Timewaster's Guide Archive

The rhyshadium, on the other hand, seems different. They are bigger, stronger and more intelligent. For some reason (can't remember why), I don't think they come from Shinovar, so these are probably your sneaky-hunter horses...  Likely have strong jaws. (Or strong hooves to smash open the shells then eat the innards)

Lol, I was mostly kidding about that. It`s a funny mental picture, though, isn`t it.

I'm skeptical about the "parshmen/parshendi become chasmfiends become thunderclasts" theory. If they're out on the shattered plains to grab gemhearts, destroying the chasmfiend's chrysalises, why bother leaving their dead out where they could become chasmfiends in the first place? Maybe it's so they can have eventual access to more gemhearts, but it still seems like a big risk to take.

Thanks for the idea, Puck! I also thought of a faction that deliberately inflicts pain on themselves, rather than waiting for it to occur naturally and blessedly, and were excommunicated for it but were too addicted to pain to stop.

Jjb, you have a fantastic idea there; I love it. And I can't remember what they are right now, but there are certain poisons that cause the skin to take on a yellowish hue after death.

OK, I never would have thought of coffee. That's pretty creative. Um... OK, here's the religion I came up with, it's kind of the only thing I could think of that wasn't actually silly.

This religion focuses on the worship of pain. Early on in this culture's development it was noticed that the sensation of pain always accompanied important, formative events, such as danger or significant injury; sometimes it even warned of worse injury, as in when someone had their hand in a fire without noticing - the pain would warn him to pull it out before badly burning it. Pain thus began to be regarded as a gift from the gods; an important part of human experience, to be cherished rather than avoided and sought after as much as any other feeling.

Any time one of this religion's followers gets a painful injury, he or she will try to hold onto it as long as possible; the wound will be cleaned to prevent infection, but left unbound and displayed as a badge of honor. Those who have earned the privelege will have their wounds perpetually reopened in a ceremony by the priests. These priests are those who have been honored with extreme pain - whether they were burned all over as children, mauled by wild animals, or have some sort of chronic illness that causes them to suffer, their frequent pain is believed to bring them closer to the mind of god. Women are more revered than men in this society because the pain of childbirth belongs to women. Lepers and those who suffer paralysis are seen as cursed and shunned, because they can't feel pain.