Diaspora Of The Merenati

The Merenati found themselves in a desert, a land of piercing hot brightness and sudden frigid darkness. Day was intolerable to their shadowy forms, and while they could pass through solid objects, rocks were insufficient shelter through the baking of the sun, and so they were forced to take shelter within the ruins of their once-flying city. Their Mother had made them as warriors, spies, and sorcerers... not as breeding livestock.

It is written in the great book of the Merenati that all flying cities must fall, and so it was that they decided that they should not attempt to raise it again from its resting place. Instead, they worked their magics on the remains of smaller workings. In their battles, they had wielded polished orbs of dark hardwoods which allowed them to phase portions of a corporeal adversaries' form while leaving the rest solid. The results, when a blow was landed, were invariably gruesome. With the few remaining orbs they dug a series of tunnels through the ever-cool, ever-dark rocks which lay deep beneath the sands of the desert. Slowly, they pushed outwards... for they knew, in time, they would need more dark woods from which to produce more orbs.

After a lengthy process of torturous experimentation, Merenati sorcerers managed to develop a process whereby they could break off a piece of themselves inside another being possessing self-awareness and a soul. This piece would slowly grow, consuming the host, until one day when the host would die and another newborn Merenati was born.

Still, growth was slow, owing to the speed at which tunnels could be dug and the sparsity of other servants of the gods nearby. The Merenati broke up into several small bands, each with their own orb, and spread throughout the areas surrounding the great desert, slowly increasing their numbers.

(Turn 3)