Before the arrival of the Iron Kings, before the whispers of the Serpent Gods, there was only the Obsidian Tide. The Woadmen, as they came to be known, weren't born; they coalesced. From the heart of the drowned forests, from the swirling mists of the Serpent's Embrace, they rose – beings of living shadow and solidified moonlight. Their skin, perpetually slick with a dark, iridescent oil, shifted and flowed with the currents of the deep. They were not warriors in the way of men, but rather guardians, attuned to the rhythm of the drowned world.
Their settlements were not built, but grown. Structures of petrified coral and woven kelp, anchored to the seabed with roots that pulsed with an eerie light. The air within these structures shimmered with the residue of forgotten prayers and the echoes of the Serpent Gods’ lament.
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"Kaer," – meaning ‘Shadow’ in the Old Tongue. Represents the essence of the Woadmen's connection to the twilight realm.
The Iron Kings, driven by a hunger for the world’s shimmering resources, began their relentless incursions. Their ships, forged in the fires of forgotten volcanoes, blotted out the sun and poisoned the deep. The Woadmen, initially passive, witnessed the desecration of their ancestral lands. Then, an ancient ritual was performed – a desperate plea to the Serpent Gods, the primordial entities that shaped the drowned world.
The result was the Serpent's Pact. The Woadmen gained the ability to manipulate the currents, to summon storms, and to weave illusions that could drive men mad. But the price was steep: a slow, inevitable merging with the Serpent Gods themselves. Their thoughts became entangled with the endless cycles of the deep, their bodies increasingly susceptible to the pull of the abyss.
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“Runa” – signifying ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Fate’. Linked to the Woadmen’s understanding of the interwoven currents of the sea and the divine.
Within the ruins of a sunken city, partially unearthed by the Iron Kings, lies an artifact of immense power: the Obsidian Trident. Legend claims it amplifies the Serpent’s Pact, granting its wielder dominion over the tides, but also accelerating the process of becoming one with the Serpent Gods.
(Artifact Display - Simulated. Imagine a shimmering trident crafted from polished obsidian, etched with serpentine glyphs.)
Generations passed. The Woadmen, fractured by the Serpent’s influence, splintered into factions. Some embraced the full merging, becoming terrifying, monstrous beings – the Tide-Born – guardians of the abyss. Others clung to their humanity, desperately seeking a way to break the pact. A small group, led by the enigmatic Elder Lyra, began a perilous quest, seeking the lost Heartstone – a gem said to hold the last vestiges of the Old Gods’ power.
Their journey led them through treacherous underwater canyons, past forgotten shrines, and into the heart of the Serpent’s Embrace itself. The fate of the Woadmen, and perhaps the entire world, hangs in the balance. The Obsidian Tide continues to flow, carrying with it the echoes of a lost civilization and the promise – or threat – of an unimaginable power.
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“Kaer” - Recurring symbol representing the Woadmen's struggle to maintain their identity amidst the encroaching influence of the Serpent Gods.