Original Announcement:
In a grandiose, opulent room atop a temple in the highest mountains of Asgard, standing around a humongous round table with room for everyone to speak face to face, the scene opens upon thirteen only recently born deities locked in a furious debate with one another. While most of their discussions had been civil, many finding unanimous agreement about how they should best contribute to the revitalization of their worlds, there had certainly been some friction as well. Yet even in those minor arguments, the Asir and the Vanir that stood around that table had never been a position such as this: One where each god and their children were so completely opposed to one another’s point of view that they could find no common ground.
The debate entered its third day and not a single one of the gods had budged an inch on their stance. Finally, with no end in sight, Crow, the acting head of the pantheon, suggested that words would not suffice to put this argument to rest. Instead, he proposed that the gods engage in a friendly competition, a war between the divine armies that they could create and command, with the nearby Asireach Peninsula as their battleground. They would meet in combat and the deity that was successful in wresting most of the landform from their brothers and sisters would have their way in the argument. Begrudgingly, the rest of the Asir and Vanir agreed. Certainly none of the rest of them had any better way out of this debacle. And in any case, each of them had supreme confidence in their ability to wage war and be victorious.
You must act as the hand of the gods and help determine the victor of both the peninsula and the debate. The nature of that debate, the outcome that your side wishes to pursue, that will be revealed to you… and decided by you. But only if you are triumphant.
Wrapup:
The Asireach Peninsula stood serene and vacant in the morning mist. Before the Black Death invaded, this area of land held a great walled city home to many hundreds of Asir and Vanir. Now it was barren, the structures all erased by the ichor that once covered the land, save the scattered temples across the firmament whose divinity somehow preserved them. The lives of the gods that once resided here were given in battle against that otherworldly foe those many years ago. Now, the Asir of this new era would do battle here and in doing so pay respects to what came before and the predecessors who lost their lives in this place.
Each Asir along with their children claimed three holy temples from which to wage war. Once they had settled into these starting provinces, they willed into existence spectral warriors that would follow their commands and join in battle against one another. They agreed upon the rules of conduct they would abide by and separated to their camps to make their plans.
The clarion call of a horn rang out across the landscape and the armies marched forth. Each of the gods wrote the story of the war with their strategies and their diplomacy and certainly some of their plans found greater purchase than others. Early on, Crow claimed the territories closest to him and remained entrenched in his area for the rest of the war, unable to push his way out past his foes. Vivant and Sovereign started out as allies working towards common goals, but Sovereign broke that pact to pursue their own interests. Vivant began retaliating against this betrayal with the help of Tychasaurus and Lormar, eventually forcing Sovereign into a defensive position from which they could not recover. Graynar had an aggressive strategy taking over large swaths of land, but was pushed back by the combined forces of Tychasaurus, Lormar, and Vivant, who felt Graynar’s strong starting position made him a threat. Ultimately, Lormar and Tychasaurus decided to try to claim Vivant’s remaining territory, as he had been weakened by fighting with Sovereign. It was a race to gain as much ground as they could, the two sisters being in the best position to be victorious.
When the dust finally settled, the warlike ferocity of Tychasaurus and her keen negotiating skills could not be opposed even by the combined efforts of several of her brothers and sisters. The Asireach Peninsula was still fractured in its loyalties but the greatest amount of it was now her domain. Victory in the war and victory in the wager belonged to the lord of all dinosaurs.
It is not the predilection of Asir to be petty, however. At least not openly. The bet having been settled through glorious battle was all anyone required to be able to stand back around the table peacefully and continue their work to rebuild the most metaphysical aspects of Norlund. However, not before Tychasaurus had finally settled their debate and had her way.
In the countless millennia before the Black Death the most ubiquitous creature throughout all the many worlds of Norlund were the trolls. One might be deceived into thinking this was because the race was a hearty one, able to thrive in different climates and conditions, savage in their ability to survive no matter the adversity. This is only partially the reason, however. The greater truth is that trolls existed everywhere because the thread of their species was knit into the very fabric of what was Norlund. The personification of all of the worlds, of the spirit of battle, of the ferocity of nature, of the balance and harmony within all living things… all of that was the lifeblood of the Troll. In the devastation caused by the Black Death, however, the primal spark from which Trolls were wrought had been permanently extinguished.
Yet with the powers of all of the new Asir united, a new primal spark could be created. From this spark would be born all the new members of that species for all time, and from the species' inner qualities Norlund would grow and be shaped into its glorious, but uncertain, future.
That species, however, need not be trolls.
The debate that raged between the gods was over what this new race would be. For each of the Asir and their children had a different vision of what the new Norlund would become and each of them worked to assert their point of view during their discussions on how to rebuild the worlds. Most of the time diplomacy and discussion was enough to resolve these differing points of view but on this issue each Asir had set their feet and refused to budge.
Crow, who maintained a cautious leadership over the rest of his siblings by virtue of being the oldest, gave in to the whims of his daughter Thyra and campaigned to make dragons the new race of the divine spark. Of the siblings, Lormar had the greatest respect for tradition and felt most compelled to create a new world as similar as possible to the one that had died. Her argument was to create a new race of trolls that would come from the spark. Vivant understood well the power that could come from the most majestic aspects of nature and fought for the spark to birth mighty oak trees across all the worlds. Sovereign harbored a deep respect for the kobold race for behind their warlike exterior was a culture that held deep reverence for wisdom and mysticism. They saw a future for Norlund where the divine spark was infused with these qualities as well. Graynar threw his lot in with the jotun, believing a spark full of order and decorum would come from the heavy hand and rigid society of these giants.
Each of the Asir and Vanir had their own individual desires for the new race of the spark. Each of them envisioned a world that would best suit their own hopes and whims. But none of those gods were victorious in the Asirwar and now each of them stood silently regarding Tychasaurus, waiting for her to render her verdict and obedient in their promise to honor the terms of their wager.
Tychasaurus remained still and reverent, only slightly betraying her mood by the upturned corners of her mouth. She let the moment hang there, partially to relish what she had achieved, partially to revel in the happy repercussions of winning this vital argument with her siblings. At last, ready to speak the word and chisel into reality her intentions, she drew a deep breath.
“Dinosaurs!” she roared such that the entire temple shook with the reality and the gravity of it.
And dinosaurs it shall be.
