>The ocean has turned black as ink. It's crashing waves eat at the shore.

>The Dark Lords have divided the world amongst themselves, each serving the Black Sun in their own twisted ways, feeding their subjects' souls to their master.

>>54453867
The black sea has made it nigh impossible for safe ocean travel, outright killing any long term attempts at seafaring.

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>>54453838
>with the black sun in the sky, the realms of man and spirit are merged, turning the land into a nightmarish hellscape of twisting, living terrain and incomprehensible spirit creatures

>>54454007
Because of this merging, men who die do not always stay dead forever. They may rise again as an undead, or a vengeful spirit, or a new creature entirely.

>The massive, cyclopean corpses of the abstract dot the land, their primordial essense a source of power and the most damning gift of all... Hope.

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>The rays of the Black Sun poison the earth, and mutate all those caught beneath them into horrific and twisted monstrosities, forms and minds bent and broken to better service theis new master.

>>54453838
The sole cleric order left in this world have become emotionless righteous fury machines

>When the black sun is eclipsed by the moon, the world experiences a scant few minutes of peace before the sun shines again.

>>54454079
>These wretched beasts are known only as "Communists"

>>54454106
>eclipses only happen when a god dies

>>54454084
Holy powers have almost entirely been snuffed out by the Black Sun. However, the Sole Cleric still fights on, destroying anything in his path. Some say the Abstracts have blessed him with all their remaining power before their death. Others say he is but a man...a very angry and strong man.

>>54454134
Communists (pronounced commune-ists) are in constant communion with the madness of the black sun, seeing beauty and perfection in the nihilistic reduction of all things to a perfectly equal state of absolute entropy.

>>54454195
Good save, anon.

Plants can only be raised on corpses.

>No matter where you travel in this world, the sun always rests at dawn. Or dusk. Meanings such as east and west were forgotten long ago. There is only the road toward or away from desolation.

>>54454226
>One of the Dark Lords, a horrifying amalgamation of Rot Plant and human, has dedicated its rule to growing as many of these plants as possible.
>In an alien sense of compassion, it wants to feed the world the fruits of Black Sun, sending its crops across the tainted sea to its fellow Dark Lords.
>To get this much produce however, its entire lands are lined with innumerable corpses to tend the soil.

The black sun's rays penetrate only so deep; and in the dark places the flesh earth again gives way to dirt and stone, where the Dark Lords' reach is weak.

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>>54454195
>Communists when encountered always have the sound of chattering laughter signifying their approach.
>Some say that this constant laughter is capable of driving one towards hopelse's insanity, their mind shattered by an alien will encroaching upon it.

>>54454539
So are dwarves one of the few untainted races in the setting?

>>54454607
We don't know if dwarves even exist yet in this setting. Or what's down there.Yet

>>54454607
fuck dwarves. fuck everything a basic fantasy would have.
>the nightcrawlers burrow deep, men shifted by the effects of the black sun. in the cavernous depths, the remainder of humanity lives in, the nightcrawlers are dangerous agents of the Black Sun, acting as scouts to find more sources of sustenance.

>>54454607
Only those who live in shadow escape the taint. Subterraneans. Settlements in mountainside shadows and valleys, huge canyons, and even a magnificent walled city that has to build a wall higher every year to stop the jealous sun's rise...

>>54454708
>>54454690
Leathers made from harvested world flesh can stem the twisting of one's flesh beneath the Black Sun, but even that has its limits without the aid of the Ethereal Arts.

>>54454873
The ethereal arts are seen as both a wonder and a horror. They are the lost legacy of the abstractions. Many see them as the cause of the Dawn of the Final Day.

Those who accept the Brands of the Dark Lords, signs of living under the lands of their dominion, find their flesh twisting in specific and limited mutations and may live with the shadow of life and sanity on the surface.

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Deep below the ground, even farther than most men are willing to travel, some of the last remaining scholars, engineers, and magic users toil away in a desperate, last ditch effort to fight back against the black sun. Summoning the blazing hot magma of the planet's crust, they attempt to create an artificial sun to counteract the Dark Sun's powers. The implications of such a project, and the terrifying results it could create should it fail, are numerous. But still, they tinker away, hoping that even if darkness consumes all, a single bastion of light can remain.

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There is said to be one final safe haven, a bastion hidden away from the Sun's influence and from the terrible creatures that wander the earth.

However, upon arriving...

>>54454541
The laughter is a memetic virus that implants itself in one's mind. It is often called "Com Chatter". Symptoms include laughing at inappropriate things, particularly gruesome carnage.

>>54454973
I don't follow.

>>54454958
The New Dawn is a myth, the travellers say, meant to lead the weak astray. They are just servants to another Dark Lord, no better than the rest. Even of they don't realize it.

We would like to open the door, get on the floor, and walk the dinosaur. But buildings are mostly abandoned ruins, and basic living requires so much energy that there is none left for dancing.

>>54454958
It is rumored that they have once succeeded, but their creation rebelled against them. No gentle light of day was this; but the crackling aurora of impossible radiations, a searing light that searches ceaselessly for something.
Now, somewhere deep within the earth, lost to man's gaze, the Dawn Machine ticks endlessly onwards towards it's unknowable end.

>>54454950
Life for the Branded is painful and arduous, toiling away following the whims of whatever their Dark Lord demands of them. However, in a world falling into complete chaos, it is the closet thing to safety and normalcy that they have. Some refuse to believe any of the lies the Dark Lords tell them, using their status as Branded as a means to an end, to make waiting out the end of all things slightly more tolerable. Others, though few in number are sane, truly believe that life will continue under the Black Sun, and only through complete allegiance can it be accomplished.

>>54455109
>THESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUNTHESUN

>>54453867
>>54454539
>>54454958
>Those who live beneath ground fear the dead water of the ocean. It eats at the ground below just as it eats away at the shore.
>In time, inevitably, even the planet's core will be consumed.

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Branded individuals start their new lives as mutated slaves to their Dark Lords, with little freedom of their own. However, if a Dark Lord is pleased with one of their follower's actions, they will "bless" them with greater, more terrifying mutations, and rise them through the ranks of their legion. Some strive to achieve enough favor to become elite members of their Lord's inner sanctum, living in their monolithic palace, eating the "finest" food still left on the planet, and given enough reign and power of their own to fulfill their corrupted heart's desire. Still though, they will always know that they, along with ever other Branded, and even the Dark Lords themselves, are slaves to the greater power of the Black Sun.

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>>54455109
>The Dawn Machine desires for all to 'love' it, to worship it, to cherish it above all others.
> Some think that this is its attempt to fill the empty void in its being with the unconditional 'love' and adoration of mortal beings.

Eight wise men, a world to save,
A brighter future their's to pave.
Glanced beyond abstractions' veil,
To carve out man's most glorious trail,
An eightfold path, an ancient wrath,
A doom unleashed with horrid laugh.
And so the sun did die that day,
eight lords dark and turned astray.

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>>54455288
Good shit, anon, I love me some lore poems.

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>The ocean is so dangerous to sail across that not even the Dark Lords attempt to use boats when delivering resources to their fellow Lords.
>Instead, they use powerful magic users taught in the arts of darkness to control the very blackness that has tainted the water, and split the ocean in two, allowing comparatively safe travel from one landmass to another.
>Massive slave caravans, delivering backbreaking amounts of whatever needs to be delivered, then march with the dark magic user leading the way to their destination
>Many will still die from the violent waters falling from the walls, as if grasping at any life to snuff out.
>This practice is commonly referred to as "Parting the Black Sea."

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>>54455288
>The first verse of the epic known by many as 'The World's End'.

>>54455288
'Neath ancient stone, and hallowed bone,
The first lord sits upon his throne,
Engraved are words of secret la told,
A tale of worldsoul bound and sold,

Beyond the sea, twist islands three,
Caldera spews forth black debris,
The shades of ash protect his reign,
The second rules by fire and pain.

The suns are screaming.

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>>54455517
Oh boy, Lord Lore.

>The First Lord, still deep in its underground caverns, sitting on its throne, continues to mine out the very earth for whatever precious resources remain.
>Its branded work endlessly to expand its empire, dying as they mine and are trampled by their fellow slaves.
>However, some choose to serve the Lord willingly, knowing that since they will be underground, they will be away from the effects of the Black Sun compared to others serving different Lords
>It is also the father (mother? after turning Dark it is hard to tell what they really are anymore) of the Nightcrawlers, sending them deep into the mountains to hunt down anyone who dares try to hide from the Black Sun

>>54455609
>hurr durr rick and morty

So what I gather here is that eight wise men attempted to see through the veil created by the abstracts (gods) in the hopes of raising humanity to new heights. In doing so they unleashed the Black Sun, which destroyed the abstracts and now shines down upon the world.

It's light is causing mutation, the eight wise men were likely its first victims (they also probably got a dose way larger than what people would regularly receive). They conquered the world.

The water itself was stained black by the suns malicious rays and now dissolves whatever it touches, even dirt and rock. The available landmass is slowly shrinking. Eventually the dead water will consume the entire planet, entropy at its finest. Those in communion with the Black Sun find this idea comforting.

The Dawn Machine is an unknown factor. Maybe it'll be extinguished by the dead water, maybe it will push back. Either way it may be no better than the Black Sun itself, another apocalypse waiting to be unleashed.

>>54455609
The Black Sun screams black metal. The Dawn Machine does alt-electronic doomcore It's pretty underground

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>>54454106
>>54454150
>The moon, for as little relief as it can give, has become an object of worship for some.
>They believe that one day the Black Sun will be destroyed, leaving only the moon to hang above in a perpetual night.
>This fascination with the moon and darkness leads many of these moon worshipers to confuse the effects of the Black Sun's for that of the moon's.

>>54455736
Yep. So far we've got some pretty neat stuff going on. Good general summary.

>>54454106
>However, many twisted horrors feel blinding pain when cut off from the corrupting rays of the black sun, causing them to fly into rages too grisly for those few left sane to face; spoiling even these few moments for some, should their masters not tear themselves limb from limb.

>>54455736
>In the end, should the Dawn machine successfully push back, the world will end up less than a third of its original size, the new continents becoming floating chunks of rock held in orbit around the Dawn Machine, and above it would be an "atmosphere" of the black ocean, blotting out the sky with its inky murk, but also keeping the Black Sun's deadly rays at bay. What is left of sentient life would be at the tender mercies of the Dawn Machine, and thus must walk the line between the eternal agony of inferno below, and the horrific madness of the sea and stars above.

Assuming, of course, the Dawn Machine has a chance at all.

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>>54455700
Never watched an episode, was actually stealing it from Doctor Who.

>>54455745
>A sun that screams Black Sabbath's first album

>>54455818
I assume that while the Dawn Machine is still powerless compared to the Black Sun, each new person it takes over then dedicates themselves to the further building and improving it. So it could potentially fight back, but it would take a great deal of time that it may or may not have.

>>54455852
That was what I figured. I was just trying to picture what might be a possible ending scenario for a campaign in this setting.

So far we have a Plant Lord, a Mountain Lord, and a Fire/Volcano Lord. What other Dark Lords could there be, and what resources/specialties would they be masters of?

>>54455736
>either way it may be no better than the Black Sun itself, another apocalypse waiting to be unleashed

Easy with your words, lest the more fanatical members of the Morningstar cult hear anything spoken against the Dawn Machine. For is it not prophesied that one day it will rise up and defeat the Black Sun, scorching the tainted earth so that new life may rise?

For anyone interested in further dark lore or some inspiration (or perhaps to add to the thread i'm on) go ahead and check my keith thompson thread here: >>54454885

>>54455888
Chitinous Vermin Lord?

Stars Lord, was an astrologer?

>>54455888
>There exists a sprawling city, ever growing wider.
>Within the tallest tower of the greatest fortress is a Dark Lord, the master of material manipulated, the Architect.

Ancient solar-powered machines have now gone "mad" as a result of their overexposure to the Black Sun's rays.

These machines, ranging from ordinary worker drones to massive war behemoths, are few and far between, but the influence of the Sun has twisted them into abominable biomechanical monstrosities.

Their victims are crushed into paste and fused to their metallic exteriors, or strung up on sets of spikes in a grotesque warning display.

>The Insects in shadow are dark and numerous, like sand they crawl upon the skin, leaving wounds that do not heal.

>>54455914
Fear not, brother. The Sequence accounts even for those who will not rise.

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>>54455959

In the open waters of the blackened sea, there are waters yet; beneath the depth at which the sun once remembered could not pierce the brine still churns against the encroaching and reaching ichor from above.

Here the black is more active, alive as it reaches into the abyssal depths where life and nature yet find a way, and the gilled folk rally.

>>54455818
>>54455457
What would happen if the two suns shone their light upon one another? If the Dawn machine succeeds and makes its bubble within the black sea, could the sea be parted to allow the two suns to finally meet?

Would there be anyone under the morningstars light capable of parting the water, or would they all be slain by the artificial god?

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>>54455852
>>54455818
>>54455736
>The Dawn Machine is not truly complete, its creators having left it unfinished before it broke free and fled deeper into the earth.
>As more and more souls and wills are bound to its will and embrace it and 'love' it, so too does it gain more fuel and power, growing and building itself up with each new convert.
>Perhaps one day, it may grow strong enough to oppose the Black Sun directly.

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>>54456019
>What would happen if the two suns shone their light upon one another?

>>54453838
>Black Sun has won
>not Blue Sun

Anon, everyone knows that if you want to win, you use Blue Sun.

>>54456019
If the two suns meet it creates a singularity, either destroying this reality and creating an entirely new one, or giving birth to a new abstraction who has the properties of both the black sun and the dawn machine.

Or maybe both. Maybe this is the Morningstar that was prophesied, and with a gesture it obliterates the universe to create a new, clean reality.

>>54455944
>The Architect, as its name implies, designs and builds countless buildings for both its sprawling city, and for the projects requested by the other Dark Lords
>These buildings are strange and abnormal to any normal man, but to the Architect and its faithful branded, they are the pinnacle of form and function
>They are the most resistant to the acidic ocean, the most durable, and the most impenetrable.
>Day and night, the branded work to create more buildings, more homes, more structures and statues and anything else their Lord commands.
>When not working, the branded live in these buildings, and have formed a society almost comparable to an old world metropolis. Complete with an economy, law enforcement, and other such privileges
>The faithful believe that one day the planet will be covered in one connected city, the true vision of a Black Sun Society.

>>54455888
There is a Lord of the dark waters, but he spends most of his time away from his peers, toiling in his laboratory underneath the waves. The others have a special hatred for him because he could use his power at any time to part the waves for him, but he rarely deigns to even speak to them. What he makes, researches, develops down in the depths is his own shadowy business.

The sun is tied to a prophecy. A new race reborn in its ashes. That which does not live, yet does not die. Many do not know if this is figurative or literal, or who and where this prophecy first came from.

>The only truely sane man left is an old beggar, left with nothing but a small puppy to keep him company
>however, the begger already knows how he'll die
>he will be killed by the puppy once it becomes a full grown adult and will become the dark lord of all wolves
>the man abuses the puppy because of this
>this has caused the prophecy to fufill it's self, symbolizing the death of sanity and alluding to the truth that this madness was brought upon by the destructive ways of the old world

>>54456006
The gilled folk, trapped in their part of the waves and unable to leave normally due to the layer of deadly waters above them, have a particular hatred for the Black Sun's effects on their greater ecosystem, yet at the same time are now tied to the blackness that has come alive and corrupted them. Those who have not given in and been branded by the Lord of Dark Waters (>>54456296) use what brief moments they have when the waters are parted to leave the waves, and join the small resistances that fight against the Black Sun.

The potency of the oceans in irregular. At times it attacks the shores so fiercely that each wave leaves a billow of acrid smoke in its wake, while at others it is so placid as to permit swimming. Tides and waves seem to take the guidance of the winds and moon as mere suggestions, and change seemingly without reason, while currents defy all manner of physical law in their winding, circuitous courses.

Nights the sea-smoke is thick enough to form banks and roll ashore are considered ill-omened, and none will walk outdoors save the branded of the sea.

Son of a bitch.

>>54456286 goes into >>54456343 instead of the sun prophecy post.

>>54456327
This is a story that mothers teach their children born into the world of the Black Sun, a dark fairy tale to harden them and teach them lessons they will need to accept in these days.

"Who would lead your rabble, who would stand against we who serve the Eight?" the lord mayor bellowed over the cowed and prostrated crowd in the square below.

He frowned, for he had long ago forgotten how to smile. One figure stood, wrapped in layered leathers and shrouded in Ethereal Mists. These shifting mists moved, lived, and began condensing into a blade.

>>54456461
"The fog of war is no match for the mists of fate."

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>>54454320
One would think that serving under the Plant Lord would be a blessing, compared to all the other lords focused on death and sorrow. However, this is far from the truth, as the Plant Lord is perhaps the most sadistic.

It sees those it brands as nothing more than fertilizer for its true children, the plants. It must feed the world, and to do that, the branded must be fed, made plump, and then placed in the earth to best be overtaken by plants and create more fruits for the hungry. It is a short and agonizing existence, with the few elite only kept alive for their ability to capture and plant more victims.

>>54456440
However, this is also the backstory for the dark lord of wolves
His eternal pack wonders the world punishing man for their sins, all those marked by the dark lord becomes a wolf themselves
This shows that even man's best friend has turned on them
You can trust
No
One

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>Those rich and smart enough tried desperately to escape from the black sun's grasp while there was still hope. now, with their resources and the very air they breathe slowly dwindling, it is only a matter of time before the paranoia and the scars of the Dark Lords take their toll.

As of yet, no one has been able to slay a Dark Lord. Their strength is far greater than any army that could stand against them now, let alone a normal man. And even if a Dark Lord was in danger, other Lords would come in to protect their brother (well, those not plotting to overthrow them, at least). However, there is nothing to say that the Dark Lords cannot be killed, despite what their propaganda may suggest. No one knows what would happen if one of the Eight were slain, but the possibility is enough to fuel the few resistance groups that remain.

So the dark lords are
Dark lord of plants
Dark lord of the black waters
Dark lord of mountains
Dark lord of the city
Dark lord of wolves
Dark lord of fire
Dark lord of vermin
Dark lord of the stars
Is everyone fine with this?

One of the most common initial mutations to occur in humans exposed to the Black Sun, before physical twisting and mental breaking or communion, is the manifestation of strange psychic ability.

>>54456286
>"My Lord, I have seven letters from the seven other Lords."
>"Read them to me, assistant."
>"...they all just say 'Part the sea you fuck' over and over again."

>>54454166

The few surviving Blasphemous Clerics of the prior age have retreated into near permenant sleep, hoping to dream their way out of the nightmare of the waking world.
The strongest such dreamers are said to be able to take people into their dreams, though none are known to have returned, nor whether this is by choice or design.

>>54456158
>Few know how far the machination of The Architect goes
>His abilities seem to counter the holy entropy that shines down upon the world, with his ability to create things immune to the most horrible environments the Dark Sun has wrought
>This puzzles the other Dark Lords but they are always eager to trade for his builders craft, as they help to prolong their squabbles and games in a dying world
>The darkest secret, laying so deep in his heart that even the Dark Lord of a Thousand Eyes cannot, is the final machination of the Dark Architect. His labyrinths, metropolis, and fortresses are the purest form of worship to the Dark Sun, for how mighty is it that it will one day cast down the greatest of stones? For when the other Dark Lords and their pawns think that they will last a millennia hence, the artificial worlds will break in one joyous cataclysm as the world is finally snuffed out.

>The Dark Architect desires no reward for this, for being the crumbling cornerstone of all creation is its own reward.

>If the Dark Suns creation was ever tampered with to create this hellish apocalypse- There may have been one single traitor.

"In the grip of wild passion, the artisans crafted great works of stone and iron. Their splendid craft took the form of numerous massive heads, each modeled after that of leaders, legends, and heroes of times long past. However, under the shivering sunlight, stone features contorted and iron eyes shut as artificial mouths appeared everywhere and flapped without speaking. The craftsmen were repulsed and tried to destroy their creations, but they were rebuked with a fierce force that turned naked flesh into sand. Thus, the gibbering heads of the Crested Valley were born, closed eyes fixated on the vast Black star that hovers overhead."
-Excerpt from a hastily scribbled memory journal

>>54456660

>the Dark Lord of the Black Waters just chuckles and resumes playing black notes on The Organ of Storms

There was a man who cared not for the plight of the world. Who cared not for the blackened sun, its blackened rays, the blackened seas and skies. A brigand, approaching a venerable age. Served many bandit lords of many generations before this calamity. One has wondered how he survived his career choice, and one wonders still if he wanders.
There has been reports of a malignant creature wearing brigand armor, roaming the lands. It has killed many. It does not care what it kills. Could it be the same man? How could he be - the creature is as big as a bear, with many maws, surrounded by an evil mist. Yet underneath it all, there lies armor. Is this an experiment of one of the Dark Lords?

>>54456718
>many stories of him cleverly tricking the other lords when asking for passage are told by his followers
>he is sometime called the ferrieman of the blackwaters as he is known for extorting all those who wish for passage over the black waters

>>54456709
Wait, what the fuck?

can someone explain this to me

>>54456646
There once were eight bright nobles
Who summoned a Black Sun
And darkened days with shadowed rays
Transformed them one by one.

The First Lord looked upon his land and saw that it was scant
So a flower grew out from his throat, the Dark Lord of the Plant

The Second Lord's lands fell below, he lost his sons and daughters
So he sunk himself beneath the sea, the Dark Lord of Black Waters

The Third Lord cared not for the waves that darkened up his fountain
So he dug in deep, and forged his keep, the Dark Lord of The Mountain

The Fourth Lord saw these corrupt world and thought it very pretty
So he called his guild and began to build, the Dark Lord of The City

The Fifth Lord was quite pleased to see new prey on hunting ground
So he went on all fours and cried great roars, the Dark Lord of The Hound

The Six Lord worked day in and night, and knew he shant retire
Eager to turn through ash and burn, the Dark Lord of the Fire

The Seventh Lord with his greedy horde, refused to quit his squirmin
So rats ripped through his filthy skin, the Dark Lord of The Vermin

The Final Lord looked to the skies, saw Jupiter and Mars
As they fell to doom and darkened gloom, the Dark Lord of The Stars

There once were eight bright nobles
Who fell to darkness quick
So do not praise the Eight Dark Lords
Their tale should make you sick

>>54456660
>>54456718
>"My lord, they demand a response."
>*sigh* "Very well, have one of the gilled folk send up the Herald."
>two days later a massive waterspout, the likes of which is rarely seen, ravages the lands closest to the seas
>only the Lord of stars sees the intent behind the chaos
>from above it carves out "make me, assholes" into the earth

>>54456831
>and so they did
>It was one of the few, perhaps the only time all 7 other Dark Lords are known to have wholeheartedly worked together, beating one of their own to within an inch of his hateful life just to prove a point.

>>54455828
Isn't Black Sabbath, at least in its early days, relatively more tame than some current stuff?

Plus, if you want the really metal Sabbath stuff, you want the stuff from when Dio was the singer, like the album Dehumanizer, which idly enough the name and music of it seem pretty appropriate for the thread/setting

>Collaberative storytelling
Take it to >>/qst/

>>54456831
>>54456857

>and thus was The War of the Water Margins, and great debts and grudges borne between the lords

>>54456883
A: learn to spell
B: this is literally worldbuilding, a /tg/ staple since the dawn of time
C: fuck off newfag

>here's your (You)

>>54456718
>The Organ of Storms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9fl42FQsrU

>>54456815
yes good

>>54456857
And it was on this day, that the lord of the black waters decided that he wanted to be even more of an asshole
This of course has led to many more fights with other lords
Some he loses, some he wins
It is a common known fact that among the 8 that the lord of the black waters martial prowess is one of the worst(only ahead of the Architect),but it is also well known that he is one of the most clever

>>54456810
I think you're supposed to use your imagination, munchkin

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The Dark Lord of The Stars high above the world, in an ancient, solar powered machine designed to travel the stars, the only one of its kind. It has long since been corrupted by the rays of the Black Sun, turning into a semi sentient breeding ground for eldritch abominations unlike anything ever seen before, sending down arcane blasts that scorch the planet below.

Silently, The Star Lord watches over both the planet and the galaxy at large, mapping out each change. Every star that goes out, every land mass that moves and shifts in the black waves, every mysterious glow that shines from lightyears away. Most see him as the eyes of the Black Sun itself, smiting those who challenge it. Others believe he is the only hope to finding a new home for all life, biding his time until he can find a way to take full control of his ship and sail his faithful to a better place.

>>54456658
What kind of powers did you have in mind? Ones that are the same for the whole world or powers that are specific to each domain?

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>It is said that there are a group of cloaked figures who travel the world, cataloging everything that they find, and are known to pray before large monuments and structures that are thought to have once been dedicated to the long-dead Abstracts.
>These odd wizened figures have been dubbed as the Mourners Of the Broken Age.

>But what of those sailing the seas when this plague affected our sun and our lands?
>Wrapped in the mist, swallowed by the dark seas?
>Drowned and eviscerated?
>Or perhaps they..."survived"? Warped by fog, the rays, and the waves.
>Dead, but not dying
>Drowned, yet not
>There are strange creatures that have now been crawling along the shores, the coasts.
>Pale men, drowned. Atypical of all the black and doom that permeates everything
>Women that have innumerable tentacles and maws, men that have spikes in all of their orifices

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>>54457043
The dark lord of vermin lives underneath the rubble of a once lush and lively city. The black sun has turned the bandits and criminals of the old world into horrific twisted monstrosities, feasting on the waste of man, the forgotten dead and those who stumble upom their layers

Some say the vermin lord was once a bandit king turned merchant prince, stories of inhumane crimes he supposedly committed as a man are told through out the Architect's city. Some say that the fate if all criminals and lowlifes is to be branded by the vermin lord. A fitting punishment for the unworthy

>>54457049

Children possess great and wild and varied powers, but by adolescence most people lose retain only one or two very minor and specific abilities like telekinesis, starting small fires, the ability to influence some command over small flocks of Carrion-Ducks, etc...

As such, most folk give child gangs a wide berth, with only the vast wheeled fortress-prisons of the Orphanages and their cruel jailers daring to try and weild the children's powers for their own purposes.

>>54455926
>The Dark Lord of a Thousand Eyes, a lord of the lowest of creatures.
>So small the rats, the roaches, the spiders, some believe they are unmolested by the light of the Dark Sun, others believe that their mutations are equal to their stature.
>The Followers of the Thousands believe that they hold the key to over coming the Darkness. That through knowing them, they shall learn to live into the next age of light.
>The Dark Lord is a master of spies, who uses the small ones as his eyes.
>Many Dark Lords will use his services, and he remains loyal, to the one he believes to be the strongest. Who this is, is only known to the lord.
>Few followers have ever met their lord, and those claim to have merely state he is one and all with the swarm.
>Not even the other Dark Lords know what he truly seeks.

This is the Tale of The Wedding of Prince Ezra and Princess Marisol, a favorite amongst those who still stand against the Black Sun.

"In the early days of the Black Sun, when the Dark Lords marched across the planet, conquering and dividing the lands, no empire seemed strong enough to stand against the encroaching evil. Every army was crushed. Every famed warrior slain or corrupted. Every kingdom fell.

So what use could Prince Ezra of the humble lumbermen and Princess Marisol of the sunlight worshipers (before their faith was destroyed right before their eyes) do to fight back?

To the surprise of the Dark Lords, they chose not to. In fact, the Prince and Princess of these two small kingdoms sent letters to each and every Dark Lord, offering their servitude and inviting them to, of all things, a wedding!

Yes, Prince Ezra and Princess Marisol told the Dark Lords that they would join their two kingdoms together in a marriage, and then offer their combined kingdom to whichever Dark Lord offered them the finest wedding gift.

This amused the Dark Lords greatly. It was both an easy victory, and an opportunity for friendly competition with their fellow Lords. On the day of the wedding, where the people of the lumber kingdom and the people of the sun kingdom would become one, the Dark Lords arrived, each bearing a great gift for Ezra and his lovely Marisol.

'I shall present my gift first,' said the Dark Lord of Plants, revealing a beautiful and massive flower, a bright crimson red, which gave of the smell of delicious fruits no longer seen in the world. It was beautiful...if not for the fact that it was emerging from the mouth of a dead man, his face frozen, still screaming. Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Plants and took the gift away.

The Dark Lord of Waters was next, presenting a giant jug of pure, uncorrupted water. A rarity hard to come by in this day and age. "Drink up," said the Dark Lord, "it is the last pure water you shall see in your lifetimes."

>>54457283
Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Waters and took the gift away.

Next came the Dark Lord of Mountains, marching proudly to the prince and princess. "Those gifts are nothing compared to what I so kindly give to you." The Dark Lord revealed a cart full of gold, mined from his most valuable mountains...still stained with blood from the lost souls who mined it for him. Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Mountains and took the gift away.

Then came The Dark Lord of Cities, followed by his faithful builders. "Those gifts will be gone so soon. But not what I offer, for it shall last a lifetime." The Dark Lord pointed to the horizon, revealing that in the short notice he was given to come to the wedding, he had already constructed a new castle for Ezra and Marisol to live in...with terrifying, twisted towers, black brick, and architecture hard to even comprehend. Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Cities and took the gift away.

The Dark Lord of The Hound rushed to Ezra and Marisol, a bloodied, snarling pup in his teeth. "Take this mutt" he growled, "and it shall grow and slay all your enemies without fail." Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Hounds and took the gift away.

His armor smoldering and leaving ash as he walked, the Dark Lord of Fire presented a burning sword to the prince. "Who needs a dog when you can take your enemies lives yourself? They will burn in your name and in mine." Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Fires and took the gift away.

Rats, bugs, and other disgusting filth filled the grounds as the Lord of Vermin rose from them, throwing the prince and princess a bag of assorted things. Stolen jewels, biting animals, spitting mouths from mutated creatures. "Along with treasure, I offer you servants. They shall watch your people and kill all who go against you." Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Vermin and took the gift away.

>>54454973
The Bastion isn't a safe haven, or even a haven. It's an amalgamate of beings that feed on the despair and anger of those who seek it. It seeps a mist that causes mirages of an amazing gilded city in the distance, but when travelers reach, the Bastion captures and integrated the bodies and minds into its hive.
A creature fueled by sorrow, anger and despair, it only seeks to increase its numbers until no one is outside of its grasp.

>>54457401
>>54457283
>But how can they truly say which gift is best?
>Surely the Dark Lords themselves must sort it out, being such learned and superior beings
>[TEAMKILL INTENSIFIES].exe

>>54457401
Finally, the Dark Lord of Stars descended from the skies, silently placing a complex globe of the planet, covered with simmering crystals and carved with secrets of the planet. Written at its base, it said "the gift of knowledge." Ezra and Marisol thanked the Dark Lord of Stars and took the gift away.

Ezra and Marisol then married, to the cheers of all their followers. The Dark Lords, waiting to see who would gain this newly unified kingdom's people as their branded, were perplexed by how happy these men and women seemed to be. No one could be this happy about becoming servants of a Dark Lord, no one ever is.

Ezra called the crowd and the Dark Lords to attention.

"Thank you all for coming here, especially the great and honorable Dark Lords. The Lords have brought me amazing gifts, all wonderful in their own unique way...yet...none of them are the greatest gift."

The Dark Lords were shocked. What could possibly be better than what they offered?

Marisol then spoke, "for you see, the greatest gift of all is the great orb that hangs above us all." She then pointed to the sky, towards the Black Sun.

The Dark Lords relaxed as they looked up into the sky. They were referring to the Black Sun. It is good they were so eager to follow it...

But they were horrified when they realized that the Black Sun was not the only thing in the sky. The moon was moving in front of the sun. It was an eclipse! The Dark Lords felt as their powers began to shrink away. They were weak from the lost connection with the Black Sun.

Immediately, the men and women of the unified kingdoms charged at the Dark Lords, hidden blades in hand! It was a trap! A cleverly planned scheme to gather all the Dark Lords together and destroy them in a single brilliant attack!

>>54457506
>eclipsing a black sun
>how can you tell, one wonders

>>54457506
The Dark Lords and the men and women of the kingdoms battled until the eclipse finally ended. Though greatly bloodied and torn, the Dark Lords did not fall, and once they gained their powers, they ended each and every life at the wedding...except for newly made King Ezra and Queen Marisol.

"You've failed,! cried the Dark Lords in a horrifying unison, "Your foolish resistance has lead to the deaths of all your people! What do you have to say for yourselves?!"

King Ezra looked into the eyes of his Marisol.
Queen Marisol looked into the eyes of her Ezra.

"We go exactly what we wanted," said Ezra.
"We have proven that the Dark Lords are not unstoppable. They are as foolish and as mortal as any other man."

The Dark Lords ended the lives of King Ezra and Queen Marisol, but word of this astounding attack quickly spread. Despite how much the Dark Lords deny this tale is true, this story has proof, for as the Dark Lords returned to their homes, beaten and bruised...they forgot to take their gifts back with them.

They are now scattered across the lands, hidden from the Dark Lords, standing as symbols for resistance and hope for years to come."

This a story beloved by many. Whether it is actually true or not is debatable, though it never fails to raise hopes and spirits.

>>54457585
>for as the Dark Lords returned to their homes, beaten and bruised...they forgot to take their gifts back with them.
>
>They are now scattered across the lands, hidden from the Dark Lords, standing as symbols for resistance and hope for years to come."

Man I'd had the be the guys who safeguarded a bag of gross bugs. Are the gross bugs good guy bugs now?

For real tho this was great.

>>54457636
*I'd hate to be

>>54457636
>>54457646
I imagine that the sentient gifts like the bugs and dog would become loyal to whoever received them, so yes, those would be good guy bugs.

Thanks m8

This is one of the best settings i've ever read (at least what is going on in my head, provided by you people)

I am going to use a lot of this i think

>>54457804
Make sure to post stories about it on /tg/. I really want to hear how this setting plays out.

Also, we should think about archiving this thread for later use.

>>54457832
i've copied a lot of it into a doc for later use as well.

not a fan of everything, but there is so much content here, including things that would fit in books players could find, and jokes the branded would say over meals to eachother
>the dark lord of the ocean gets 7 letters saying part the seas for us.....>>54456660
>>54456831

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html

Make sure to vote for this, it's titled under "World of The Black Sun."

>>54457914
Oh sweet! You mind making that a google doc? I'd love to check it out in case the thread doesn't archive.

And yeah, with any setting thread there's gonna be some ideas that don't mesh well with everything else, but as a whole I really dig this setting and stories it could tell.

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Some Branded beings, out of a twisted sort of curiosity, attempted to become branded by multiple Dark Lords simultaneously. These men traveled in slave caravans across the inky sea in order to attempt their twisted, masochistic dream, only to discover what awaited them was a burning, fetid dream.

For those branded by the Dark Lords more than once were made an example of, much like the tales of Icarus flying too close to the sun, where their bodies would sizzle and burn with a strange sort of dark-light glowing from their eyes and pores. Runes would coat their plagued skin, shining with pure hatred from the jealous sun on the horizon, driving the strange men mad, flaying themselves to death on their strange journey. Many died to achieve this dying ambition of an already rotting world, but one sadist, more than happy to see the entire journey through, had obtained a brand from each of the Dark Lords along his spine.

The effect was ridiculously damaging, twisting his image into that of the spiteful rays that eminate from the black sun itself, a sort of entity made of sentient plasma, screaming eternally with a low-frequency ringing from the nature of his burns. Citizens that live in the dying kingdoms call people with this self-destructive dream known as "Sunspots," but those from the Lord of the Vermin, and his Thousand-Eyes know otherwise.

With his eyes a-plenty, he has more than happily followed the wandering, plasma-banshee that glides along the rays of the Black Sun, and decoded his screams in a strange wavelength, and sought to hide the information as well as he could by eternally watching any willing "Sunspots" as well as The Banshee himself.

What this means is dubious in nature. Branded from the Lord of Vermin suppose that with the dull pain of eternal fire comes with it an eternal life, for the Banshee lives in myth and spottings at the edges of kingdoms. Rumors say that with the brands of all 8 kingdoms comes with freedom, knowledge or immortality.

>>54457937
That is exactly what i had done

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14WlvAzOgGdCzG_XytF87LvpruNQx_lUGei--Iun10zg/edit?usp=sharing

>>54457991
You're a good man, anon.

>>54457991
Thanks so much for this, I wanted to keep this for future use. You're a lifesaver, anon. I appreciate you adding in my bad-grammar story of the Sunspots, too.

>>54457953
I really dig this concept. Hell, this could even work for an evil campaign in the setting, something similar to the Mr. Eaten questline from Fallen London. The players go from place to place, gaining brands and gaining literally nothing but suffering from them. It just makes it worse and worse for them, but if they complete it, they might just achieve something amazing.

>>54458051
one of the many genius ideas in this thread.

there are so many potential plot hooks and so much story for the players to uncover.

too bad i have very little experience as a DM and it will probably not be nearly as good as i want it to be.

I really want to hear more about the Dark Lords and how they interact/feel about each other. We know that everyone hates the smugness of the Dark Water Lord, and that the Architect Lord is a mystery to the others due to his sweet building skills, but there's so much room to explore these relationships and how their squabbles fuck over everyone else.

>>54458079
That's actually sorta what I had in mind, I like the idea of a quest purely for knowledge's sake, where people quite literally know that at the end of the tunnel, it is only pain. It quells their curiosity, though, and isn't that what matters? They know they might not become amazing legends, but they merely want to know what happens. That desire burns them, and so they lose their mind with their sanity, throwing the baby with the bathwater, and purely want to know: What would happen? The runes burn like their questions do.

>>54458108
my understanding is they were all friends before, and they released the black sun while trying to ascend humanity >>54455288

I was thinking the 8 still have vestiges of friendship towards each other, but they are mostly trying to gain the most favour with the dark sun by feeding it souls

however the dark sun isnt really sentient, it simply burns the souls for energy, preventing any sort of afterlife, and fueling the destruction of the universe

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>>54457230
The Lord of Stars sends down some of his unique mutants, the "angels" to descend from the skies and snatch up particularly gifted psychic children from their homes, bringing them to his fortress in the sky. There, he trains the children to maintain the complex ship in ways on psychic powers can manage. If the children prove themselves to be useful, he then teaches them techniques to hone their powers so that they can keep them into adulthood, and uses them as assistants as he charts out what remains of the galaxy.

>>54457991
>>54457937
I'm going to open it up to commenting, dont make me regret this.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14WlvAzOgGdCzG_XytF87LvpruNQx_lUGei--Iun10zg/edit?usp=sharing

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>>54458224
>however the dark sun isnt really sentient
>Many mortals would like to think this, but those unfortunate enough to hear the laughter and whispers of the Black Sun know the truth.

The Lord of Fire lives in a region consisting of a large crater surrounded by mountains and volcanoes both active and dormant. Within this crater is an immense lake of churning boiling lava. A small city made by the Architect out of a special metal alloy floats among the roiling bubbling lava waves. The Lord of Fire spends most of his time swimming in the lava lake in the form of a very large, finned creature similar to an aquatic whale, but more like a cross between a dragon and a shark.

Though the abstracts are dead, some still choose to worship them, believing that they have simply moved onto a greater form than they once had. Worship of the abstracts is illegal in most Dark Lord controlled lands, so they must perform their gatherings and sermons in secret. Some of the more zealous even make plans to search the world for a method to revive the abstracts and save the world. Though considering what happened last time people tried to save the world (The Dawn Machine), this is a plan that scares a few people.

>>54458454
The Lord of Fire is a simple man. His passions include making enemies, burning those enemies, and then collecting their ashes for his collection. To his enemies, he is a force of unstoppable rage and destruction, but to his branded, he is surprisingly kind. He expects them to kill and burn in his name, but he is just as happy to swim with the branded in his lava lake...well, those mutated enough to survive it.

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The Dark Lords each have scribes that write their decrees, schemes, and their relations with the other lords that are merely high-ranked Branded, that contain the most fortuitous mutations according to each Lord's trust in their scribe.

Scribes maintain a secondary job that is equally as important for those who wish to live on the surface, and work across, and alongside, separate kingdoms for extremely vital information among the Dark Lords and the Branded themselves.

The Scribes are also mapmakers, traveling the writhing fields of the horizons forever-touched by the Black Sun. Not only making sure that the borders of the land-masses haven't changed, but also talking with other Scribes about the borders of territory, the massive changes of terrain due to the pulsating globe, as well as scouting safe passage for trade and travel between the Dark Lords' lands. On rare occasion, they meet with the Dark Lord of the Stars' court to exchange maps, seek additional information from the place in the galaxy for the Lords, and to quell fluctuations in the other planes.

A highly sought after job for those with rotting ambition, undying devotion, or those who seek to gain the trust of the lords for nefarious purposes, the Scribes are extremely important, for without which, life would not be manageable in the Lands of the Black Sun.

The Martyrs and Purifiers roam lands under Black Sun.
It is said that Purifiers can be opposition for some brigands and even armies. Furious and judgemental, they forgot about mercy or selfpreservation. Trying to level down anything they deem impure to absolute nothingness, Purifiers slaughtered hundreds of thousands. Branded, abominations and survivors - they see no difference. Only children are left alive: taken, trained and brainwashed into new fanatics. They don't just turn undertowns into empty carcasses of huts. They level down everything what they can, being spared of attention. Everything. Is this purity better than branding or madness of ever-agonizing world?

>>54458525
I'd love to play a scribe campaign in this setting.

>>54458553
When Purifiers are found in a Dark Lords area, they immediatly send whatever they can to destroy them. With how skilled Purified have become in their quest to destroy corruption, and how quickly they can operate, what the Dark Lords are able to send in a quick enough time is often not enough to defeat them. Instead, those they send are more of a distraction, so that the Lord has enough time to call in a favor from the Lord of the Stars to call down an arcane laser from the skies to destroy them. Yet no matter how many times they are able to destroy the purifiers attacking, they always seem to pop up again in another few years.

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>>54458457
>The Mourners Of the Broken Age are known to participate in, and even host such gatherings, leading thone few who still worship the Abstracts in ancient long forgotten rites.
>It is said that the Mourners and their most devout may know of a way to revice the Abstracts and to save this world, but known can confirm this.

>>54458682
Mourners are welcome in almost all resistance groups and hidden villages in the mountains not claimed by the Mountain Lord, as they remind them of better times and inspire hope. However, almost is the key word here. The speeches and sermons of the Mourners can be so moving that they drive people to leave their homes and become Mourners themselves. This can be seen as a problem, since Mourners are not known to fight the Dark Lords head on as resistance groups do. Add this with the fact that many don't believe the Mourners could truly bring back the Abstracts, and they are occasionally shunned by more militaristic leaders.

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>>54458734
>Of course a fact that is not known to many except those few who follow the Mourners is that they -are- capable of defending themselves, they just do not do so most times since they are not usually attacked.
>In fact, the Mourners may very well be the most dangerous beings that one can possibly face, barring maybe the Dark Lords themselves, capable of channeling unfathomable mystic powers to smite their enemies, turn poisoned water into pure well springs that burn away the powers of darkness, and reduce most creatures of evil to smoldering ash with but a glance and a few spoken words within a near-unfathomable tongue.
>Those who have seen them in combat before note that they move with an inhuman grace and ability, slicing through their enemies with ease, and singing ancient hymns and songs as they do so.

>>54458872
The question is, do the Dark Lords know that such powerful people exist? If so, how do they deal with them? If not, how are the mourners keeping their secret from them?

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Olympians and Adrenaline Junkies alike that competed in friendly sport before the synthesis of the Black Sun soon found that this new world, born with squirming soil, provided a much greater sport than the previous world ever would.

Respected followers and Branded from the Lord of the Hound competed in strange sports and intense races at breakneck-speeds across strange courses, hunting weak Branded from other Dark Lords and dragging them across the land in bleeding heaps.

These races, competed for honor across horseback, or whatever beast on four-legs, were sought by raiders and racers alike. Totally lost in this new world, looking for any scrap of joy to cling to. The Dark Lords, however, did not see this as rather respectful when the Lord of the Hound would congratulate his newly dubbed "Marrows" with the Hunt of Branded from other kingdoms. The Lord of the Fire sought this to be a sport full of potential for fury and bloodshed, and sought an, ironically, peaceful solution.

Now, every two months, the criminal Branded and any revolutionaries are rounded up as victims for the Marrows to collect as corpses through this continent-wide race full of battle and blade, shown to all with the power of the Dark Lord of the Stars. A communal event to bring some bloodthirsty joy, any are welcome to sign up for the Race of Bone and Marrows, and winners are melded together with their mount, as horse and rider. A new intelligence strangely wise and silent, they are given immense wisdom and freedom before the new monstrosity sprints off into the horizon, forever chasing the Black Sun, never to reach it.

>>54458930
>The Dark Lordside have heard of "powerful figures" trying to upset their dark realms, but most do not know just how strong these "figures" really are. The Black Sun only whispers the vaguest of clues in their ears.
>The only ones who might know for certain the nature of the Mourners are the Lord of Stars and the Architect.
>The Mourners themselves are known to disappear quietly and silently as they once more begin their travels, followers in tow, never staying in any one place for a long period of time.
>It is suspected by some that they move through other places, other realms, before arriving back suddenly in another part of the world.

>>54458930

Maybe most of the power they use comes from old age tech, they may even have some secret tech that immunizes them from the mutation caused to others.

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While this particular type of setting might not be to my exact taste, these are my favorite types of threads on /tg/. I love you guys <3.

>>54458970
I don't know how solid that actually is, especially with the Lord of the Vermin and the Lord of the Stars having sentinels that eternally watch the planet.

I think it would be a bit more like this:

The Mourners are not often targeted by civilians and Branded of the kingdoms below and above, but often herald a Champion of some they deem worthy, praying and singing hyms, chanting dead spells of a world long-past to give them scraps of power from gods killed long ago. While these scraps of power are hardly anything individually, enough to cast light or to heal a light wound, preventing mutations from the Mourners, their champions, whomever they decide, are given immense power. The last Champions were supposedly the Last Order of Clerics that were relics of the world first transitioning into the monstrosity it is now, but they are gathering travelers that they do not seek to add to their ranks, but perhaps for another purpose. What powers can they grant? What exactly do their ledgers contain? Those who ask may not be given an answer that they like.

>>54459004
this is good

>>54459004
I really like this. Gives us a direct good faction that can put up a fight, while also giving a good reason why the Dark Lords wouldn't know to kill them on sight.

>>54458963
The Lord of the Hound, for as terrifying and vicious as his legion can be to revolutionaries and branded of other lords, to his own branded the Hound is seen as a saint. Admittedly, his branded are fewer than the other lords, as he has very little in terms of homes or structure. But for the glory seeker, the hunter, the barbarian, and other such free spirits, he offers them the chance at true freedom. To ride across the dying lands as a beast, free from cares, regrets, and the chains of society. The weak are killed quickly. But the strong live in honor and glory.

>Every so often, the black tides will recede, revealing strange detritus. Though no living thing has ever been seen in its waters, remnants of strange lifeforms are bound upon its beaches. Gnarled teeth, enormous tentacles, and other less easily identified organs have been known to appear. Some say the Lord of the Dark Waters knows their origin, while others aren't so sure.

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Some hopefuls who either don't know enough illegal information to get to the Dawn Machine, or aren't suicidal enough to try to overthrow the Dark Lords often end up falling in line with the Curators.

Essentially very spirited and polite book-keepers, they are easily identified by assorted masks with filters or beaks, they travel along important sites that look in the areas that the followers of the Dawn Machine and the Mourners would leave by the wayside. These gutsy historians, who know more than anyone how to survive, merely want to know what it exactly is that the Dark Lords did in order to create the Black Sun, and intend to discover its nature without going insane. Of course, doing so is impossible, and those who attempt to go "too deep," end up as thief scholars who take ventures into each Lords' libraries before either being killed, or becoming twisted, corrupt beings. Some elder historians, however, know the tales told by these jumpy young bucks quick to revolution. The tales they know are hidden in stolen books and hidden archives, as they slowly piece together the nature of the Eight Bright Nobles and the War Against the Abstracts, as well as the birthplace of the Black Sun.

>>54454166
Awesome.

>>54459110
The closet guess that the more informed Branded and rebel minds can come up with is that these are beings from the darkest depths of the sea, where the Lord of The Dark Waters and his mysterious gilled folk live, who somehow found their way too close to the surface and trapped in the waters too acidic to survive in. But this poses a problem, as there is no reason for a deep sea creature to move to higher waters, at least not in such large quantities. Likewise, the few gilled rebels who have somehow made it to the surface by sneaking through a parted sea claim to have never seen such creatures before. What is going on beneath the waves?

>>54459162
*closest

>>54458992
And I love you, pie sniffing black man.

>>54459122
Some more galvanized explorers of the Curators collect artifacts, record myths, and hungrily seek news and history from the Branded still sane enough to remember. Always remembered as charismatic and polite, they are often seen in the Dark Lords' kingdoms around the outskirts, but are seen as harmless while they seek for old tales, books, and rubble. The Curators, of course, also seek the 8 Gifts in the old tale, and supposedly have found the Jug in the tale, that still holds a plentiful supply of the last purified water in existence.

With this recent find, the Dark Lords are starting to get suspicious, and send Scribes and guards alike to be wary around the Curators. They often are followed into the desert wastelands near the equator, turned into cracked, bleeding hills of the crying world, dripping with tar and dry in heat, where they sink beneath the sands in small villages made of huts, with underground archives and libraries made in the living clay.

Hopeful historians or glorified dumpster divers? Only time will tell, and perhaps a rather interesting benefactor has given them this new breakthrough in data that was previously unnattainable? But how? No living thing should know of its power. Questions still linger.

>Dark Lord of The Plants' theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFx7kfHnKg8

Post the Dark Lords' theme songs.

>>54459122
>War Against the Abstracts
I never realized how awesome this could be for prequel lore.

>>54459226

>Dark Lord of The Fire Theme Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyLT6Ft6pC0

>>54459226
>Lord of the Vermin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXQwx1EolD8

>>54459296
I fucking love you.

>>54453838
Praise Aten!

>>54459226
I would post more serious stuff but I really don't know all that much dark music.

>>54459304
<3

>>54459190
>The Curators, of course, also seek the 8 Gifts in the old tale, and supposedly have found the Jug in the tale, that still holds a plentiful supply of the last purified water in existence

Imagine being the Curator who has to find the bag of bugs.

>Alphonse, you shall search for the flame sword
>Daria, you will hunt for the Mountain Lord's gold
>And you Jeffery...find the bug bag. It's been a long time, I'm sure it's overflowing with bug babies right now, you won't miss it.

One wonders what happened to the monsters that existed before the appearance of the Black Sun. Death too, or something much worse?
Perhaps someone out there knows. Perhaps.
Perhaps they wait for the death of the sun, and the birth of the Eternal Night.
>>54459305
i'll fok u up m8
t. bee

>>54459323
Eh, the request was more goofy than it was serious, so if you want to post more jokes and gags, go right ahead. The rest of the thread will even it out.

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The only lands not filled with carrion, Branded, rebels, or even the Dark Lords' territories is the frozen landscape of the south pole. The Silent South is the only land not connected to the main continents fought over by the Dark Lords, and is the only remaining land with snow or ice that isn't the cold from the Dark Lord's power. For some strange reason, this cold is beyond their control, or the darkness of the sea, and stops all shock, sound, and would-be explorers in their tracks. While the Black Sun can, of course, be seen on the horizon, the skies are filled with storm clouds. Thunder is nonexistant, but explosive storms of magical might and unrestrained power that flurry across the landscape threaten to annihilate any foolish enough to attempt the trek that haven't been frozen to death by the climate. It would be completely undesirable by all, were it not for the Dark Lords condemning anyone who attempts the trek to the Silent South, threatening any would-be explorers with a fate worse than death. Those crazy enough to ignore these warnings reside in a research facility near the edge of the ice, preparing for a journey to perhaps find whatever remains frozen that the Dark Lords would not wish to be seen either. The newly dubbed "Thundermen" are boisterous as they are foolhardy, and think one big day of preparation and grit coming to fruition will somehow bring back times of prosperity, the preplanning giving them solace, and keeping them sane, for the Big Hike.

>>54454239
>>54454106
>>54454046
>>54453867
>>54454539
>>54455288
>>54455736
>>54455888
>>54455959
>>54456158
>>54456663
>>54457071
Awesome as fuck.

>>54454166
One lives in a cave far north, causing storm with all his despair for ruining the world. Wind, lightning, and all the cold in the world pour straight from his wailing mouth.

There is another who lives to the west (Sunward). He stands atop the tallest mountain, simply absorbing the power of the Black Sun. He does nothing else, lest the other Lords have failed and he must protect the Black Sun. He is nothing but a dense shadow, wielding the pure evil energy.

>>54459368
Not trying to be rude, but are you talking about the Dark Lords, or the Clerics?

>>54453838
The Black Sun is merely a portal to another plane of existence. Something far more terrible lies beyond. What is happening is merely reality being twisted by IT being nearby. IT is still many lightyears away. Once IT reaches the Black Sun and forces it's way through the breach in the universes, things will get even more insane and reality will cease to exist as we know it now. Every day it gets closer and the effects of ITs presence intensify.

>>54459415
How can that be if the Black Sun came from the planet itself? The Dark Lords supposedly made it with some strange methods that they sought to peacefully rule, but it went wrong and corrupted them. Then, too, is the Dawn Machine similar?

>>54459366
Thundermen are happy to invite those willing to risk life and limb onto their expeditions, especially curious Curators searching for knowledge and artifacts, but the fact of the matter is that most people are not built to survive such harsh conditions. A good Thunderman is as thick as a log and as tall as one too, able to laugh in the face of frost bite. They are a small, but proud people. If the threats of the Dark Lords won't scare them, a little cold won't either.

>>54459437
It came from the planet and the Dark Lords made it, yes, but it's true purpose is a portal. That's why it went wrong and got "corrupted". It was a doorway that they accidentally opened and now IT is deadset on entering this universe and feasting on us.

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>>54459452
>>54459415
IT chooses champions among the mortal races to help hasten ITs arrival. These include things like massive suicidal magic ceremonies, acts of barbarism and cruelty unseen before and the slaughter of millions. These champions are imbued with a small fraction of ITs power and reside within ITs dimension once they accept the contract. They usually observe from the Black Sun's event horizon and usually manipulate people and send empowered representatives. Rarely do they come down to our plane and make their presence known.

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>>54459305
>Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

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>>54459465
>thumbnail

>>54459465
>>54459480
Welp, can't deny that the Dark Lords are basically the God Hand.

>>54459450
Oooh, I like that. I appreciate you tying my factions together, too.
>>54459465
I'm not so sure, myself, I like the idea that a lot of the stories, plot hooks, and factions are left ambiguous, you know? If you know the evil, it doesn't feel as scary anymore. It's why when people think of Cthulhu as a spooky reptile-tentacle monster, it's not very interesting, but when you have a impossible-to-understand mass with an unknown purpose, and people merely bend to it because it induces insanity, and people are twisted themselves, for absolutely no purpose, it's a lot more interesting, scary, and it means it's a lot easier to implement whatever people want into a campaign or a story they want to twist off. I think it would be a good idea for a campaign, but I don't like the idea of it being strictly a portal, no matter what. I think it should be open ended, you know?

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>>54459415

Uh oh the bar just got raised. It wasn't nightmarish enough for you? You had to add an eldritch horror from beyond!? Nice.

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The dark magic of the Black Sun can be manipulated by more people than just the Dark Lords. This may seem obvious at first, just look at the mages that part the blackened ocean for the slave caravans, or the high ranking Branded given dark powers. But it goes far beyond what people realize. Anyone mad enough can learn how to manipulate the energy of the Black Sun. Rogue warlocks and witches seeking to gain enough favor with the Black Sun to become the 9th Dark Lord. Even rebels may wind up using dark magic to battle against the Dark Lords, the ends justifying the means.

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>>54459465
>It is said that these champions were the ones to come down from the writhing darkness and granted the Dark Lords the gifts that would ensure their eternal rule.

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>>54459524
I mean the Black Sun was already -technically- an eldritch horror. This merely makes it into the 'eye'/Doorway for the *real* thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1pYGvplG5Q

This feels like an appropriate song to share for this thread.

>>54459540
More like
>ensure their corruption and eternal damnation
The Black Sun's event horizon is independent of normal space time so some Champions are from the distant past and others are from the future. They all share a Tzeentch like ability to fuck over people with elaborate mind mending schemes that take advantage of how the event horizon works.

This setting needs some hope.
>there are only 5 champions that IT has chosen
>those who reject the gifts of IT's champions are cursed with their Mark
>it makes the cursed inhabitants of the world attack the marked one relentlessly
>it goes both ways and the marked one can sense when danger is near and by killing they can absorb the fragments of the shattered souls and strengthen their own soul
>strengthening one's soul is the route to power unimaginable
>but these cursed, tainted souls that are being absorbed and devoured by the Marked One's soul also carry their own risks

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The moon is a sore subject for the Dark Lords, and those who discuss it a bit too much may wind up vanishing without a trace, stolen away by the secret police of the Dark Lords. But why is this? Yes, the rare lunar eclipse weakens the Dark Lords and drives the mutated to a blind rage, but those are relatively short and can be recovered from. Do the Dark Lords have too many bad memories from the time they were almost assassinated by the legendary Ezra and Marisol? Assuming that story is even true, they would never fall for such a trick again, so why would they care?

According to one servant of the Dark Lord of The Stars, he thinks he knows the answer.

In a tale whispered throughout the halls of the star ship, they say that at one early point in the conquering years, the often silent Dark Lord of Stars was SCREAMING in agony, yelling about the voice of the Black Sun demanding that he destroy the moon to feed it. The Star Lord tried to resist, not wanting to destroy a part of his beloved solar system in such a way, but he had to give into his master's demands. He aimed his arcane laser at the moon and fired...but nothing happened. It was as if the blast reflected off the moon and dissipated. At that moment, the Black Sun's demands were silenced. The Dark Lord of Stars did not question anything, and went back to his studies of the stars.

What is happening on the moon?

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>>54459609
>ensure their corruption and eternal damnation
From the warped perspective of the Dark Lords, those may as well be the same things.

>>54459657
What about >>54456461 and >>54456747
a few tweaks and there's hope spots here

>>54459657
I feel like the best hope for this setting comes from the little things. Resistance groups that are never fully crushed. Strange mysteries that might hold the answers to salvation. That sort of stuff.

>>54459694
I agree with you. Hope should barely be there, 'lest we get into the Mary Sue territory. It's a grimdark setting that knows that everything is totally fucked, but it wouldn't be entertaining without fringe groups that are holding onto something, or at least mysteries for the PC's to hold onto and to try to figure out themselves, you know? I think you're right on the money.

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>>54459661
>Some say that the Moon itself is one of the gods, one of the Abstracts, perhaps the *last* of them, sitting vigilant within the heavens to grant some small defense tote mortal races from the Black Sun and its wretched servants.
>This is supported byou some of the hymns that the Mourners sing as they travel.
>"Oh Holy Luna, Guide Us, Lead Us On"
>"You Who Art The Brightest, and Greatest"
>"Hear Our Plea, And Protect Us Well"

Though the Dark Lords are on generally friendly terms with one another, trading and working together to continue their rule uninterrupted, there are times when tensions flair, and rivalries of formed. Often during these times, the Dark Lords attempt to question the faith the other Lords have towards the Black Sun, spreading rumors such as...

>The Plant Lord is attempting to create life when the Black Sun obviously wants decay and rot.
>The Fire Lord flames are an insult to the Black Sun, as if saying his flames are brighter and better than the Black Sun's
>The Black Waters Lord hides beneath the waves because he wants to avoid the Black Sun's rays
>The Mountain Lord similarly is trying to hide away from the rays in the mountains.
>The Star Lord is trying to find planets to escape to and leave the Black Sun
>The Vermin Lord simply hides and lazily allows others to serve the Black Sun instead of himself
>The City Lord's buildings are an insult to the Black Sun's destruction, resisting decay.
>The Hound Lord is actively hunting down Branded that do not belong to him to fight against the Black Sun

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There remain some crafty Branded who reside in shops in the Dark Architect's grand city, his prelude to the Black Sun. These branded are the Apothecaries, dedicated to making new poisons to twist and burn the landscape or the citizens for their Lord. When they're out of their shops, they all reside in a secret cult beneath the city, meeting in the sewer systems to discuss the vast change in medicine with the viral plagues that spread and mutate the masses at a grievous pace. Not quite following the Hippocratic oath, these doctors, alchemists and wandering medicine men alike seek to try to alleviate the pain for the Branded while they work like slaves, constantly working to make it tolerable for the rest of the people just so they can keep living another day. For the Apothecaries, as long as life exists, not all hope is lost. Their actions are empty, though, as they do not talk about their plans to combat this apart from treat the symptoms. They say they treat the symptoms and that a prevention beats a cure every single time, and that they "prevent" quite a lot already, but what do they mean by that? What secrets do they share beneath the streets of the Architect? Beyond the ears of the Vermin? What plans do they have? What do they exactly do with those poisons?

>>54459775
Oooh, fantastic insinuations. Just what do they know? Is there a shred of humanity left in them, or is it fear? This is great analysis.

So what types of quest lines would you guys use if you were to DM a game in this setting?

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>>54459912
A cute fairy told you to kill all the Lords! You should listen to her and trust her 100%! Don't you like cute fairies?

>>54459948
I'll just eat the fairy.

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>In Eight-Throne sit stout
>Our Fairest Lords, all proud

>But One stands alone
>To Him that is unborn

>Our ne'er-birthed king
>On his finger, black ring

>The Lords Dark will tremble
>On the steps on His temple

>Black Sun's beating heart
>Will mark the dawn of His start

>Their end will dawn
>And ours, not long

>When Star Dark and Earth's Heart
>Meet near the Hallow's Bark

>The Corpsemaker King shall cry
>Into empty night, and we shall fly

>Ramblings found near the corpse of Curator Nicodemus, scrawled in his own blood.

At times the curators have discovered merest hints that once, there were 9 Dark Lords. But this is of course ridiculous, and the hints are explained away as mere errors caused by a slip of a pen or eraser, or other perfectly natural explanations. Still, few of them wonder. If the ninth lord existed, what could have erased him from history so perfectly? Is he still out there, attempting to erase himself from all memory? Has the Black Sun power to rip asunder the very fabric of time itself, to doom him into never having existed at all? If so, what could have caused Black Sun to do so?

The only thing anyone knows for sure is that talking, writing, or even thinking about the ninth lord too much inevitably causes ill fate to fall upon those foolish enough to do so.

>>54460049
Those who choose to believe there is some truth to these ramblings often have one of two interpretations to what this poem truly means.

The first is simply enough, a suggestion that another force, this Corpsemaker King, will defeat the Lords and bring about an even worse age of darkness.

The second, mostly believed by rogue dark mages, believe this Corpsemaker King to be the 9th, and final, Dark Lord, one that must be created, not summoned.

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One must remember that those who accept the Brand of a Dark Lord, despite their mutations, are far more lucky than those who stay out in the sunlight without protection and without a brand. These mutants are mostly mindless beasts, fighting and killing each other for survival. But some retain enough intelligence to form tribes, fighting normal humans and servants of the Dark Lords alike.

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But there are whispers of discontent. If we organize, can we defeat our masters. Weapons are being stolen, soldiers are being trained, a movement is born! Born of life long strife!

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>>54460084
The Dark Lords have forbidden any whisperings of this poem in their realms, on pain of Agony, though like a cancer, it has infested the minds of those who live just out of sight. Most say it is merely more paranoid lashing out, to further cement their power in their Kingdoms. But there are some who say there is more to it, who have taken to calling it the Prophecy of the Ninth.

Both would-be-heroes and madmen alike, and many say the two are one and the same, have attempted to fulfill it many times, each time coming to a grisly end. However, one thing remains certain, a phrase passed on through those who would bring about the End of All Things:

'Seek the Hallow's Bark.'

>>54460059
>>54460084
Are these two the same?

>>54460183
The Dark Lord of Plants is under scrutiny from his peers, for only in his domain do Trees with bark grow. Spies and saboteurs prowl the grisly forests at night in search of a Hollow Tree.

The Lord of Stars fears the outer void
Not because he does not seek freedom from the Black Sun, but because there are spheres and beings more alien.

It is said that those of the earth may take upon lesser brandings, the brandings of those others in the night sky. Though potentially powerful, only the students of the Lord of Stars know that the etheric power was never meant to be contained in human form.

When you see a screaming wisp of shifting colours, know that only the 8 lords have been so succesful in their hubris.
That we know of at least.

It is said that the Fire Lord took one of his branded, snuffed their spirit, and replaced it with living fire and rock.

It named itself, it remade itself, free of the hosts limited form. Though gifted in crafts it was no forger, no maker, but a shaper.

It is lonely, it seeks others to make into its own people. If you find a corpse that has burned from the inside out, or a statue of basalt or obsidian. Know that you should sleep elsewhere, or it will kiss you with its breath of molten rock to breathe new life into your frame.

The Shaper seeks company of its own kind, and though born or flesh and fire, It can only shape stone and fire. Would that it only could create more. For it claims to be deaf to the Sun's laughter.

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Those that drink water from the black sea gain horrible nightmarish visions, right before dying from internal wounds.
Dark cults and morbid augurs form fatal oracles imbibing this poison to keep a vague sense of understanding and control over the world.

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>>54453838

This is probably the single greatest thread on /tg/. There are a few shitty contributions that are just too generic, but the rest feels like a cross between SCP and Dark Souls.

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>>54453838

Zis is a simple solution. Ve will use ze Black Son to power our zeppelins.

Ze untermensch Swinehunds vill not stop us zis time.

Vorwarts, ze 86th Reich vill reign supreme!

>>54454873
>>54454915
as you cloak yourself in entropy made manifest the dark sun and its lunacy seem to ignore you, however the ethereal arts thether you to the chaos.

lets talk about day and night in this setting.
it is already stated that the sun is dark and that stepping into its "light" is a bad idea to varying degrees.
As the sun is no longer bright the moon should be invisible all the time.
however, every night it can be seen large and bright on the horizon because...

Can this thread be archived?

>>54461811
Already has, see above.

>>54461619
There is something supernatural about the moon, with it potentially being the last living Abstract.

With such resentment towards the Dark Lords, and such veneration for the Abstracts, it can be hard for people to remember that there was a time that the Eight Dark Lords were beloved as the Eight Bright Nobles, and that it was the Abstracts who were hated, at least enough to drive the Bright Nobles to seek a way of defeating them. Some believe this was simply human hubris and greed, trying to raise mankind to a status it did not deserve. Others suggest that perhaps, somehow, the Nobles had good reason to fight the Abstracts, and like the Dawn Machine, the Black Sun is an experiment that went horribly wrong to defeat them.

The Dark Lords do not talk of the times before the Black Sun though, perhaps due to their blind worship of what the world is now.

>>54461459
Yeah, there's a lot of garbage "lol dis is spoopy amirite gais" in the thread, but overall shit's pretty good.

Definitely gonna need some pruning to remove the newfags who don't know how to write with any depth and dont have the patience to tell a story though.

>>54462836
To me, these threads work best when everyone collectively agrees on a sort of numbers means canon rule. If people really seem to dig a certain set of ideas, they become the accepted part of the world, obviously. The stuff that's more ignored and cringey is there for anyone who might want to use it, but in general is not a "real" part of the setting, if that makes any sense.

>>54461619
Honestly, just have night be the respite from the sun. Masses of horrors go bump in the night and it's nowhere near safe, but it's an important lull so the denizens can appreciate just how bad they have it.

>>54462891
I think the air of mystery is a big part of the setting. Nothing is ever an objective fact, all information comes from folktales, poems, or second hand accounts.

>>54463132
Same. A lot of "some say" and "some believe", the setting is a chaotic hellscape, who knows what elements are true and what are bullshit.

I also think the setting suggestions works well when they try to keep things on a scale, with the Dark Lords and the Black Sun as the most powerful, and new additions being unique, but still a smaller fish compared to the greater threats to the planet. Having a few mysterious horrors or looming threats to the Dark Lords is good for world building, but if every suggestion is "this is the strongest thing in the world", it kinda undermines the doom and gloom already established.

>>54462891
Then boy howdy am I happy so many folk ran with and built on top of my minuscule ideas for the Brands, The Underground, and the Gill Folk:

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Occasional groups form together with cooperation sought and written by the Dark Lords themselves, one such group being the Scrappers.

Scrappers, unlike many other factions, operate within the societies of the Dark Lords, scouring ruins and rubble for old parts, metals and artifacts to be either smelted down or made into vile machinations that spew and sputter noxious fumes.

Working for the Dark Lord of the Mountain's greedy desire to obtain as many precious resources as he can, and the Dark Lord of the Vermin's desire to collect as much information as possible, the rumored thief king also seeks investment in the form of heavy protection.

Of course, the vermin themselves can turn away most foes by eating them away, but the Branded and even his own Court of Thieves cannot repel all attacks, especially from malformed beasts, monsters and insane Branded from the Dark Lord of the Fire. This led the Scrappers to be requested to build the largest machination they have ever made. A sentient mechanical horror, intent on protecting the settlements of the Dark Lord of the Vermin, Thousand-Eyes himself.

By adding horrifying masses of insects on top of a screaming "volunteer", they pieced on metal atop metal, fusing the metal using concentrated rays of the Black Sun to make it more than just a piece of armor, but part of the being. Through several nights, this kept up, until the screaming devotee stopped. They were not dead, but had finally melded with the metal and the insects, its previous body spread so thin across its new metal frame, and stood tall. Powerful, large, and frightening, it bounded out of the settlement, annihilating all metal and flesh in its way, adding it to its ever-growing mass. Interestingly enough, it is still seen on the outskirts of the lands owned by the Dark Lord of the Vermin, and protects it from large threats, but it is not always there. Rumor has it that the mass seeks to add to itself in a silent rage, rummaging through rubble.

>>54463596
Same, I was actually the person to suggest Dark Lords, and look where that went. This isn't to say that all ideas that are ignored are bad either, just that I wouldn't consider them fully integrated concepts until others build off of them.

>>54463675
>>54463596
You guys came up with fantastic ideas, and I'm glad so many took off with them, and have formed this world.

I'm one of the people that have come up with more smaller things of life, like the factions. For me, it has been the Sunspots, the Marrows, the Scrappers, the Apothecaries, the Curators, and the Thundermen. I think Dark Anon makes a point, though, unless people build off of something, it just doesn't feel right in the setting, but I feel like we've made something amazing, if anything.

>>54463748
I forgot the Scribes, personally.

I hope we can add more to this, I don't want this thread to die.

>>54463748
This is the part where all of you decide if you're actually willing to do work. Same as every other homebrew setting.

99 times out of 100, cool ideas get proposed and then everyone bails because real life is more interesting.

This setting has real potential, if everyone gets off their ass and doesn't wait for someone else to put in the effort.

Good luck yall!

>>54463748
You do a good service, a good setting needs smaller, interesting groups like the ones you suggested.

>>54463760
We shouldn't try to force it to stay alive too much if we don't have any more ideas. It's fun when lots of fa/tg/uys are contributing, and it's not just a small few. Plus, even if it does die, we can always do a part 2 thread. Those usually die pretty quickly, but hey, you never know.

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Rather than Necromancers running rampant, only the Dark Lords or practitioners of the Black Sun's powers can actually raise the dead to do labor, or to fit their needs. The fields of carrion and squirming soil would prove absolutely advantageous to any corpse purveyors. Without using the magic of the Black Sun, some rather twisted individuals have come up with their own ways to live their morbid dreams.

There are ex-Branded convicts of the Dark Architect, who supposedly live in the old spires of the Eight Gifts fable. With the height and construction of these towers and spires, these new lightningrods are used for the "Stitchers," sewing together new amalgamations of body parts, sorting through corpses and monsters alike to make their own army of skaabs, or artificial zombies.

Other, more prolific sorts, see that power still remains in words and song, pilfering any poetry and music from the Curators and libraries alike. The "Muses" play music continually, their strange powers persuading the dead to rise with them, dance along and follow their every word. These sorts of pipers, followed by an ominous melody of strings or wind instruments, usually like to live on their own with their servants taking care of everything for them, but seem to unite every now and again with more rambunctious Curators, and the daring Stitchers. Where their demented goals lead are a mystery, except that their mere presence is a death wish, decreed to the Lords themselves.

How the hell could a party even survive this world? Where would the "good" guys come from?

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>>54464231

There are always heroes Anon.

>>54464231
There are quite a lot of instances of survivors, rebels, and upstarts, following rumors, mysteries and old fables of power, in order to get any sort of advantage. The Old Clerics, the Purified, the Martyrs, the Mourners, the Underground Rebels, The Sunspots, the Stitchers, the Curators, the Apothecaries. The human spirit is something that can venerate and galvanize itself against any storm. The Thundermen know this, and hell, even the Dark Lords have hints of doubt in their plight with the Black Sun. Heroes come from all over, and what defines a hero is as varied as where they come from. The Dark Lords' vision is not as all-knowing, but they are not stupid enough to think that they have all quelled rebellion. Even Branded who hate their lords merely do so to be safe from the sun.

There is always hope, even if it is not blatantly obvious. The human spirit will find a way.

This sounds like the setting the Black Company should have been in, or a more extreme one.

Going off of the Eight Gifts Fable, each of the gifts was scattered around the world, and the Dark Lords probably don't like the idea of anyone trying to find them.

So far we have

>The Jug of Pure Water with the curators
>The Architect's castle being controlled by pseudo-necromancers

What about the other gifts?

>The bag of bugs
>The murder dog
>The fire sword
>The flower
>The globe
>The gold

>>54464231
There are no good guys. The quest is to finnaly put an end to this awful world and just mercy kill it. Like in Dark Souls 3.

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>The Black Sun will occasionally pulse with waves of corruption energy, and it will begin to make a sound, an utterly nightmarish sound.
>A sound that many of those who have been exposed to the horrors of the Dark for long perrors of time, would recognize as laughter.
>Dark booming, nightmarish laughter, laughter made from the dying screams of the Abstracts in their final moments, laughter composed from the final song of a dying universe.

>>54464632
Eh... Black Company setting isn't all that bad, comparatively speaking. It's a comparatively normal setting, except everyone with any real power is an asshole.

>>54464862
>except everyone with any real power is an asshole.
Reminds me of something.

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Bump.

When I saw this thread pop up last night I fucking leapt at it. Sometimes these world building threads create the most amazing settings, this one is no exception.

And to see my two posts be embraced and expanded upon fills me with pride.

I fucking love you /tg/.

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The Branded, while they are slaves nonetheless, somehow need to get their new, mangled bodies some form of nutrition and water in order to live in the world of the Black Sun.

For food, most will feed off of one another, from hunting the strange beasts around the area, or farming the violent livestock. For some, the untouched vermin and insects have become a source of food, which the Lord of Vermin looks upon with a bittersweet thought. Of course, vermin eat other vermin, but if other agents of Lords are eating his eyes, he does not take a liking to this injustice. For the Lord of the Fire, his Branded oft run abattoirs and butcheries for the meat which is hunted by the Dark Lord of the Hound, as livestock is not easy to raise for most. Least of all, by the Lord of the Plant. The Lord of the Plant produces dark, succulent fruit of deep crimson, and earthy brown vegetables that are full of nutrition and dense in energy, but cause extreme psychedelic dreams, visions and desires about wanting to become a plant. Most farmers grow mushrooms that feed off of the rot, and grow cheese with the assorted molds. Wine and alcohol have become commenplace, as it is usually cleaner than water. Water is actually distributed by the Dark Lord of the City, his aqueducts that run dark, unpleasant water that is relatively safe from the peaks of mountains and from his high walls, collecting rain and snow. Meals are simple, but there are some culinaries that hunt with the Dark Lord of the Hound in order to live out their perverse gluttony and test their skill.

>>54466313
I really dig this. Knowing how each group of people gets their food and drink is, dare I say, delicious.

How would unaffected people venture out to the surface safely? What propetcion would they need? Maybe a blessing or a trinket?

>>54466739
From some older suggestions, people wear "leathers made from harvested world flesh" and use "Ethereal Arts" to strengthen their protective properties.

In short, bundling up a lot lots of clothing and using creepy powers from the dead Abstractions.

>>54466739
That was mentioned earlier in the thread.
Either bound in leather from beasts living in the Black Sun, shrouded in Ethereal Mist, with an Artifact of the Abstracts, a Brand, A Gift from the Dark Lords, or the Hymns from the Mourners.

>This setting
I thought /tg/ hated pointless grimderp

>>54467031
This is not grimderp.

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Thundermen, the brave and foolish explorers of the Silent South, face some of the harshest conditions imaginable, even with the Black Sun's horrifying rays covering the rest of the planet. Such freezing cold is hard to overcome. How they do it, beyond being large, thick men built for the cold, is a mystery. Some suggest that the leader of the Thundermen, if there is a singular leader, is in possession of one of the Eight Gifts, the Sword of Flames forged by the Fire Lord. With it, he guides his Thundermen through the cold, shining their way forward. Though no one who isn't a Thunderman is crazy enough to try finding them to prove such a rumor.

>>54467031
/tg/ loves 40k. And for as grimdark as this setting is, there's a huge variety of plot hooks, story elements, and even aspects of hope that make the setting something more than just edge.

>>54467031
It ain't grimdark, chap.

A grimdark universe is one where anything that could go right go wrong, where there is no hope. Where the conclusion of everything is: "It will go worse from here."

Here, there is hope in the unknown. The Dawn Machine could be powerless. The Dark Lords could be wholly inhuman. The resistance could fail.

But all of those are coulds. Not wills. And wherever there's a could, there's an offchance of won't.

And wherever there's an offance in the face of adversity, there are opportunities for PCs to have high-stakes adventures and despair-fueled heroism.

And that is the epitome of what a setting should offer: opportunities for PCs to be PCs, and, through their hardships, victories and failures, make their mark upon the world.

Imho.

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Which Dark Lord has the most potential to have a redemption and fight back against the Black Sun?

Hey everyone, sorry to ask a debate-provoking question, but what's the name of the setting? Black Sun?

>>54467187
I'm not sure if any of them are. Hell, one of them betrayed the other 7 to create it in the first place.

>>54467204
Black Sun makes the most sense for the setting, but my only worry is that people will think it's a rip off of D&D's Dark Sun. And while they have their similarities, they are very different tonally. So it should be Something Something Black Sun, or the ____ of Black Sun.

>>54467208
While the Dark Lords at this point are clearly dedicated to the Black Sun, you never know what a few brave PCs might be able to accomplish, especially if the rumors spread by rivals from >>54459775 have any potential truth in them.

>>54467222
It should be "The World of Shadowed Rays" Or "The Plight of the Eight Dark Lords" or even "The Fall of the Abstracts", and, to keep it simple, "The Rise of the Black Sun"

>>54467284
Too many "The"s.

>footage of two thundermen marching through the Silent South.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IjGNJPNyzU

>>54453838
>Homebrew
Done

>>54467284
Why not just the Shadowlands?
Children of a Dying Sun?
Branded?

>>54467471
Oh shit, I like all those names. If I had to vote for one though, I guess I'd go with Shadowlands.

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>>54467284
>>54467222
>>54467204
OP here, you guys can name it whatever you want, but I am partial to the name "Blackened Stars" myself.

>67 posters
>270 replies

There's a remarkable unity of theme for one of these world building exercises given how many unique posters this thread has had.

>>54467557
The Black Sun's demands are clear, anon, and we humble 67 must follow them to the letter.

>>54467471
>Branded
I like the idea of playing a group of Branded who must tread a narrow path between madness, servitude and, eventually, rebellion.

Kinda like reverse Cthulhu. The world has ended, most of the world is cultists and you must hide your sanity while plotting to overthrow them.

>>54467557
Not really, /tg/ is remarkably savvy as a whole.

>>54467610
I'm imagining that this was a published RPG or setting, the book would provide multiple premises the players could go through, with Branded being a major one alongside mountain rebels and curators, with other smaller factions being up for the DM and players to dive into on their own if they wished.

Your Mountain Rebels are your standard murderhobo adventures campaign.

Branded are what you're suggesting, reverse Cthulhu, a lot more sneaky with how you act.

Curators (or scribes if you want to be more evil) adventures more focused on exploring the world, NPC interaction, world building and such. Still dark, but more chill, less combat encounters.

>>54456646
i'm not because it has too many similarities with a fantasy setting that i am about to publish. but, nah, it's cool.

>>54467546
Sundown
Last Sunset/Sunrise
Star Void/Voidstar
Heat Death
Terrormaw
Fissures Eight

>>54467546
Entropia?

Blends Entropy and Dystopia/Utopia together, might be appropriate.

Is it about time we get to the crunch? We've got a good bit of faction info, world lore, and plot hook. What about the mechanics? Is this a simple D20 system that's easy to learn, like 5e, or is it a more complex book-keeping system like Shadowrun?
I'm actually a bit partial to how Dungeon World operates, because 2d6 and a damage die is loads simpler than most other systems I've played, and it has quite the diversity in how players can interact with the world.

>>54468134
I don't see any reason why we should get into the crunch.

Also, DW is terrible.

>>54468178
I wasn't expecting DW to get the hate, I was expecting the meme-hate for D&D.
And alright, but I was piggybacking on an earlier post about making this a thing instead of most people just talking about it and doing nothing with it.
Keep up the good work, creative and fantastic idea-generator-anons!

>>54468134
Hmm. I see this more as a setting to be applied to other systems, rather than a setting and a system, but I'd be willing to humor potential ideas. The way I see it, if the focus of the game is about exploring the world, learning stories, ect, we need a simple system that allows the focus to be on the atmosphere and the narrative stuff. If we want to focus more on the apocalypse areas, stuff like resources, getting into deadly battles, then we need something crunchier.

>>54468290
>And alright, but I was piggybacking on an earlier post about making this a thing instead of most people just talking about it and doing nothing with it.
It can be a thing without attaching it to a specific system, let alone making a new one just for this setting.

>>54467557
The Humble 67 are the remains of the last monks from the previous world, unperturbed by the corruption of the Black Sun. While they see no mutations, they violently defend their temple that has been weathered at in the sands.

Ever silent, and vigilant to a fault, they defend their archives that merely list observations of the dying world around them. Recording secrets, medical journals, and detailing the land for future endeavors.

What remains strange, however, is the fact that they do not leave their temple, and they do not even let rebels inside. They only accept children who wish to grow within the fold, and to never leave again.

Their temple, however, is as difficult to place as a mirage. The Dark Lords have sent scouts, and have not found anything there. Rumors state that they may have the globe that the Dark Lord of the Stars had given as one of the 8 Gifts, and that it had properties not stated in his starry silence. They refuse to help any upstarters, however, and purely wish to observe. What is their steely resolve? How do they wish to make a future?

>>54468311
I was thinking it could use the Call of Cthulhu-esque system for sanity, skills and hopeless combat, but remove the presence of guns and anything else not related to the setting. Or maybe even keep guns, with the supposed machines and relics of a world long past?

>>54457043
The closer stars extinguished first, but as the years go by more and more stars are snuffed out as the black light of the black sun reaches them across the light years. The black of the sun infects the stars and the corruption spreads throughout the galaxy and then the universe.

>>54468320
I'm all for a Humble 67 faction, but right now they sound a little too much like stationary Curators, collecting knowledge and all that. I think we might need some lore either directly connecting them to Curators, or some more stuff to make them distinct as a faction.

>Sinbad got another tv show

>>54468421
Rather than collecting knowledge, perhaps they would be practicing martial arts in solitude, that accept no one, and are of extreme longevity. That they don't collect knowledge about the past, but instead they look to the most effective ways to combat the plagues, physically and mentally resisting the Black Sun, without accepting rebels or upstarts.

>>54468481
Monks could be cool angle. Perhaps after finding the Star Lord's globe, they dedicated their lives to guarding it along with other artifacts from their temple in order to ensure that its knowledge cannot be exploited. They're "humble" because they choose not to exploit that knowledge for themselves either.

Like a fantasy version of the Brotherhood of Steel, in contrast to the Curators, who seek to save knowledge so that people CAN learn.

>>54468580
I really like that idea, you really fleshed out this fledgling idea I had. Nice work.

>>54468624
The Curators of course have a disdain for the Humble 67, trying to find ways to sneak into their temple and uncover their lost artifacts. They're far from anything that could be considered war, but they are not on good terms.

>>54468667
I really like this idea. I've been making factions and plothooks for the past day or so, but I really want to know the relationships between these groups, the Dark Lords, and the world itself. Hell, we barely know what the lands look like, or at least, where each domain, territory or faction lives. We know that there is a planet-wide desert at the equator, a dark, vast ocean, two continents, and that there is a south pole with deep storms. The sun rises in the West, and stays in the west. There are vast fields. I wonder if there are any Anons that are good at cartography that can at least come up with where they all are relative to one another. I think maps would be unreliable in this world, because the land is ever shifting, but the landmarks are usually the same.

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>>54453838
About fucking time.

>>54468789
Agreed, the landmarks would be mostly consistent, but the ways to get to those landmarks shift and twist. If we wanted to get more general details for what each Lord's land looks like, we could mainly go off of the names.

>Plant Lord lands are vast farms, jungles, and forests, filled with countless dead bodies that grow those plants.
>Black Waters Lord has small shambles of coast, but his main glory is deep sea civilizations of gilled people, and underwater laboratories where him and his normal, non water breathing Branded work.
>Mountain Lord is deep in the mountainous areas, at war with any mountain rebels he finds.
>City Lord's lands are just one massive, sprawling metropolis of non-Euclidean buildings
>Wolf Lord has mostly empty planes where his beastmen hunt
>Fire Lord is ruling over constantly erupting volcanos, black sands, and ash covered landscapes
>Star Lord stays in space on his giant ship

Vermin lord is the only one I can't figure out. He's got spies everywhere, but I don't know what he'd call home.

>>54468789
It could just be an alternate/divergent Earth, like the dystopic Earth from Nier/Drakengard E. Maybe the Abstracts came to our planet at some point in "our" future, or at a past date in another timeline, and their advent set in motion the events that led to the rise of the Black Sun.

>>54468908
I feel like the Fire Lord would just rule over lakes of lava and forges in those erupting volcanos. I like that idea.

>Vermin Lord lives in the rubble of the old civilizations, in the halls of old kings, rich nobles, and prosperous towns, where only the vermin dare tread now.

>>54468908
Home is wherever the next meal is.

>>54466739

The Fire Lord is sometimes calm and relaxed like the embers of a bonfire, but sometimes he flies into fits of furious rage, lashing out at the tiniest slights and nothing seems to satisfy his desires. In these times the ring of volcanoes around the lake of magma erupt and fill the sky with ash clouds for miles around. During this time, before the Fire Lord calms down and the winds carry the ash away to the Grey Desert, survivors dwelling underground finding it safe from the Black Suns influence can travel above and be less likely to be mutated by the Black Suns corrupting effects. However, hunters at this time risk running into the Fire Lords Branded, who seek to appease their Lord with live sacrifices. The Branded scour the lands from the Ashen Grey Desert to the Sea of Acid to the Caverns of Obsidian, collecting all they find to ravage by pyre, burning alive or slowly cooking them over lava before the gaze of the ravenous Fire Lord. The Lord of Hounds also sees this time as a great oportunity to hunt as the ash rains down. The Fire Lords Branded and the Hounds Branded often battle each over any living found. It is not uncommon to see Branded Hounds sacrificed to the Fire Lord, likewise, the charred corpses of the Fire Lords Branded can be found with their innards ripped out and eaten far from the volcanic clouds, as if they had been chased and stalked by feral branded hounds.

"See how the Fire Lord clouds the sky with his fury of ash. It is as if has no respect for the blessing of the Black Sun, his brazen rage betrays his true contempt." -The Dark Lord of the Waters

>>54468908
The Hunter and The (whatever the Vermin Lord was) might not have definitive borders. Perhaps they and their minions are nomadic, moving through the world while holding no land. Sometimes they're in an unclaimed area, sometimes they are in the dominion of another lord.

>>54467284
>>54467471
>>54467770

>The Rise of the Black Sun
>Children of a Dying Sun
>Star Void/Voidstar

These fit the best imo.

>>54468789
>>54468908
>>54468942
For that matter, where *is* the Black Sun? It stays constantly on the horizon almost everywhere on the planet, the universe itself is said to be dying in the OP, and the Lord of the Stars is struggling to find places that have escaped its influence. Is it in the place of the regular sun of the planet's solar system, is it at the centre of the galaxy, is it beyond time and space and just seemingly omnipresent no matter where you're oriented physically in the universe?

>>54468947
>>54468993
How about a combination of both of these ideas. The Hunter is very much nomadic, just going place to place, hunting who he please. The Vermin Lord (who's other name in the google doc is The Researcher, I suppose because he's constantly spying on/researching people) rules fallen kingdoms and old civilizations, but his branded and rats travel the world, spying on everyone and everything, and reporting the info back to their Lord.

Are the Lords all male?

>>54469047
In my head I always pictured it destroying and then replacing where our sun would be, after making its way across the solar system eating up everything in its path. Maybe it knows that the planet is the most "renewable" place for it to gain energy to burn, and that's why it chooses to mainly stay near it, while letting its rays going through space handle the rest of the galaxy.

>>54469047
It's visible no matter where you are on the planet's surface. A truly fixed point in the sky. Whether this be due to eldritch forces or bent space none can say.

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>>54469047
>The Black Sun's reach is eternal, nowhere is safe from the reach of the Dark One, nowhere.
>The universe dies as the Black Sun grows and matures, soon the final stages shall begin, and the True Birth shall finally begin at last, the end of all.

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>>54469125

I like the idea of the Fire Lord being female

>>54469125
To get slightly Tumblr about it, we've been using male pronouns for the most part, but earlier posts suggested that the Bright Nobles (what they were before becoming Dark Lords) could have been female, but since their mutations made them look like terrifying abomination monsters, they're not really men or women anymore, or if they are, it's hard to tell.

So he/his/him work just fine

Though I do imagine Plant Lord as a chick for some reason, probably because of Poison Ivy similarities

>>54469152
>"The Black Sun never sets."

>>54469182
>"Rufus, no! Don't go to the Fire Lord! Not right now!"
>"But I have urgent news for her!"
>"It's her time of the month, damn it, everything is on fire...well, on MORE FIRE!"

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>>54469125
You seem to be of the assumption that such things as 'gender' even matter to those who have feasted upon the sweet essence of the darkness.

>>54469225
I identify as TransDarkness. My pronouns are Black/Blacker/Blackest.

>The Star Lord has pored over the night sky, and studied how the unlight of the Black Sun has touched every sphere in the firmament. Only the moon is as it was prior to the Black Dawn- a fact the Star Lord works tirelessly to remedy.

>>54469225
>>54469182

The Branded of the Fire Lord see Her as this beautiful Demoness with flames licking about her body, they burn for desire to please her.
>>54458454
Even in her deformed mutated dragon-shark body swimming in the magma lake they see her as a mermaid-type creature and those she has deemed worthy swim with her.

>>54467749
If your fantasy setting is so generic grimderp shit that it bears similarities to low-hanging fruit fa/tg/uy grimderp porn, you're better off not publishing it.

>>54469603

I'm curious what you consider -good- fiction material, if this thread -sucks- iyo

>Among the Curators, there are whispers of a mysterious old man, rich in knowledge of astronomy and starlore. One of the oldest Curators, when pressed, recalled a scrap of verse, attributed to this ancient:

The music of the spheres rang bright,
When you, my loins' labor, grew;
Now dark as Sun is blood of thine-
The stars that fall, my tears for you.

>>54469603
>shitposting in a thread already past the bump limit
stay salty newfag.

Would the idea of certain dark mages using notTarot Cards to try predicting the future be something you guys would want to see, or is the idea itself too played out of goofy?

Because I have ideas.