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dawn-of-worlds · 1 year

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Three-Dimensional Thinking

War engulfs the subsurface realm. Cities starve, children perish, temples are reduced to rubble. Twice-vassal Siktun City is no different, and large portions of its populace revolt against Chivik rule. Remote Siktun is resentful over a lack of imperial protection, and hard to pacify for much the same reason that made it hard to defend, and so the revolutionaries are powerful there.

But a lopsided war may still be long and bloody. And so Siktun is engulfed in war all the same as the other underground realms, and its people watch their city slowly ground to rubble, and despair. Many agonizing voices all speak the same prayer, whispered in ruins and shouted in echoing caverns.

"Circadian! Day and night that are changing! Sky-gleaned-from-tales! Instigator, wheel-turner, transformer! If we must fight and starve and kill one another, if there must be upheaval and bloodshed, then show us a sign of your support for our struggle! Reveal those cosmic truths that we echo with our deeds, oh great revealer!"

And for many years, the prayer went unanswered, even as it was taken up by ever-more voices. Until at last, a reply came; not from high above, nor from far below, but from within the city itself, a rumbling through the large cavern in which it was constructed.

"THE SKY SHALL NOT FULFILL YOUR WISH." the voice proclaimed. "IT IS ITS NATURE TO HONOR BOUNDARY, TO ENFORCE SEPARATION, TO PRESERVE SURFACES SACROSANCT. IT CREATES REFLECTIONS AND IMPRISONS THEM IN MIRRORS. IT SPINS GREAT ZODIACAL WHEELS OF SYMBOLS, WHERE EACH MARK CHASES AFTER ALL OTHERS, BUT NEVER COMES CLOSER TO REACHING THEM. IT WILL NEVER UNDO THE BARRIER THAT VEXES YOU."

Then one Tiktik, who refused to accept this answer, yelled out: "Then, whoever you are, act on our behalf! Show us what we fight and die for, if this lies within your power! Tear away all that which separates us from the divine!"

And Haebarik, maker of paths, horizon walker, star-bridger, breaker of traditions, castaway god, one-armed realm-forger, responded:

"WELL, IF YOU INSIST."

And there was a great earthquake, and through the cavern-ceiling then descended the great black whale Maretik, maw opened wide as it feasted on the stone. Round above the city it circled, eating away at the rock, until at last it disappeared once more, having devoured the barrier between realms above and below.

And through the hole in the roof of their world, the Tiktik beheld the moon, shining brightly, its bloody lake like a great lidless eye. And the defenders took the bloodstained sky as a sign of divine favor, and all their foes were converted or banished or slain. And so remote Siktun became the first city to claim true independence from Chivik; and though its people are loyal to Corobel first and foremost, a number of them worships the Carver of Paths as a lesser deity.

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From the surface, the passage to Siktun appears like a great circular pit, its sides gently sloping in, with a hole at the bottom through which one might look upon Siktun and its subsurface lake. Paths have been dug through the soil and stone, culminating in great elevators that ferry travelers up and down to the city.

Though brighter than most of the underworld, the sun does not directly shine down into the city, though the summer noons get bright enough for the Tiktik to briefly stay within their dwellings. Despite their lack of adaptation to sunlight, the Tiktik have responded to their surface access with great enthusiasm, and eagerly harvest the nearby natural resources, foremost among them wood.

The reactions of nearby realms differ. Besieged Wera, though closest of all human cities, must remain dedicated to its own defense, and interacts little with Siktun. Its hinterlands, long since abandoned by their ruler-in-name, are quick to strengthen ties with this new regional power, and many come to call Siktun's rulers lord in time.

Unimaa, whose access to subsurface goods was largely controlled by the Hewn, eagerly cuts out the middle-man and sends emissaries to trade with Siktun directly. And to the southwest, locked in a decade-long stalemate, the malevolent Kalkayer reigns over artificial deltas and mud-choked farms. It hears whisperings of a new city, and so sends scouts upriver; eager to find out whether Tiktik shells, too, can host its algae...

(Shape Land 8 pt., Command Avatar (Create Order) 1 pt., 0 power remaining.)

#might make a more detailed post about siktun and its human subordinates #but this serves as a basic overview and account of how it came to be #worldbuilding #world 02457 diegesis

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