Concept paste

There are many unique entities and happenings in the world, that do not quite fall under the Races information pastebin, nor are they really an historical account, nor do they quite fit the WALL paste. They are however, important concepts, related to the setting, and are grouped here!

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Stone-Birds.

Their looks have been better described in the Races paste. In here, something of their civilization will be instead looked into.

Stone Birds were dangerous beings. They had no shame in admitting they were actually aliens, although depictions and recordings of anything prior to their arrival on this planet seem to have been the utmost taboo in their culture. While putting a lot of effort into scientific growth of their races, and indeed having lived in a fairly advanced society, technology wise, they were also deeply spiritual and held great reverence for mysticism.

Aside from that an important depiction of the Stone-Birds are these odd halo/crest like structures, appearing behind the backs of their most distinguished. The earlier period of Stone-Bird history, shows the circular objects as symbols, and sources of power, as scenery of Stone-Birds striking down their enemy, show power proceeding forth from said objects, and obliterating said enemies.

However, a later period , especially near the end of their existence, seems to paint them in more negative light, they are only shown in scenes of suffering, and with something leaking out of them. It is believed, that these objects were critical in the end of their species, and a traitor Stone-Bird fighting them all off with the power of WALL, was not all there was to it.

Something else of note, is that in their society, certain Stone-Birds were treated with uncharacteristic reverence. These were in fact, beings so powerful and so warped, they would not be anything like their already alien compatriots. A list of them, is given below.

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Racleon

The Mist. Racleon was said to have found the Gates of Light, which would lead to the realm of bliss everlasting. However, seeing that many unworthy people could defile the Gates or the realm beyond them, he nobly chose to turn his power inward, and explode, forming a mist of overcharged magical energy that would kill anyone that tried to go near it. It is said that if the need calls for it, Racleon will assemble a more physical form, imbued with the will of the Gates, and depending on each version, this will either happen if the Gates are seriously threatened, or if Racleon feels the world is full of individuals that deserve immediate obliteration.

It is almost universally accepted that he survived, somehow, and that the Gates of Light are a very real place, although what 'bliss everlasting' means, is up for guesses.

Grand Wing

The Dragon. A Stone-Bird who became so adept at the art of combat, that he was virtually matchless. His body could not contain the great strength he had, and thus he morphed into what the Stone-Birds call a 'Dragon' although it appears what the Stone-Birds call a Dragon is a very bizarre being, and that Grand Wing is an abomination, by all means. It is not known what happened to him, only that he fought the traitor Stone-Bird several times, but was  'each time, repelled by the power that is WALL', yet he 'kept coming back, to storm the Many-Armed One, and struck her many times with dragon-strength'.

Grand Wing's survival is unlikely, considering his explicit tendency to rush into situations, that he often had no hope of dealing with. It must also be noted that, despite this he was rarely depicted as actually endangered by his own mistakes.

Chaos

A dreadfully potent psiconic, Chaos was said to have been born with a form unlike that of other Stone-Birds. In fact, in a rare example of progressive shows from the Stone-Birds, one of Chaos' first acts was to appear as a human and lead a slave revolt. She had an odd fondness for the human species and appeared often in human Avatars. Chaos looks and sounds differently to anyone perceiving her, and apparently, she even says different things at the same time, to every single person aware of her, within earshot. While one of humanity's oldest allies and one of the most powerful even among her fellow great Stone-Birds, Chaos is also the most alien.

Her survival is all but certain, as she was never present within reality at any given time, personally, and used avatars to communicate, as well as her potent psychism. Her past is shrouded in too much mystery.

Nt

The Sleeping. There is very little information known about Nt, his name is pronounced as 'Net'. He is referred to as the "Sleeping", due to, not only a difficult to pronounce name, but also an enforced taboo of speaking it. While Nt himself is NOT taboo by any means, researchers believe that it is due to his power and position that he could not be completely sidelined, and in fact, most preferred to stay of anything related to him. Nt supposedly had an entire Nest dedicated to himself, and did not leave his temple, under any circumstances. It was forbidden to enter his space, and those that did never really returned the same...

His Nest is, strangely enough one of the still floating ones, having managed to stay in air due to avoiding damage to it's primary suspension mechanism. It is however a very distant Nest, and few have ever had interest in exploring it.

Xor

The Cleanser. Xor had a job that he enjoyed very, very much. Purifying civilization from harmful elements. To be perfectly clear, Xor is, by many standards fair and reasonable, as well as precise and efficient. Also thorough. Very, very thorough. Their true form is an absolutely gigantic avian creature, made of stone, representing both forms a Stone-Bird can take. They too, fought against the Many Armed one, with Grand Wing and posed a great challenge, but was ultimately defeated. Unlike Grand Wing his purpose was also to defend the Stone-Bird civilization, so he took on a more defense approach. He ALSO saved a few Stone-Birds, in the collapse, reportedly.

His death is all but assured. Xor managed to remain both immortal and invincible through being in his gigantic stone form, but the traitor managed to bring him out of it and injure him gravely.

Hadra

The Powerful. A Stone-Bird (?) of unknown origins, that rose to power suddenly, near the end ages of their civilization. She had the power to turn her body to mercury, and used it's nature to better channel her power. She was possessed of great awareness and vision and it is said she could glimpse into the future and even understand destiny to an extent. She was quite prideful, and relied on her mastery of Stone-Bird magics to crush those that opposed her, seeing that her life was fraught with intrigue and her position was often threatened, but never claimed.

She rode out to battle against the many armed traitor, but was isolated, and crushed by her power. Rumor has it that due to her unique powers and nature of her transformation, she may have survived.

Awah

The Storm. Little is known about Awah, only that he is one of the oldest of his race, some even saying he was part of the group that landed on this world in the first place, and remembers the world before this one. Awah was rumored to sit in meditation in the vast sky, and master control of the wins and weather. With his power he helped the Stone-Birds early settlements to develop into full blown Nests, and then he vanished. Awah was rumored to be able to 'talk to the wind and sky', and from them he learned of the coming apocalypse. Stories speak of him journeying to another world and forging a terrible weapon.

When the many armed one struck the Nest of Shining Hope, the capital of the Stone-Birds, and reduced all but little of it to rubble, it is reported that she was struck too, by a bright and intense light, and that lead to her death a few moments afterwards.

Ekin

The Glorious. A powerful Stone-Bird by all means, Ekin was one of the oldest Stone-Birds that went to the furthest corners of this world to scout out possible Nest locations. She  is rumored to have been a powerful warrior too, her true form a fiery menace, with massive wings and a sword-arm, capable of cutting through anything. In her travels, she is said to have contracted some form of disease or curse, that weakened her a good deal. Even then, in the final battle she put up a more than valiant fight, through sheer skill alone, managing to actually give the traitor pause.

Unfortunately, with most of her  deeds forgotten and her immortality somehow tying to these deeds, she perished, some say forever. There have been attempts to restore her however, by certain groups.

Sil

The Dark. The OTHER term for him is 'The Accomplice', and he lost a lot of love with the Stone-Bird civilization once they learned of what he did. Sil became obsessed with the Netherworld, and eventually gained a reasonable foothold in that world. His immortality was fueled by his ability to manifest avatars in the real world, and occasionally raise undead servants. Dangerous and powerful, he possessed a means of safely accessing and exiting the Netherworld. What he also possessed was a desire to play games, and those that would surpass his challenges, could use his abilities to leave the Netherworld, if they were trapped, or enter it for whatever reason.

The last individual known to have done so, was the traitor. Sil was perfectly content with allowing the traitor to leave the Netherworld... And was also perfectly content, to suggest that she now employ WALL, to counter the power of his brethren. Still alive.

Yara, the Many Armed One.

The Traitor. This is the guy that has been talked about the whole time. Originally a high ranking member of the Stone-Bird civilization, she recently ascended to rank with the others in this paste. However, for one reason or another she was judged a traitor, and Xor had her sentenced with exile to the Netherworld. While this was by no means the first time the highest caste of Stone-Birds banished one of their own, most of them rotted away on the deepest reaches of Netheworld. Not Yara. She sook out Sil, and through winning his cruel trials, managed to secure her exit. Then, he either directed her to the source of WALL in the Netherworld,  or she coerced him into it.

There exist many misconceptions on the nature of Yara. First of all, like the entries here show, she was female, not male. Second, it is believed that she left behind at least one child, and that the 'forced into Stone-human form' process that happened to her, was in fact a new form of punishment, which left her being so terribly damaged and mutated that she could somehow, start housing WALL within herself.

Her willpower was legendary, and before she received the Traitor title, she was known as 'the Determined'. Her death is all but assured, she was struck with a dreadful lightning bolt that destroyer her titanic body and stopped her rampage, at, unfortunately for the Stone Birds, the last possible moment. Their civilization was already ruined, and all that her destruction brought, was the hammer...down on whatever could have possibly remained of them.

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Voices.

They are not related to, or created by the Stone Birds. They somehow, occasionally, respond to WALL power. They appeared when the Traitor resurface. It is said that one of the Stone-Bird crests that they used to employ and had become corrupt (likely a reason for the Traitor to have somehow vanquished their whole civilization on her own) appeared, over the sky, and grew to immense sizes, as the Voices started raining from it. It is said, that when the Traitor came through she also tried to empower them with WALL, but had to conserve it after the initial onslaught of the Stone-Birds.

Thus, the Voices were disabled before they got to prove themselves. This enraged the Traitor however, who in anger, increased her power and begun her counter-attack. At the end, instead of choosing to rescue a vestige of herself, Yara elected to release an immense burst of WALL power, directed at the living Voices. The  WALL storm that ensued, flew all of their bodies to the isle of Eyely, and planted them there.

They have been largely immobile and unresponsive since then.

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