Terry N. Muse
Terrarian
So I've been writing some actual lore - talked with Drew about having it implemented in some form, though I don't know how long that might take. In the meantime, here's the current versions; it's likely they'll be revised or adjusted slightly when they become official.
Since ancient times, humans have looked to the skies with admiration and wonder; countless religions place their gods and their heavens amongst the skies. The sun was their god of warmth and life, banishing the darkness and offering hope. The moon was an idol amidst the night - a symbol of light, yet a beguiling one that beckoned with madness.
The stars, they once said, were no single gods. The wondrous stream of stars that stretched across the sky on cloudless nights - the source of those lights was a divine serpent of incomprehensible proportions. Its very nature was unimaginable, to the point that its presence in their reality could only be glimpsed through the countless stars its body birthed. As the collective faith of humanity gathered, it gave rise to the manifestation of their belief: a true god of the stars, soaring through the cosmos.
But even gods could be laid low. Conquering the land countless years after the god of the star's legend was born, the Jungle Tyrant looked to the skies and saw yet another realm to dominate - beginning by striking down Astrum Deus with his own Devourer of Gods.
The divine serpent far surpassed the size and abilities alike of the worm dispatched to kill it, but the Devourer was far from helpless. Empowered by those it had already consumed, the Devourer tore open its gut and burrowed in, feasting on its body and killing it from the inside out before crushing its husk to pieces between its coils and scattering the remains to the cold void of space.
In ancient times, it was said that the god of the stars would descend upon the planet in its last days. Its body would infuse the earth with astral power and transform lesser lifeforms into its guardians. The power lingering in its corpse attracted worms to itself, empowering them so that they may grow - that Astrum Deus may one day return to the cosmos. Even when torn asunder, the god's corpse held power; just as the legend that gave rise to it claimed, those fragments of its body would one day fall to the planet and choose a successor to the god of the stars.
The stars, they once said, were no single gods. The wondrous stream of stars that stretched across the sky on cloudless nights - the source of those lights was a divine serpent of incomprehensible proportions. Its very nature was unimaginable, to the point that its presence in their reality could only be glimpsed through the countless stars its body birthed. As the collective faith of humanity gathered, it gave rise to the manifestation of their belief: a true god of the stars, soaring through the cosmos.
But even gods could be laid low. Conquering the land countless years after the god of the star's legend was born, the Jungle Tyrant looked to the skies and saw yet another realm to dominate - beginning by striking down Astrum Deus with his own Devourer of Gods.
The divine serpent far surpassed the size and abilities alike of the worm dispatched to kill it, but the Devourer was far from helpless. Empowered by those it had already consumed, the Devourer tore open its gut and burrowed in, feasting on its body and killing it from the inside out before crushing its husk to pieces between its coils and scattering the remains to the cold void of space.
In ancient times, it was said that the god of the stars would descend upon the planet in its last days. Its body would infuse the earth with astral power and transform lesser lifeforms into its guardians. The power lingering in its corpse attracted worms to itself, empowering them so that they may grow - that Astrum Deus may one day return to the cosmos. Even when torn asunder, the god's corpse held power; just as the legend that gave rise to it claimed, those fragments of its body would one day fall to the planet and choose a successor to the god of the stars.
Over the course of Yharim's conquest over the world, countless people perished - whether killed by his forces, imprisoned and fed alive to his monsters, or struck down by Yharim himself. Few died peacefully, and many cursed the Jungle Tyrant's name with their last breath. Some found peace in their afterlife; the souls of the others lingered in the physical realm, their hatred and anguish immutable even by death.
The Dungeon served as Yharim's prison during his rule - and for the less fortunate, it doubled as his torture and execution chambers. Attracted to the bloody reek of pain and death, the restless spirits flocked to the Dungeon in droves, possessing the corpses of the deceased and animating armors and weapons. Though easily dispatched at first, their numbers grew and grew - seemingly without end as the death toll of Yharim’s reign continued to rise. Deeming the Dungeon a waste of his men and resources, he withdrew them and left the dead to rot.
As spirits clinging to reality through little more than hatred, they held no loyalty to their fellow dead. Many swiftly turned on each other - souls devouring souls in an instinctual bid for power. As lesser souls grew swift and elusive, the first souls to feed continued to fight and consume one another until a legion took form - lacking even the concept of predator and prey. Hatred for the one that first slew them and a desire for more that could never be satisfied; reduced from countless living men to a mindless beast, nothing else drove the amalgamation now.
Scraping fragments of metal into patchwork armor and animating broken chains with its essence to better hunt its lesser brethren, the Polterghast roams the depths of the Dungeon away from prying eyes. It continues to feed and fester in the darkness until it feels the power of the object of its collective hatred once more... or until it detects one whose power has begun approaching the point of indistinguishability.
The Dungeon served as Yharim's prison during his rule - and for the less fortunate, it doubled as his torture and execution chambers. Attracted to the bloody reek of pain and death, the restless spirits flocked to the Dungeon in droves, possessing the corpses of the deceased and animating armors and weapons. Though easily dispatched at first, their numbers grew and grew - seemingly without end as the death toll of Yharim’s reign continued to rise. Deeming the Dungeon a waste of his men and resources, he withdrew them and left the dead to rot.
As spirits clinging to reality through little more than hatred, they held no loyalty to their fellow dead. Many swiftly turned on each other - souls devouring souls in an instinctual bid for power. As lesser souls grew swift and elusive, the first souls to feed continued to fight and consume one another until a legion took form - lacking even the concept of predator and prey. Hatred for the one that first slew them and a desire for more that could never be satisfied; reduced from countless living men to a mindless beast, nothing else drove the amalgamation now.
Scraping fragments of metal into patchwork armor and animating broken chains with its essence to better hunt its lesser brethren, the Polterghast roams the depths of the Dungeon away from prying eyes. It continues to feed and fester in the darkness until it feels the power of the object of its collective hatred once more... or until it detects one whose power has begun approaching the point of indistinguishability.
The Sentinels of the Devourer are the three entities that answer directly and only to it; they hold no loyalty of any kind to anyone else, except under their master's orders. Each one is bound to the Devourer under a magical pact - offering their abilities and allegiance in exchange for a fragment of the immense power it has amassed from its divine prey. The Devourer wields their strength, and they in turn are infused with the Devourer's might.
Their collective mission is to hunt down the Profaned God and expose her where the Devourer of Gods can manifest to kill her. Drawn to the magic of Providence, it is likely that even a rune infused with that same magic would suffice to provoke them - and if all three were to fall, perhaps the Devourer of Gods may begin to take notice of what slew them…
Their collective mission is to hunt down the Profaned God and expose her where the Devourer of Gods can manifest to kill her. Drawn to the magic of Providence, it is likely that even a rune infused with that same magic would suffice to provoke them - and if all three were to fall, perhaps the Devourer of Gods may begin to take notice of what slew them…
No living creature knows the true origin of Signus. Some claim it is a wraith, bound by vengeance and controllable only through dark magic. Others insist it is simply a mage of the highest caliber. Others still believe it to hail from another planet, or possibly another dimension entirely. But all can agree on its unparalleled killing prowess - capable of exterminating virtually anyone, anywhere, regardless of the conditions or defenses surrounding its target.
Even those who contract Signus can rarely say for certain who their assassin is. It has been seen consuming the bodies of others and adopting their appearance afterwards; descriptions of its "true form" vary wildly. The most consistent pattern in those believed to have been Signus is the manifestation of ethereal lights when forced into open combat, commanded through unknown means to blind its opponent or burn them to ashes.
Signus' one and only failure to kill a target was against the Jungle Tyrant, Yharim. Manifesting from nothing in the inner sanctums of the Jungle Temple, it was foiled only by its target summoning of the Devourer of Gods to his aid - and even then, Signus evaded death for an extended period of time within the Devourer's own dimension. However, it could not kill the cosmic serpent in return, whereas the Devourer could easily leave it to rot for eternity; a grudging ceasefire was eventually agreed upon, which evolved into an agreement of mutual respect over time. Signus itself became the Devourer's favourite means of eliminating targets when delicacy and stealth were needed over sheer power and size. Of the three Sentinels, none is closer to fulfilling their current objective than the ethereal assassin.
Even those who contract Signus can rarely say for certain who their assassin is. It has been seen consuming the bodies of others and adopting their appearance afterwards; descriptions of its "true form" vary wildly. The most consistent pattern in those believed to have been Signus is the manifestation of ethereal lights when forced into open combat, commanded through unknown means to blind its opponent or burn them to ashes.
Signus' one and only failure to kill a target was against the Jungle Tyrant, Yharim. Manifesting from nothing in the inner sanctums of the Jungle Temple, it was foiled only by its target summoning of the Devourer of Gods to his aid - and even then, Signus evaded death for an extended period of time within the Devourer's own dimension. However, it could not kill the cosmic serpent in return, whereas the Devourer could easily leave it to rot for eternity; a grudging ceasefire was eventually agreed upon, which evolved into an agreement of mutual respect over time. Signus itself became the Devourer's favourite means of eliminating targets when delicacy and stealth were needed over sheer power and size. Of the three Sentinels, none is closer to fulfilling their current objective than the ethereal assassin.
The Devourer of God's ability to cross dimensions was not mastered instantly. Magic of such incredible scale demands incredibly precise use and knowledge to avoid disaster - and attempts to experiment with it will inevitably result in at least a few accidents. During an attempt to breach the barrier between worlds, one such mishap occurred: a deadly rift formed, in which the concept of reality itself faltered.
It required the power of both the Devourer and Calamitas to seal the void, stabilizing it with a localized dimensional reinforcement field and further encasing it in a shell of cosmic steel - but a strange phenomenon occurred as the rift was contained. The matter and the lives it consumed were regurgitated as shapeless masses of dark energy, draining the life out of every living being around it. Despite being a highly valuable research specimen, it was ultimately deemed impossible to control after extensive testing and condemned to waste away in the abandoned Dungeon.
The Ceaseless Void is only technically a Sentinel. It is under the same magical contract as the others, but it has no mind - only a will to consume the life force of others. According to Calamitas, one of two events will occur if its casing is ever compromised: either reality will force the void to collapse and annihilate itself, or it will spill out and spread without end - reducing the entire universe to waste scattered in the abyss between dimensions.
It required the power of both the Devourer and Calamitas to seal the void, stabilizing it with a localized dimensional reinforcement field and further encasing it in a shell of cosmic steel - but a strange phenomenon occurred as the rift was contained. The matter and the lives it consumed were regurgitated as shapeless masses of dark energy, draining the life out of every living being around it. Despite being a highly valuable research specimen, it was ultimately deemed impossible to control after extensive testing and condemned to waste away in the abandoned Dungeon.
The Ceaseless Void is only technically a Sentinel. It is under the same magical contract as the others, but it has no mind - only a will to consume the life force of others. According to Calamitas, one of two events will occur if its casing is ever compromised: either reality will force the void to collapse and annihilate itself, or it will spill out and spread without end - reducing the entire universe to waste scattered in the abyss between dimensions.
For all of their potential for growth and killing power, worms have been looked down upon by their enemies and regarded as little more than burrowing pests for centuries. However, the rise of the Devourer of Gods turned such a conception completely on its head, instilling a fresh wave of fear and paranoia into the world at large. Worms were no longer merely exterminated for being a nuisance, but actively hunted and wiped out. The Devourer's own species - already regarded with caution for their power to assimilate the abilities of their prey - was rendered virtually extinct within the span of a few short years.
It was only by the hand of fortune that the Devourer itself happened across the last of its species: a newborn worm that could hardly fend for itself, starving and on the brink of death. The Devourer took pity on its fellow kind and brought it to Yharim's forces, who restored it to health and outfitted it with armor akin to that of the Devourer. Despite having spared it once, the Devourer of Gods is highly aware of its protégé's potential, and would not hesitate to turn against the lesser worm should it grow strong enough to threaten its master.
However, that day has not yet come. The newly christened Storm Weaver resides in the outer reaches of the atmosphere, preying on the wyverns that roam the skies with it. Though lacking the advanced mind developed from assimilating countless human prey, it has enough capacity to process the orders given to it - while retaining the feral animosity of a beast to direct against those it hunts.
It was only by the hand of fortune that the Devourer itself happened across the last of its species: a newborn worm that could hardly fend for itself, starving and on the brink of death. The Devourer took pity on its fellow kind and brought it to Yharim's forces, who restored it to health and outfitted it with armor akin to that of the Devourer. Despite having spared it once, the Devourer of Gods is highly aware of its protégé's potential, and would not hesitate to turn against the lesser worm should it grow strong enough to threaten its master.
However, that day has not yet come. The newly christened Storm Weaver resides in the outer reaches of the atmosphere, preying on the wyverns that roam the skies with it. Though lacking the advanced mind developed from assimilating countless human prey, it has enough capacity to process the orders given to it - while retaining the feral animosity of a beast to direct against those it hunts.
ing mushroom crabs is overrated
