The titan trappers of the war era
Guess who made another big world building post x"d this stream of consciousness might be a bit incoherent and botched sorry :p
Diversity among the trappers
The past world of the Boiling Isles was full of life and cultures, which all had been affected by the Archvists' expedition. Those various ethnic groups, which chose to convert religion, addapted new beliefs and gods to fit their former traditionds. That form of rather natural cultural shift led to the creation of vastly different sects of the same cult. Each one with slight new take on the celestial gods' will
The aspect in which the greatest diversity could had been spotted was fashion and body markings. Usually trappers wore altered daily clothing allowing they to hide in a plain sight. Most of them were still subjects of the local titan/s. Lived and worked in their towns while practicing new religion. Acceptable form of ornamentation were colourful threading, beading and changing colours of well established elements of clothing such as sashes, ribbons, belts or even shoes. In many titan trappers cults finishing those alterations was considered as an initiation rite. Subtle differences in trappers' wardrobe helped with recognising members of the same cult from non-trappers and different sects
More sacred and visible elements that trappers wore were traditional markings. Either permanent like tattoo or semipernament, which were painted with henna-like substances, it held enormous cultural significance. Those decorative symbols were mirroring the gods as it was made on their image. Evoking the feeling of connection with thier new patrons and were believed to be a gate to heavenly magic. Most often markings were located on a head, a chest and forearms. Usually consisted of celestial imagery, swirls, circles, loops and occasionally a representation of senses(eyes, mouth, hands) and sea invertebrates. The depictions of sea creatures might be a bit counterintuitive for celestial gods. However it's worth to note that the Archvists(especially stellar) had been tampering with seas a lot. Leading to significant part of the "miracles" performed on/around sailors, who later spread the word and portray them as ocean deities
Among all of the symbols trappers used during that era, one stood out significantly - the semi-eclipse. The resemblance to the collection spell made it an almost perfect deception and protection against the grim fate Archivists had planed for the sects. Those who beared the eclipse on one's forehead could trick archival part of the gods into believing that the cult had been already collected. By extension there wasn't any need to use true spell on those witches. A small statistical error, ran by shortcuts of gods consciousness, kept the memory of the old and new gods alive in that troubled world
The existence of an Atlases was one of those elements present throughout all cults. A direct "gift" from gods themselves. An Atlas was a simple witch who was "blessed" by the Archivists. The so-called blessing enhanced physical, physiological and most importantly magical abilities of the chosen cultist. A tiny fraction of the archive would had been built in the host's body. Lifting up the natural limitations of magical performance, while at the same time strongly stimulating bone tissue, myocardium and liver cells. The Atlas was to be able to use far more powerful and magic intense spells, without experiencing most of the drawbacks and bounce back relatively quickly, if any major injury had occured. Simply speaking making out of a regular witch someone who could rival a titan in a fight. Might even say creating a demigod
A witch, who had gone through the process of blessing, ended up with a few characteristic elements. Easily identifiable markings such as a big scar on the cervical part of a vertebral collum, a smaller chain of star-shaped discolouration around the neck, reddish pupils and later bluish/greenish skin tone. Each one was an unfortunate proof of the true nature of becoming an Atlas. The blessing was a fancy and less threatening way to call an invasive, live operation on the CNS, altering both the mind and the body. Archivists had been tampering mostly with the life supporting parts of the brain. The procedure was performed with a use of heavy-metal "medical" gear. The operations were done usually in inadequate circumstances, without proceeding preparations for the patient, anaesthesia or even sterile tools. The chosen witch was able to survive only because of "archival needels" inserted into their bodies. It modified the tissue and altered the pH of the wound. Rendering them inhabitable for most of the potentially deadly pathogens. As well as becoming partially reason why the neck scar was such a prevalent feature among Atlases. Low pH of a damaged tissue corresponds with rather poor scaring. The needles also slowly dissolved and diffused, causing heavy metal poisoning. Unfortunate witch had to experience full panoply of symptoms. Madness, muscle degenration and unnatural discoloration of the skin. However, it was unprecedenced for a cult to witness the full transformation of thier heros
The decision to create new demigods in such a faulty way was premeditated. Tho Atlases were generously gifted in battle and magic, their main purpose wasn't to conquer the titans. They were meant to be an example and an aspiration for other members of the cult. To become an Atlas, all a trapper had to do was to be good at hunting. New gods couldn't care less about established social norms or traditons of the community. Efficiency and success rate of the hunts were the objectives beared in mind. The reward system based only on a good performanceand peer reviewe was much more energising, especially in societies which were highly hierarchical. Anyone could had become the beloved chosen warrior of the new gods and be more respected among thier own village. It had sparked a lot of initiatives and unusual approaches to the hunts(cruel immortal tactics). The system promoted thinking outside the box and flexibility, making fighting back increasing harder for titans, as they had been constantly one step behind. If a witch had been deemed worthy, the Archivists would have "blessed" them. Within a moment of full insertion of the "needel", the chosen one would lose their autonomy. The archvie at that precise moment gained access to all neural paths, effectively being able to control entirety of the host's body. Similarly to fungi which controls the ant's body. Usually the influence of the archvie was applied only to speech, filtering what an Atlas could say or not. The full control only occurred when the Atlas had already started having visible symptoms of the poisoning. As in the analogy with the fungi and the ants, the unfortunate soul would be dragged into the battle to die. To poetically spread spores of heorism. After all nothing brings more followers than death of beloved hero
It is not particularly that interesting of a topic, however, reflects on how the world of Boiling Isles worked and anatomies of both titans and witches and how they used the differences to their advantages or how their overcame that so here are some examples
One of the rather unusual, yet essential kit in trapper's bag would be a set of various small bells. Witches' sense of hearing was very keen. They were abel to detect wide range of sound waves and frequencies with a great accuracy. Surpassing titans by far(no wonder no conchas and ultrasonic roar don't scream "my hearing is perfectly healthy and i don't experience any hearing loss or ringing in my ears:) "). That tiny advantage allowed trappers to create quite complex system of communication, consisting of different notes and combinations of sounds. Was it the most practical? Absolutely not. The bells usually were made of old kitchen equipment or scrap metal, easily broke, were noisy and quite heavy. To the point when other demons or other groups of witches would refer to the trappers troops as parades. However, the ringing totally flew over titans' heads. The sounds bells produced were just outside old gods' hearing braket. Unless there was a good soul, who would warn old gods about it, ringing was totally undetectable for titans
The titans trappers arsenal consisted of many weapons. Each trapper would own a hook or a harpoon, a spear and set of poisoned arrows. The rest was an individual decision of a cultist. The weaponry was usually modified agricultural and aquacultural tools. Similarly to the clothing aspect, they valued subtle and under the nose ways of practising new religion. With that specific mentality in mind, the usage of everyday tackle as arms was go-to option. It was much safer, affordable and unassuming. Those tools also were relatively easy to modify. So the hook that in the morning was use to hung a fish in a shop, in the night could be used to catch and pin down a god. The addition of bones were quite a choice in terms of the arms. The source were usually sacrifices. However, witches didn't hold back and were ravaging graves to find some if the opportunity had arisen. Most common modifications were included in a haft area(again parts that were relatively easy to swap). Titans' bones were tough, resilient and light at the same time. The fact that bones were out of gods' flesh added few extra points in witches heads. Yet the most important tool in trapper's arsenal were poison arrows. The key in successful hunt. Shafts had ingraved incantations or prayers, feathers were dyed with bright or saturated colours. It was considered as direct gift from new gods. Tho the true gift Archivists gave their followers were just strong drugs used on a tip and knowledge how to syntetise them in despite lack of modern technology. Not the arrows itself. Whether it was paralytics, tranquilisers, analgesics, depressants. The exact effect wasn't important in that equation. All that mattered was to render target unable to defend themselves
Titan's death whistle(i know not the most creative move from my side TT) was a powerful tool in hands of the cults. Working in opposite way to the irl version. Instead of fear factory that would make opponents more likely to flee or surrounder, in the world of Boiling Isles it was meant to lure them into traps. Carefully whittled in wood or stone by craftsmen of the sect, with a little help of the Archvists, to mimic the titans's larynx. The sound it made was quite similar to cry "help" or "I'm here" in titans' language. The whistle was an enormous game changer. As witches' voice boxes were incapable of producing sounds like titans' ones. They could have never learnt to speak that language. Therefore quite a big issue for the trappers. Not only because it was significantly harder to lure and catch any titan without calling them, but more importantly a simple speech test could evaluate if the stranger was a real or not. And the perspective for being caught in act of treachery wasn't pleasant. Blowing in a whistle often pushed aside common sense to do a control test. Brief moment of hesitation from old god's side defined if a troop succeed and survived.Trappers tried to create different types of whistle later, but with little to no success
The most important(and gut-wrenching and outrageous and gross )tool was without a doubt the disguise. While there were many different kinds of equipment which drastically increased the likelihood of a success at the hunts. Non would have been any help without the disguise being in there at the first place. There is no way to sugarcoat what it was and how it was made - the disguise was real titan's skull, skin and fur. And to be precise a young one's. As it was more accessible and effective for witches to use. Similar size, proportions, weight consequently less trimming, sewing and measuring. The process of preparing the skins, usually aligned with the new moon as the sacrificial faze for cults, went exactly as anyone can imagine. Skinning, cleaning, washing, grating, rubing, oiling, scrubing until the material was exactly as it was needed. Analogicaly to the real life counterpart the process was time consuming. It took days, sometimes weeks to prepare one skin. But the suits made drastic change and were often the matter of surviving. Craftsmen had had checked the disguise few times before giving it to any trapper to assure it was safe and secure. It must have been perfectly matched and as close to original as possible. Paried with a distance, a whistle and decent performance it was genuinely hard to spot a difference for sb running on high cortisol. Maybe from human perspective, the idea was not revolutionary, but it was for a witches and most importantly for titans. The barrier old gods never thought to be crossed, was crossed without any hesitation. To say that first titans who discovered the truth about the "illusion spell" were not okay is to say nothing. The change was drastic and unexpected. Whiches from being humble, devoted, god-fearing folk did 180° to bold, blasphemous and blood-thirsty. Consequently the outrage, the feelings of hater and betrayal grew exponentially in titans. It only winded up the spiral of violence. Unleashing the scale of war crimes unheard of ever before
The Hunts - the first ritual
Main tactic, prevalent in all sects, was an ambush and a deception. Titans objectively were much more powerful than any witch. Fluffs were considered a gods for a reason. Conventional methods of war would be extremely dangerous and unsuccessful. Any attempts of frontal and more direct attack without an Atlas on the team would have ended with a failure and then sever consequences
Titans weren't merciful or forgiving to those caught red handed. Pushed to the corner by Archivists and aware of the main goal of the new gods. They didn't really see the point of reasoning with those witches who already had turned their backs on them. The stakes were just too high. Archivists' plan was anything like previous conflicts on that planet. Same with the pure feeling of the terror in titans' heats. So the trials were short and executions, usually performed using fire, were public and obligatory to watch by whole community. In some places if a trapper was captured, trapper's family members would have also faced the same fate as the perpetrator. They hoped that perspective of collective and cruel penalty would have swayed away witches from converting and hunting them down. But it didn't work
The fear of the consequences only forced trappers to work more creatively(boosted by the chance of being favorite mortal of the new gods). Choosing specific places, times and targets, using various tools. Their main strategy of luring titans into the traps was a to play a scared, injured pup. Trappers often targeted titans who knew the pups before they had sacrificed them. Idealy pup should have been lost less than a month
Trappers usually started from the youngest to the strongest titans. Rather leaning on aspects of desperation than raw power to catch their target. Picking up a kid and then luring their siblings or parents was the easiest way and frankly the safest too. The chance that a grown titan would attack an pup on sight was much smaller. Witches were generally relaying on basic empathy and human responses to succee in the hunt. One or more trappers pretended to be kids, the rest would hid around waiting for their target. The moment a titan got close enough to the "lost", they would have been shot with poison arrows, harpoon and hooks. Tied up and dragged to the designated cells in chapels. Waiting until the sacrificial night had arrived
Quite common belief among cults was that slaying a titan during a hunt would bring anger of new gods. Tho there wasn't any explicit example of the Archvist cursing the cult for that, hunts generally followed the rules established by new religion. So the abducted often were imprisoned for days, knowing what eventually was waiting for them on the new moon's night
The horror of the hunts had had a quite big consequence, which was detrimental to titans case - an erosion of mental health and desensitization. Constant dread of encouraging trappers instead of sb in need made titans less willing to interact. To point when they wouldn't even bother to check from a far who was that titan calling for help. For many the risk was just too great. But the issue wasn't just the fact that titans avoided suspicious interaction outside bigger aglomerations. The problem lied in much deeper deconstruction of titans' sense of a community and themselves. If they couldn't trust anyone outside the walls of their village, why would they trust anyone inside. There was no guarantee the trappers couldn't infiltrate titans cults or tell for sure who believed in who(and indeed they were right). The overwhelming stress of living as a target, surrounded by potential perpetrators caused enormous spike in highly antisocial behaviours. Many due to the pressure experienced paranoia, psychotic breakdown and shutdowns. Titans would have locked themselves airtight, ignoring everyone or lashing out and becoming aggressive towards others. Their minds just fumbled under the pain and the fear
I can't express with words how traumatic it was to titans. To realise that their lost children were most likely dead. And can't even imagine how much worse it had to be to discover what witches had done with their remains, to what pups' coats were used, to grasp how much they were dehumanized. Absolutely petrifing situation to live through. A torture. I believe ot might have been the true reason why titans lost the war. Not battles, not combats or any physical attack. A sheer amount of trauma that just broke them beyond fixing. The one that makes people find death more comforting than staying alive
Titan trappers practices were an example of a beliefs fusion. The religious system in which witches of the war era were similar to early christians. Both old and new traditions were celebrated simultaneously with equal dignity. That symbiosis created quite a dychotomic sets of rules and customes. Stating at the same time that titans were gods and that they were sacrificial lambs for gods. Rejecting most of the superstitions, but enforcing blind and unquestionable belief in celestial bodies' influence over fate. Extolltion of science and empiric thought, but also total self-entrusting to gods gospel and prophecies. Sudden shifts from absolute hedonism to asceticism regarding very same topics were reoccurring issue for believers. It might be surprising for a sect of serial killers but trappers considered themselves as pacifists too. New religion put a lot of care in the environmental ascpects of existence. Living in harmony with nature and causing as least damage to overall life. Excessive cruelty to others was look down on and severely punished. That also included meat production resulting in a society consistent in vast majority of vegetarians or pescatarians. New gods emphasised the importance of the village and acceptance of everyone willing to join. The sects rearly were made of whole families or already established communities, so in order to grow in power and people, cultists concentrated on social aspects. Being kind, helpful and empathetic towards own people and outsider were key virtues. The only exception from that co-existance movement were titans. They were gods, therefore outside the "flora and fauna" of the Boiling Isles, therefore murder was okay
The trappers' faith was deeply riddled with contridictions. Archvists under close inspection and prolonged observation chose to build new church on old foundations and change only most glaring inconsistencies. It was easily digestible form of practice that helped with quick assimilation and evolution of new religion coordinated by cultists. New gods used known and well established ideas, such as titans' divinity, to justify genocide while technically still not breaking any rules. Lack of logic and opposing beliefs of new faith functioned as a peculiar filter. If a witch had chosen to follow the cultists preaching in spite of the issues, that would have meant they were truly ready to commit all evil acts Archvists wanted them to do. Sect's members didn't care about it in beginning so they wouldn't care at the end
According to titan trappers confession titans were gods. Nothing had changed about the divinity status, but the patronhood did change. Titans were pushed aside to be lesser deities. Similar in importance to mystical creatures from human folklore such as unicorns or caldrius. Their bodies became the most important aspect of thier holiness, leaving soul/consciousness redundant. Witches since the beginning had believed that titans' flesh wes sacred. Simple droplet of blood possessed magic so powerful that could open gates of underworld. They were fully aware of the potential of the rest of viscera hid. When the opportunity had risen, witches immediately started experimenting. Nothing went by the board. Each single piece of body found it's new purpose in the war era. Trappers assigned to various oragns different properties from healing to fortuneteling. However, the blood of titans was still undeniably the most valuable. Used as the panacea and the immortality potion. Some witches were able to use it to open portals between islands and realms
Trappers had celestial bodies in high regards. The attachment to stars was one of incorporated tenets from old religion. Titans as well followed in thier religious practices skies to predict future and fate. Nightsky's movement and changes were intertwined with fazes of mortals spiritual journey. Cultists especially followed the moons cycles, copping them in their daily life. Obvious choice as the most likely time to stumble upon Archvists was night. But a big part in that choice played who witches met first too. Lunar archvist in comparison to their twins was more approachable and willing to mess around. Lunar performed small miracles for witches if they happened to bump on each other in deep woods. Those little good deeds paved the way to witches hearts and earned trust as well as witches' love for the moon. During the new moon, sects would have celebrated with feasts, flames and prepared sacrifices for new gods to thank and ask for enlightenment. In full moon faze, they would have prayed in chapels for fallen warriors to be guided by Moon's soft embrace. Half moon was connected with the blessings and proclamation of Atlases. The routine could have never been disrupted as the moon never changed it's cycle. In later years of war when two out of three moons were lost to Archvists anger, trappers loosed thier connection to the satellite. The decisions was premeditated by rather fear of following in moon's steps than anything else. However, the greatest impact on lifes from all celestial events had solar eclipse. Titan trappers were absolutely petrified of that phenomenon. To the point when they wouldn't have gotten out of thier dens and homes at all. Often they didn't eat for whole day as well. They understood well that if the sun had been blocked, the new gods would have come out. Tho cultists adored the company of thier new patrons, they enjoyed it only when gods' visits were predictable. Unexpected arrivals meant something was deeply wrong and frankly they were right. Solar eclipse was after all a trigger for the draining spell, which Archvists used to collect trappers with ease
Trappers had a tiny practice of bringing with themselves on hunts small mirrors. One of the latest additions to the catalogue of rituals cultists performed, which later evolved and was incorporated into fortune telling and illusion magic practices. Meant to bestow those who wore them with luck, guidance and oversight of gods. Witches believed that new gods could have kept an eye on thier followers if they had those mirrors by thier sides. Yet the significance of those necklace-sized glasses was driven mostly by the source from which trappers got them. The mirror were archival scales. Ripped out of Archvists bodies. Offered to the sects as one of many "tiny" bribes. In early days singular scales were adapted as basins or windows in temples. One plate was enough thin to allow light to go through it. At the same time it was highly reflevtive, letting followers to look at themselves in it. Working as one-way mirrors, that similarity caused witches to start to experiment with sizes and shapes of worked over scales. The trail and error method leaded to tiny protective jewellery mirrors. A tiny mobile peeping holes for gods to check on thier believers. Equiped with that titans trapper could have gone on a hunt assured their patrons were near
Sects during the war era experienced a some sort of architectural renascence. The style of buildings was quite distinctive form other current forms. Constructions were build taller, slander, more geometrical. Generally tower like with really high ceilings. From outside they were simple and made of residual rocks, however, inside were highly ornamental. Most used forms of decorations were reliefs, mosaics and murals. They depicted battels, credo, fallen warriors or various blessings Archvists had performed for the sect. Main colours were whites, blues, purples with accent warm colours. Those tower rearly had any big windows. Occasionally smaller ones,hidden behind the curtains, were present on shady side of towers. Witches would have only installed big skylights on the top of the towers' ceiling to illuminate the main hallway/staircase. Elongation of the architecture and minimal lighting inside was a calculated move. Trappers had been building those constructions with new gods in mind. For what built a temple if the patron gods can't stay for a bit inside? So all decisions were made to accommodate Archvists. To allow them to freely move around and spend more than an hour inside. The idea indeed worked as Archvists did use trappers' temples as quick recharging spotts away from noon's bright sun. The favorite place for archivists to rest was the shrine room. A secluded part of the temple, located usually behind an altar and an iconostasis, with a small ceiling opening and a sacrificial table in the center. Trappers only entered that place during new moon, for the rest of the month eldritch could have stayed there unbothered. Unfortunately for cultists as a safe place Archvists also used tempels as daycare for Collector... and trappers would rather go to hand combat with a titan than willingly took care of the baby eldritch god. They probably viewed Collector as ultimate punishment for their wrongdoings-
Just for fun :p it's easier to conceptualise who dealt with what
I was suppose to add a one more section about why witches even chose to converte to the new religion but I have no more patience to do it so that's all for tonight. Thank you for your attention and if anybody read through all of this wall of incoherent text then you have all of my respect, your attention spawn is almighty and I wish you some tasty flowers for whole upcoming week <3
