mt. Vith. Utterly impregnable, the Bowerchest successfully withstood 700 attacks from the Remnath and Zenons. Taking the battle to the Remnaths, the Bowerchest eventually went south, plundering and razing the Remnath bastion at Wiln. When Holt was given one of the 25 Noab artifacts by the Elder Nylax, he placed it within his Bowerchest for safekeeping. When the Sisters came calling for the artifact, as they claimed ownership of all the Noabs, Holt refused to give it to them. Though favored of the Sisters, they attacked his Bowerchest without pause, hoping to claim the artifact and all other items hidden within. They were defeated by the Bowerchest, the only time the Sisters had ever been defeated in battle, and ever after the Sisters grew ever more jealous and fearful, determined to be rid of them. Other Vith Households followed suit, building their own Bowerchests in the form of monsters and legendary beasts and loading them with treasure until all of Vithland trembled under their feet and their wings darkened the skies.
They were said to be incredibly intelligent, crafty, and wise, could grow or shrink, and could transform themselves however they wished and could eliminate entire armies with a single blow. One story tells of a Zenon minstrel who managed to steal one gold coin from the Great Golden Bird Cymbelline of the House of Durst and how Cymbelline dogged and pursued the thief without pause until it recovered the coin.
Eventually, through guile and seduction, the Sisters managed to make the Vith “forget” about their Bowerchests, stealing them away and using the metal of their bodies to craft the original Fleet ships. Tales tell that a few Houses managed to hide their Bowerchests in a “secret place” beyond the Sisters’ gaze called Edamathrombo.
The disappearance of the Bowerchests and the creation of the Stellar Fleet signaled the end of the Splendor of the Vith.
But, those are all stories crafted to entertain children, correct? Such things could never truly exist, yes???
??
copyright 2020, Ren Garcia
Ethylberry–The Dust of the Gods
September 4, 2020
Ethylberry is an odd plant described in numerous texts, stories, mythologies and other such sources. It has been described as the dust of life, the first life on many new worlds, planted there by the gods, and once life has taken hold, the gods harvest it and move on. It has been the stuff of adventures, the object of quests and the prize of the Immortals.
In many tales, the goddess of the Harvest, Anabrax, is the keeper of Ethylberry, tending to hidden fields of it, planting where it is needed and then secreting it away when its use is done. When Anabrax was killed by the Horned God, the task of tending to Ethylberry passed on to another–some tales mention Atha, the goddess of Occasional Chaos, became the caretaker.
Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort wrote of encountering Ethylberry in his memoirs.
“I came upon an iron fountain tended to by the goddess Atha, at least she claimed to be a goddess, and there, growing around the base of the fountain in hard-packed earth under a purple sky, was a bed of mangy weeds. ‘This,’ she said, ‘is Ethylberry.’ With a simple clay pot and my bare hands, I was to pick a plant. The plants were compact and fibrous, dingy in appearance, with dark green leaves twisting about a central stalk. It sported a host of small yellow flowers that exuded a small but continual amount of lilting golden dust that took flight with the slightest of provocation. The plants were studded with savage thorns which penetrated my skin without resistance. The thorns were poisoned, and I felt my heart struggling to beat as my blood boiled. I felt my death coming …”
The dust from the Ethylberry plant has many properties. It encourages the beginnings of life, complete with rapid changes and evolution. It can nullify poisons, repair grievous wounds, enable magic spells, give everlasting vitality and return life to the dead.
The old Xaphan ruler Queen Ghome of Trimble was said to possess an overflowing urn of Ethylberry, or a lesser version of it, allowing her to change her appearance with ease.
copyright 2020, Ren Garcia
The Street of Knowledge
October 31, 2019
So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted–hey, life happens.
The Street of Knowledge is one of the strangest, exotic, and, most dangerous places in the League of Elder universe. Outwardly, the culture and commerce of the Street is based largely on tourism. Even though the Street is located in the city of Vain right in the center of the austere Xaphan armada, the warm climate, unique cuisine, and breathtaking Great Xaphan Nebula lighting up the sky bring Xaphan tourists from far and wide.
Under the surface, however, the real commerce of the Street is minds, and/or the stealing and re-selling of minds, experiences, skills, etc. Vendors on the Street of Knowledge have developed technology specifically towards that end and have perfected it. The Three Trades (the Russ, the AlbertCo and the Nightrobes) run the business of mind stealing, or “Vugging” as it’s known. Any person walking the street could be beset upon at any time, having their mind stolen by the Vuggers and then forced to buy back their own head.
Here’s a few brief terms before we continue:
Wonderland 1: Type 1 world in the heart of the Xaphan Armada, code-named Wonderland 1 in the League. The world doesn’t have a single, agreed upon name. The largest city on Wonderland 1 is Vain, located in the southern continent. The planet was thought to be a Planar World–one that disappears from one place and appears in another.
Vain: Vain is the largest city on Wonderland 1. Throughout Xaphan space, Vain is known as a tourist destination, famous for an agreeable climate, amazing food, and unique sellable goods. The Street of Knowledge runs through the center of Vain.
Kopulate: (copy/duplicate)A person with an exact mental image of someone else’s head. A Kopulate pays to have somebody else’s head uploaded into their own–usually that of a person who is gifted, highly skilled, famous or wealthy. The Kopulate than believes they are that person. Kopulates can be a persistent and dangerous nuisance.
Pentagulle: Pentagulle is the wealthiest, most tourist-focused section of the Street of Knowledge.
ECSP: (Engineering Commando Squad Pentagulle) The city police of Pentagulle enforcing law and order in Pentagulle. In reality, the ECSP aid and assist the Trades as they go about their mind-stealing exploits, branding those who resist and/or fight back, criminals.
“Stinko”: nickname for a person who has had their mind completely stolen from their heads. Typically, all a Stinko can do is breathe and stand up if knocked down.
Slate: Term for a person’s mind, includes all of their experiences, knowledge, skills, traits, etc.
Smoque: An expensive form of nano-tech often used to incapacitate and drain a victim of their Slate. Smoque looks like ordinary smoke and is unmatched in the speed at which the draining can take place.
Squash: Nano tech capsules filled with liquid, Squash-dat can quickly upload pre-programmed information into a person’s head by simply breaking a capsule against a person’s forehead. Squash can make a person skilled in things the person has no training or talent for, can increase their sexuality, can make them bold, or masters of combat–anything goes. Squash is freely sold on the Street.
The Trades: Three sects who run the mind-trade on the Street of Knowledge. They buy and sell Slates, skills, experiences, etc no questions asked and enjoy the protection from the ECSP if challenged.
Vugger: A person or sect of people roaming the Street of Knowledge out to steal and sell Slates.
THE SECTS
Several Vugging sects rule the area of the street known as Pentagulle, stealing minds and selling them to the Trades on a daily basis.
THE SNAKE-HEAD WHORES: The infamous Snake-Head Whores are known far and wide. They are incredibly brazen and aggressive. Despite the continued efforts of the Nightrobes to keep things quiet, word of their exploits have even drifted off world, though Xaphans generally disbelieve rumors of mind-stealing and other unsavory things going on in Vain.
They are known, and dreaded, for their ability to drain a person down to “Stinko” in mere seconds. They wear headdresses composed of robotic snakes with blinking red eyes. These hypnotic snakes can fully mesmerize a victim in just a few moments. They also make use of expensive Smoque, which can also drain a person’s head in rapid order. The Snake-Heads work in close association with the Nightrobe Trade.
The Snake-Head Whores hang out at the Enselaco Bar in the heart of Pentagulle. There, they often put on plays using Meat Puppets–horrific automatons they use to take control of past victims. With their Meat Puppets, the Snake Head Whores can take control of said victims no matter how far away they may be. The Snake-Heads made a Meat Puppet of Kat, the Countess of Belmont-South Tyrol and tried to control her, though they underestimated her wrath and ability to fight back.
ST. CRISPENS FIRE: Running a number of well-regarded restaurants in the Pentagulle area, St. Crispens’ Fire is a much more innocuous and less belligerent sect than the Snake-Heads. They are in direct partnership with the Russ Trade.
Any person dinning at their numerous restaurants is subject to getting Vugged, though The Fire is much less obvious about their Vugging activities, often quietly scanning and copying any experiences or skills they come across without any fuss made. The Fire rarely Stinko a person (unless under direct orders from the Russ), and mostly their victims come and go from their restaurants unaware anything has happened. They will, on occasion, blackmail any persons with interesting thoughts or memories if that person has the wealth to make the blackmailing worth their while. The sold images of people’s heads have created Kopulates, a mental duplicate of another person who can become dangerous pests.
VERTI-HOVI’S: Closely allied with the AlbertCo trade, the Verti-Hovi’s are well known for running “Verti-Hovi parks in and around the Street of Knowledge. Rounding up Stinkos from all over, the VH’s place them into these parks and also paying customers to do with them however they please, often Squashing them into horrible acts. Even amongst Vuggers, the Verti-Hovis have a soiled, lowly reputation.
–The Street of Knowledge appears in LoE, Book 12: Kat
copyright 2019 Ren Garcia
The Temple of the Exploding Head 