Hi all. I have been working a bit at a time on my game where I can. I offer up here a sneak peak of one of the five races that will be in the game. Let me know what you think of the write up in the comments section!
Races
Erudite (Air-oo-dyte) or The First
A race of spirit beings tasked with the maintenance of the world of Detritus.
History
The Erudite were the first and only race created for life in Detritus. They numbered fifteen individuals who were created by the All-Bringer. Each was created in its entirety ready to serve in the same instant and they all became aware at the same moment. They were greeted by the deity in the form of a giant face hovering above the small black orb that would become the world of Detritus. The deity described itself as the All-Bringer and told the Erudite that they were its last creation before it must be absorbed into the structure of the world of Detritus. It told them that it had created them so that they would serve Detritus and those that came after it was gone.
The All-Giver told the Erudite of the five portals. It told them that these portals led to other realities but it knew nothing of these other realities other than that they would eventually need Detritus. Detritus was a waste realm where all the forgotten things would eventually end up and that these forgotten things would come through the portals that dominate the sky. The Erudite’s first duty was to attend to anything that came through the portals and to distribute it so that Detritus did not become too cluttered or too dangerous.
It also tasked the Erudite to prepare for the arrival of other races. Races that would be forgotten by their realms. These races would be distraught, downtrodden and largely mentally unstable but that was not of their own causing. It entrusted the Erudite to show these creatures compassion. Build them a world in which to live and from the planet form great cities where they will feel at home once they arrive. There was much to do before they arrived and the All-Bringer told them it all but most of all the All-Bringer asked the Erudite to provide the compassion that the races missed in their own realms. The All-Bringer told the Erudite that there would be four other races that it had foreseen.
The first were like the Erudite and have no physical form though they would not recognise that and they would form their own bodies from the Detritus. They would represent the entirety of their race. The second would come from the realm where most of the material that would form on Detritus came from and they would be few in number. They would be as seers amongst the races and know many truths. They would also be the first of the physical races and would die if they were badly physically damaged. The third race would represent the entirety of their race and they would also be physical. They would be hive mind creatures, appearing as insects that once grouped together would take on great intelligence. This race would be unpleasant to deal with and largely solitary but pure in intent. The final race the All-Bringer stated he could not see clearly and that they would come unexpected and of shadow.
Then the All-Giver then gave the Erudite five boons. The first of which was their free will and their ability to name things. This was first and foremost important as the All-Bringer did not see them as slaves. Secondly it offered them the ability to perform deeds by magic. It offered them two types of magic for no one being would ever hold mastery over them both. It offered them the ability to create ritual magic from which would form permanent change around them or to choose magic that was fleeting but quick to cast and aid themselves in becoming greater. The Erudite said as one that they had no need of being greater for the All-Bringer had created them and they would gain the ability of Ritual Magic so that they may successfully prepare Detritus for the coming of the new races.
The All-Bringer then gave the Erudite the power of immortality and invulnerability. He told them that they would never perish and feel no pain as they were attacked. The fifteen Erudite would remain until the All-Bringer had served its purpose and rose again. It gave them the power to manifest, so that they may draw from the environment around them as if with telekinesis so that they may communicate with the other races. They were allowed only one form though and that was to mimic the form of the All-Bringer itself.
Finally the All-Bringer said that it had one more boon to give and that he would give it when the time was right and that they would know it was from it and what it wanted them to do with the boon. Once it had relayed this information the All-Bringer told the Erudite that it was time it must merge its form with the world of Detritus. The Erudite were forlorn at losing their creator but they forged forward with the tasks that they had been set. They formed into groups of three and began to prepare for the arrival of the races that they had been forewarned about. They also prepared for the influx of materials that would one day flow from the other realities. They needed to ensure that the piles of expected detritus were shared around the world so that no one pile became too much of an issue.
The erudite worked tirelessly for a millennia. In this time they learned to name things and to name each other. They had created towns, cities and areas that would suit the different races when they came. They dealt with the small piles of detritus that were beginning to flow through one of the portals mainly. Small packages from one or two others were received but the one to the place called Earth was beginning to pick up in amount and frequency. It was around this time that the All-Bringer’s final boon was delivered to the Erudite as all of a sudden each of the Erudite found that they could “see” in the current time as well as “see” into the future. They did not know how long in the future but they saw what they would see from their own perspective. They did this natively at the same time they saw and comprehended both time streams.
In three months’ time they found that the period was a three month break as the first vision that three of the Erudite had was of the first race, the spiritual race that would one day become known as the lost all unconscious laying below one of the portals that had not previously been active. There were over eighteen thousand of them lying in the field of debris. Each day the debris shifted and the creatures began to form themselves bodies, small child like bodies, from the detritus around them. Anything that was like a body, the face of a doll, patterned tiles that looked like a dress or some clothing. Hinges on wooden angles that appeared similar to the arms or legs of a physical being all were drawn to them and came to hold together in a mockery of a physical form. As each formed they stood and went looking around the world as if born anew, remembering nothing of their ordeal.
The Erudite attempted to guide them to start with but they soon learned that the group had no sense of who or what they were in the truest sense. The Erudite named them Lost and this was taken by the race as their type, seeing no irony in the name at all. The Lost came to see the Erudite as the gods of their world and even organised a religion, creating a written form of their religious beliefs which only the high priesthood could understand.
The next race to come through were the Forgotten. The humans of Earth that truly had been forgotten in their own world. These were the first true mortals to arrive in Detritus and many of them were intimidated and afraid. Others took to the world as naturally as if they had been born here. Some of the Forgotten knew of the uses of much of the Detritus which the Lost found quaint and amusing. The Erudite learned much wisdom from them and sought to use the material as they could. Especially those tokens that held the spark that the Forgotten called batteries. With this power much could be done to improve the lot of the beings on Detritus. Some of the Forgotten hoarded this material and some even attempted to harm the Erudite and the Lost to take it. This seemed a pointless act as the Erudite and the Lost were a spiritual and therefore immortal race.
From one of the portals that had lain dormant since the All-Bringer had created the Erudite they managed the great migration of the second, and last, physical race to come to Detritus. The Jugo came through the portal as a swarm of insects that streamed forming a solid column from the portal to the surface. A malign intelligence lurked within the column but as they reached the ground the insects began to scatter and take refuge in and around the detritus of the world. It was a full six years before the first of the Jugo manifested itself to a group of Lost and a single Forsaken. The group was scared and the meeting did not go well. The Erudite formed together as a whole and sought out the Jugo and made amends. The Jugo still rarely form but they are now known by the Lost and the Forsaken and though mistrusted, they are no longer feared.
About a decade after the first meeting with the Jugo, and just four short years ago from this very day it was said by the High Priests of the Church of the Erudite that two of the Erudite who managed the portal that the Lost had originally emerged from lost their second sight into the future. A great consternation rippled through the Erudite as they tried to find meaning to this loss but they all came up as a mystery. The common belief amongst some of the Erudite was that perhaps the All-Bringer would come back to them and this was to be concealed from them.
The day that they were to lose their site a lonely priest of the Lost mad the journey to the holy portal site to attempt to record what was to happen. He was waylaid by a mechanical creature, the like of which he had never seen before but the instant he saw it he knew it to be a creature of pure evil. It flew on metal wings formed from the detritus and sported a single glowing red eye. The priest hid from the creature for many hours and emerged too late. When he arrived at the portal site he saw three spiritual creatures. Formless shapes changing and moving. The familiar energy of the Erudite was gone and in fact it felt as though the energy had been ripped apart and spread to the winds. The three formless creatures grew as the portal above pulsed with each new arrival. There were thirteen in total. Thirteen consumers had come to Detritus.
This tale is only known from the Church of the Erudite as they found that lone priests journal of Orisons with this story hastily scrawled in between the standard prayers. From that day the Erudite have not been heard from again.
Behaviour
The Erudite would be categorised by their individuality. Although each appears identical in form spiritually and when manifested, they each have a very distinct drive and personality that enabled all the races that dealt with them for any time to be able to identify them. These personalities were well entrenched by the time that the first Lost appeared and were unwavering. If this was by design by the All-Bringer or just something that developed in time is unknown.
The Erudite are all contemplative, quiet and wise. They take their time to think as if time is not an issue (and it is not to them) but when they give an answer they are confident and assured that it was the correct answer to give. They take the directions of the All-Bringer as their guiding principle but are free willed. As a group they feel they have a duty to the planet, then to the directions of the All-Bringer, then to their charges. They would give their immortality and invulnerability in an instant if they thought it would save their charges even an ounce of misery.
On their future sight the Erudite were dismissive of it historically until Scree and Scrap lost their sight. They would, when asked about it, simply comment that “All will be OK. I have foreseen it.” To them this was a dismissive statement but it was also this statement that formed the kernel of the Church of the Erudite so long ago.
On the Disappearance of the Erudite
There is no truth that can be divined from the discussions and rumours that have spread like wildfire since the disappearance of the Erudite. The only thing that is truth is if the Erudite have appeared since the night of the Consumers appearance that no one has reported the appearance. Even in spiritual form the Erudite exuded an aura of calm and confidence that told any creature, physical or spiritual, that they were present.
The first of the rumours is that Scrap and Scree were utterly destroyed as the Consumers entered Detritus. This rumour strengthened largely by Scrapings admission two months prior that the pair had lost their foresight powers when talking to one of the elders of the Church of the Erudite. The others were perplexed and were pondering what this meant to the pair.
Other rumours state that the Erudite are completely gone for good and the All-Bringer has taken them back into the fold as they have served their purpose. Some think them hiding, supressing their energies until they can make sense of the Consumers violent actions.
That the Consumers so violently attacked the Erudite as well as their recent attacks on priests of the Elders of the Church of the Erudite suggests that the Erudite may be their target. None of the Lost that have been taken have been seen again, or at least not seen again with their sanity intact so the details the Consumers are after still remain a mystery.
Racial Abilities
Manifest
The Erudite can manifest from pure energy or from pieces of Detritus. The form that they take is always identical, appearing as a large floating face made up of many parts. This manifestation is a facsimile of the All-Bringers face which was the first face that the Erudite encountered. It is unknown if their manifestation can take any different forms and if this manifestation is purely traditional rather than essential.
Ritual Magic
The magic that the Erudite employ is ritualistic in nature and changes that are made due to this style of magic occur over long periods of time and affect only the planet or inanimate objects. The Erudite cannot utilise their magic to enhance physical or spiritual beings but can use it to create long term effects on the environment or situational occurrences such as the receipt of a package of detritus from a portal and the dispersion of it.
Their magic is strong and far reaching. It lasts essentially forever, or until such time that actual spiritual or physical beings begin to work within a changed space. That is if the Erudite create a building or disperse detritus it stays as it is unless a spiritual or physical race begins to manipulate it. At this point a process of entropy begins although this process is a long drawn out process that may last hundreds of years. Of course, the more manipulation by the race the more it reduces. Detritus that is moved will never return to the place it was dispersed to unless it is physically returned or subject to another magical manipulation by the Erudite in the future.
Telekinesis
The Erudite can manipulate any piece of detritus that they have placed via ritual magic. They do not even need to be close to the item. The telekinesis can manipulate the items in any way shape or form. This ability is largely used to enhance their manifestation power so that the correctly shaped detritus is used to make an accurate copy of the All-Bringer but it has been seen to be used in other circumstances. The Erudite have in the past been recorded using this to create temporary structures for the varying races to allow protection from various effects including but not limited to detritus storms, avalanches and seismic activity.
Invulnerability
The Erudite being a spiritual being are invulnerable to all three forms of attacks, Mind, Body and Soul. Body attacks can only target them when they have manifested with detritus and it will damage the detritus but this in no way affects the Erudite in the manner that it does a Lost as the Erudite are completely aware of their spirituality and thus physical damage in no way concerns them.
The nature of their invulnerability to Mind and Spiritual attacks is more confusing as these creatures are nothing but manifestations of Mind and Spirituality. The Church of the Erudite conjectures that the invulnerability granted is actually a projected state of consciousness from the All-Bringer deflecting such attacks and thus perhaps could be disrupted in some way. These theories are new though and have been formed only in the recent years of the war with the Consumers, perhaps to suit the theories of some higher members of the Church that believe that Scrap and Scree were both decimated by the Consumers. As no proof of their demise is even available, these theories are just conjecture but are gaining ground as the Consumers influence in Detritus grows.
Immortality
The Erudite are. It is a saying from the Church of the Erudite that is believed to be a direct quote from Dreck of Dechmont Station. When asked about the nature of aging and maturing it is all Dreck could seemingly pass on. It is believed to mean that the Erudite appear and act as they have always appeared and acted. Some suggest that if the races appeared at the same moment the Erudite did that they would find them in the exact same state as they appeared before the Consumers arrive. It is also this statement that make all the races believe that the Erudite, though not seen now for four years, exist somewhere in Detritus and need only be found and reawakened. The truth of this matter is unclear.
Foresight
The Erudite all have the ability to see three months into the future apart from Scree and Scrap who lost this ability preciswly three months before the arrival of the Consumers. This three month foresight is limited though with the “vision” always appearing to be from where the Erudite is in three months time. That is the “vision” is actually sight from the Erudite’s own senses projected from three months into the future. These visions as “predictions” as the Church of the Erudite like to call them are one hundred percent accurate.
The vision is just that, vision. The Erudite does not know context of the vision. It does not provide any other sensation, just sight and therefore can be confusing to the Erudite. When asked about future occurrences the Erudite tend to take longer to answer as they move through their memory of visions to try and put the activities they see into a context and answer from the most logical scenarios that they can form from this ability.
Eidetic Memory
The Erudite remember. This is a quote from Scree at a ritual of the Church of the Erudite. It was after he had named the ten thousand names taken by the original Lost at the first naming ceremony of the Church of the Erudite. It is true also. The erudite seem to have perfect memory of their past being able to recall all detail of a scene in every sense that they possess.
Senseless
The Erudite are only able to sense the world of Detritus through sight and sound. They have no sensation of touch, smell or taste. This seems a small negative quality of the Erudite’s makeup though it has caused a great deal of consternation in certain encounters with the various races.