Submission Results: The Starfallen (Part 1)

When we decided that this was going to be a different kind of Patreon, one in which the patrons themselves were invited to give creative input which would directly affect Dreaming Door's next big project, there was a small amount of fear mixed in with the inspiration. What if no one cared enough to put their ideas forward? What if none of the ideas were good? What if other people didn't understand the Draak-Kin well enough to give creative birth to them?

I can safely say, however, that those fears have come to nothing. Nearly one quarter of the Patrons showed both creativity and courage, daring to share their ideas with us, a truly incredible result, and we now have the problem of having too many excellent Kin to choose from.

As only twenty-seven Kin from Earth made the voyage and many are already known to us, we do not have room to feature all of these wonderful Kin, but at least one of them will join the journey to the stars, carrying a bit of the soul of its creator and earning them a creative credit in the game, and as promised, the power is yours to choose. September's poll will give the community the chance to select their favorite from among the many hopefuls and give them a place on Newhome.

I had originally planned to list all of the submissions in a single post, but there are so many, and their stories so fascinating, that I believe that the electors might become confused or fatigued if I did so. Consequently, I will be posting three Starfallen candidates per day for the next five days. Please read their stories and consider their merits carefully. The poll will be posted when all of the candidates have been introduced, whereupon the poll winner will join the canon and feature in the story of Hierophant.

I have prepared the summaries in accordance with the submissions. A few of the names were changed a bit for one reason or another and the stories pruned to bring out key elements and insert a few possible story leads, should they be chosen. The overall idea of each, however, remains quite intact. Names don't matter too much anyway, as the Kin will adopt a new naming convention on Newhome and these Earth-style names will be replaced with new ones.

Electors are encouraged not to vote for their own submissions, though nothing will actually stop you from doing so. If yours truly is the best, it will succeed whether or not you do, and your vote may be crucial support to a worthy candidate. Electors are also asked to consider the long-term consequences of their choices. The "nicest" Kin, or the one which most resembles your own spirit, is not necessarily the best choice for a deep and interesting story. Discussion of the merits of each in the comments is welcome; such a discussion will help shape a worthy victor. The identities of the creators has been concealed so that the choice will be less affected by judgments of the people behind them.

But enough introduction. Time to meet the first three candidates!

WITHER, Treader of Forbidden Paths

A young Ruby Kin mighty in the Fire and Earth elements, born with an inquisitive and highly active mind. Fascinated with humans and obsessed with uncovering their secrets, it dared to attempt the quasi-forbidden act of agriculture, constructing an environment of plenty, which it named the Everbloom and reigned over proudly.

Humans are, however, relentless, and Wither awakened from its final Great Sleep to find its beloved Everbloom a harshly-exploited wasteland. Attacking the local human settlement in a fit of blind rage nearly cost the dragon its life and left it blind in one eye and covered in wounds, some of them deep. It might have perished had it not been astrally contactacted by Darktooth, who found Wither’s unusual understanding of human technology and psychology potentially useful in the world beyond the stars. A new world would, after all, need new ways of life.

MIST, Breaker of Chains Unseen

A needle-faced and slender Sapphire Kin so enigmatic that it was thought by many to be mad, Mist saw the universe as a gigantic puzzle which could only be solved by divesting oneself of all judgments and biases. Rejecting all dualities, it openly questioned everything, even the most obvious and sacred of truths. To Mist, all opinions were false, and it sought to liberate both itself and others from the invisible chains of ignorance.

Such a mode of behavior made Mist unpopular and mistrusted by most of the Kin, who found its philosophies confusing at best, and it never held territory for long, travelling the world in search of new experiences and new minds to enlighten (or perhaps merely consternate) on its own path to a nameless and wild illumination.

This wise fool and deadly jester discovered Darktooth’s Great Lesson and plan to bring the Kin to the stars all on its own, and cleverly earned a place in the exodus by tricking Darktooth into losing a mental challenge (Darktooth refuses to reveal the exact nature of this trick, but confirms the loss) and demanding its inclusion, which Darktooth granted, albeit with reluctance.

THE MESMERIST, Beguiler of Minds

This Ruby Kin from the Pyrenees discovered the supremacy of mind over matter at a young age and dedicated itself to weaponizing the unseen. Spending many years performing grueling mental exercises and meditations, it mastered the art of telepathic communication to such a high level of skill that it could deceive the mind of most beings as easily as plucking a leaf from a tree in autumn. All who encountered the dragon unknowingly became its puppets, carrying out its plans without even knowing that they were doing so. To the humans, it played the role of deadly trickster, guiding them into danger and confounding their plans, much to its amusement.

Though it used its unusually powerful mind to build a magnificent web of control, it began to fall victim to overconfidence, and the humans eventually hunted it down and nearly killed it using a recovered dwarf artifact. It then realized that minds could be even more complicated and entertaining than it had previously thought, and began looking for new kinds of minds to encounter and control, partially for its own amusement… for the Mesmerist, nothing rivalled the deep pleasure of controlling other beings… but also to forge itself into a mind-user of a power not seen since the fall of the Crystal Clan.

Look forward to more candidates tomorrow, and let us know your thoughts thus far in the comments!

-L