Can you say factions?

If you can’t, there is an issue. The same issue that wordpress had with crashing lately. This is a lot later than planned upon

We are going to ease into the factions, starting with just two of the Jhinn ones. These two factions are known as the Guides and the Scribes, and they play a pretty central role in events. These two factions are aligned with the Brother of Blood, and the Brother of Dye, respectively.

I’ll give you three guesses as to what the Guides do.  They act as specialized ‘handler’ teams who – through the use of a drug called Ilbis – develop an extremely strong collective-bond not only among their own collective, but among others who share this drug with them. Their general mentality is that of condescending, flippant, bastards who are quite well aware of just how much power they have over you. They also happen to be the go-to killers among the Jhinn, acting as their fighting elite. One of the main groups that they hold contracts with, is the Scribes, because the ‘active’ Scribes always go out alone, so that their Frythyn can hold a constant record in safety.

The Scribes are – if you haven’t guessed – the record keeper’s of the Jhinn. Because all [normal] Jhinn are blind, the Scribes are a key factor of their society. They possess the ability to use a resonating ‘ink’ to record events in such a way that the Jhinn can understand them, without having to go Egyptian with a hammer and chisle.   They record everything from food production to wars, always. One unique aspect of their ability, is the fact that it hinges upon the ‘innosence’ of the Scribe; sullied Scribes create sullied records, tainted with their emotions and their bias. As stated above, the ‘active’ Scribes always travel with Guides.

More on this topic later.

New blood: $1 per jug

I’d like to introduce our new donor:Atothex He has kindly allowed us to use not only his brain, but his artistic skills as well, to replace our sorely missed r6. Check out his gallery, and don’t be afraid to comment, we need your opinions.

For a small stop-gap until I actually drag myself around to writing something, ingest this very rough document on the religion of The Brothers:

In the eons before eons, within the chain of creation, it begun. Out of the remnants of past worlds, arose the beginning of the new. Minds had finallly begun to comprehend the world, and in this comprehension arose the understanding needed to create anew. Flesh sloughed, and minds expanded, each in turn becoming once again versions of the world they once dwelt within.

And yet, not all bowed before this tide. For among the understanding and enlightenment, there were those who sought more. And among those who sought, were the Brothers. Five men, with the utmost understanding of the things that no mind could truly grasp. Five men, who made a covenant which broke all vows made before. Creation. Shared. Breaking the single rule, the single limitation, set upon all beings: Life is meant for the individual alone. A rule which had went throughout all time before, without even the contemplation of it being broken, without the understanding of what could result.

But with the Brothers, the understanding was known. With the brothers, the taboo was broken. With the brothers, creation was set free. Each Brother – there were five – took it upon himself to sacrifice himself to the nature of their shared realm.
The first brother to sacrifice, gave himself to Silence, taking it into his name and giving his brothers a palette upon which to work.
The second brother to sacrifice, gave himself to the devastation of Pain, taking it into his name and giving his brothers a tool with which to carve.
The third brother to sacrifice, gave himself to the totality of Matter, taking it into his name and giving his brothers the material with which to form.
The fourth brother to sacrifice, gave himself to the rage of Blood, taking it into his name and giving his brothers the ability to endow will.
The fifth brother to sacrifice, gave himself to the starkness of Dye, taking it into his name and giving his brothers the power to instill themselves in the world around them.

Thus the brothers, the brothers of silence, pain, matter, blood, and dye, gave themselves to their realm. The first becoming the palette, the second and third the tools to paint it, and the fourth and fifth becoming the hands to guide it. That is how they began, but not how they would end. For once a door is opened, it cannot be closed, and those who schemed harm had entrance.

After the brothers had made their sacrifice, and were weak in flesh and spirit as a result, a stranger came to them, a fellow creator they had had not laid eyes upon before. To them this stranger said “Come now my brothers, for your sacrifice was great, and I have come to help you. Long have I waited until a collective such as yours has come about, let me teach you the ways of the gods.”
And here, the brothers were in no position to deny him. Even the strongest brothers, Blood and Dye, were strong enough to argue, so drained were they by their endeavors. So this strange fellow with the power of creation came to them, gave to them, and filled their realm with what he called ‘the creation shared by all gods.’

Thus it went. As the brothers regained strength, their world was made for them. The Brothers of silence, pain, and matter were the most weakened, while the brothers of Blood and Dye were the strongest. And when they did regain their strength, and look down upon the world they had sold, they were wroth. The lands that lay before them were green, swollen, and corpulent. Creatures contested in malice, gluttony, and greed. Even in the very beginning things were becoming sullied and impure; the world of ages past, the world which caused the brothers to act as they did to escape it, was being recreated within their own. Precious power was lost, the world was already starting to lock itself into its path. But still they had to act.

The brother of Blood assaulted the stranger, the brother of Dye hid himself among the stranger’s creation in order to turn their minds. The three weakened brothers, silence, pain, and matter, cast their final act; a rain of crystal imbued with the power of pain and the resonance of silence, tools for the brothers to use, before the three faded into the realm around them.

The strength of the brother of Blood proved too much for the stranger, and he was cast into the ether. When the brother of Blood saw the fate of Silence, Pain, and Matter, he committed to an act unparalleled. In salute to the brother of Silence, he filled the hollows with his nature. In salute to the brother of Pain, he made his nature into the burning blood of the earth. In salute to the brother of Matter, he gave his gift the power to recreate evermore. And then, the Brother of Blood joined his final sibling, putting end to the Stranger’s creations, allowing them peace Nevermore.