Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Aug 1

Another armoured troll ready for duty!

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 28

A little armored troll. How did he come about such exquisite gear? Perhaps he worked as a mercenary for the local dwarf?

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

A dwarf patriarch.
He has a gilded helmet, decked in bronze armor and carries a thunderstone axe. It’s made from a rock hit by lightning, and still posses some of the sparks. He might not be the oldest of the clans patriarchs, but there is no doubt that he has a commanding presence

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

From the troll-kin lore book. A terrifying(?) troll chieftain.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

I got many short stories for my setting, Forsaken Gods on my Patreon, alongside lore books and wargame rules!

The Picked Men is one such story. Read about the funerary procession of a dead elven prince in the lands of Tenehu.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

A little excerpt from my lore book, here about trade in the cursed lands of Tenehu.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

“After the elves forsook the old gods, they elevated the Cursing King as their sole deity. The only thing you can ask for is to have your judgment postponed, and to grant this wish, he requires blood.”

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

As great tremors shake the earth, the merchants of the caravan sacrifice a slave girl meant for the markets. They hope her blood will calm the fury of the cursing king and grant them safe passage for the rest of the journey.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Though this sounds convoluted, there are some who have mastered these deals. They know the place of a particular dwarf, his preference in food, and the season and time of day when he will be most amenable to trade.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

If accepted, it might mean they are willing to trade, or they are just hungry. Then, you must place what you are willing to trade and retreat out of sight. When you return, you must hope they have left something for you.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Few know the songs of fire and metals as well as the dwarf-kin, making their artifacts prized commodities. Yet to engage them in trade can be a frustrating affair. To start the ordeal, one must place an offering of food at the appropriate place.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Better late than never

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

The dwarves are a devious folk who can only be trusted to go back on a promise. But one should never do the same towards them, as they bear a slight through many a generation, and their only true joy is to right that perceived wrong.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

The serpents guard the bounds of the earth, and few are foolhardy enough to seek its limits. But what is more enticing than the dream of what might lie beyond? Yet, heed not the tales of magicians, and enter not the serpent’s pass, for you are merely baited into being bait.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Beware unless you stumble upon the magicians. They stalk the mountains close to where the great serpents dwell. Are they elf or man, who knows? Some say they search for the cursing head of the king of kings. Will they rid the land of this evil, or destroy all to start anew?

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

The village was razed during the siege; now only the tower ziggurat remains. With the village gone, the conquering army left, but the elven prince was not defeated. Though generations have passed, he still sorties out with his cannibal retinue on wild hunts that sustain them.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

What used to be a rare sight in the sky has now become an all too familiar terror. Now, they even descend on villages, gorging on livestock and inhabitants alike. Only the bravest of heroes would dare challenge these drakes.

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

So this is where you have been hiding!

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Now you can be a god. Guide your chosen one to glory in these cursed lands. Who among you can raise the ultimate champion who will claim everything in your name? Rise from your slumber; great deeds await!

forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

But now, a new people have arrived from lands unknown, following the trails of their wandering god. Their offerings have awoken the forsaken gods. Hungry for sacrifices in their own names, they enter dreams, offering blessings for worship.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

There is no respite for mankind, no peace nor solace. It is as if the cursed land itself tries to shed the remaining mortals clinging to it. The mocking moon, sole witness to man’s plight, whose only dream is to see the rays of the next day.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Now the troll-kin venture farther from the forests, dwarfs look out from many a crevasse, ghouls and other horrors stalk the ruined land, and the dead stir in their graves as dread spirits take a corporeal form in this cursed existence.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

Yet much blood was spilled over the remaining land. The elves, who once considered themselves the dearest of brothers, now became bitter rivals, pitting their human armies against each other. Now the heirs of kings rule little more than villages.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

The days grew colder. The remaining land yielded little, and no boon could be sought, as no god could be called upon. Their names were forgotten. So even the gods shrunk back with no offerings to sustain them, awaiting once more someone to name them.

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forsakengods.bsky.social @forsakengods.bsky.social · Jun 27

The elf-kin lost all color and even shunned the warmth of the sun, as it burned their white skin. Many turned to eating their human subjects to prove their superiority while keeping their numbers down. It was better to live such a cursed existence than lose power to slaves.

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