Lore24 Feb 19: Ak-Tar the Immeasurable

Deep in the mountains near Satnak there is a small village, that few know of. The inhabitants are reluctant to let outsiders into their homes and they simply vanish into the mountains when taxmen or administrators come from the city. Sometimes a few of them turn up to trade either on the caravan routes or in the city, but these encounters are few and far between. They also worship a strange and mysterious god.

Ak-Tar, as the god is knows, is a strange being. Unlike many other gods, Ak-Tar is a fully physical being. It is an intelligent, psychic slime, mold, or fungus (it has characteristics of all three) that grows in one of the many caves in the mountains. It claims to be as old as the universe, but in reality it was brought here by a spaceship of those who came before that lays undiscovered at the bottom of a chasm not far from the village.

Ak-Tar’s ultimate goal is to return to its home planet, but it knows that it will take thousands of years for the technology of this planet to allow for that to happen, so it set up a cult to protect itself, trading cosmic secrets, thoughts read from the minds of others, and good old fashioned agricultural advice for worship and protection. It also keeps meticulous genealogical records of the villagers and plays matchmaker in an effort to stall inbreeding and start a sort of eugenic program.

 Image by Benoit Tessier/Reuters

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lore24 May 9: The White Gates of Enki

Image
Legends tell of an old city, long claimed by the deserts . In ages long past, this city was the crown jewel of the world, its walls tall, and its sorcerers mighty. According to these legends, when the favorite wife of its Sorcerer-King, Enki, died in childbirth, he became obsessed with getting her back. Now, for the meager men of today, such a feat is impossible, but people have grown feeble since the times of their ancestors, and indeed, Enki’s magic was so powerful, that he reclaimed his wife from the Underworld . The gods, however were not happy with this violation of the order they set up at the dawn of time. They sent ferocious beasts, one after the other, up from the depths of the Underworld to reclaim their prize, and to drag Enki down as well. But the city held. Monster after monster fell before they could breach the walls, killed by the magic of Enki. Enki, on the other hand was worried. He knew he couldn’t hold out forever, so he made a daring plan. He traveled to the mout...
Read more

Lore24 Jan 26: Peoples pt. 1: Orcs

Image
There are a multitude of different peoples in the known world. Most are quite similar, sharing a basic bodyplan of one head, two arms and two legs, but some can be quite different. In the age of great empires one could travel and trade all over the world, so it’s no wonder that all kinds of people exist basically everywhere. It is true, however that certain peoples are more numerous in certain parts of the world. Of course people aren’t a monolith, and even among, say the orcs, there are multiple ethnic groups, different languages, and multiple kingdoms, each with their own history, friends, foes and agendas. And of course an orc living in Nashat-Ippur will have more in common with their bronze elf neighbors than with their kin living on the western islands. The following are just some of the various peoples one can meet. Orcs are thought to be masters of combat, on account of having four arms and fearsome tusks. This allows them to fire two bows, if rather inaccurately, to wield a ...
Read more

Lore24 Jan 21: Hath-Ur the Brilliant Sun

Image
Depending on the myth, rite, or prayer Hath-Ur can be either male or female. This does not mean that Hath-Ur is of indeterminate gender, or that Hath-Ur is genderfluid, for the Brilliant Sun is above such mortal concerns. It also doesn’t mean that Hath-Ur has a male and a female aspect either. Hath-Ur expects mortals to know the lore of Hath-Ur, and to know in which contexts is Hatth-Ur male and in which others is Hath-Ur female. For this reason when people speak of Hath-Ur not in the specific contexts of Hath-Ur’s deeds or Hath-Ur’s rites, they do not use pronouns to refer to Hath-Ur. While this is a bit troublesome, it is preferable to the alternative, as misgendering a deity carries grave punishments indeed. Hath-Ur, as mentioned, is the Brilliant Sun whose rays give life just as readily as they take it away. People revere and fear Hath-Ur in equal measure, and this is reflected in the way Hath-Ur’s worship is carried out. The priests pray for her life-giving gift in the spring, a...
Read more