Godbound: The Oasis States and their God-Kings, Part 3

Few in Arcem have both mastered and debased the power of flesh and blood as the Oasian, safe perhaps their distant relatives in the Ancalian barrows. While they are most famous for their inbreeding and theurgic might the Oasian nobles and their augmented warriors are a fearsome military in Arcem. It is perhaps fortunate they seem more content to keeping to their desert as all should fear the godly warriors from the burning sands.

Inaros with the Ramses skin, from Warframe

Armies of the Desert

The forces of the Oasis states consist of augmented warriors: bloodline of superior stock than ordinary humans but far removed from the noble lines or more recent creations born of eugenics in hope of reinvigorating the ranks with superior soldiers. Others are the result of flesh warping and organ-grafting, short lived abominations dedicated to their masters or animal-headed savage beast-men. The warriors of the desert are agile and precise but their overall potency pale compared to the Ancalian cousins and they are not as durable as the undying automatons of Nezdovha. However they are more organized, more numerous and far more established as warriors. Elite warriors and heroes armed with ancestral theotechnical weaponry from the days of Polyarchy of Kham can cause far more havoc and carnage on a battlefield than peasants with spears and crude automatons. Morale of the Nobles is questionable, however: their erratic personalities make them prone to scatter in confusion as each one start barking conflicting orders, each convinced of the absolute certainty of their plan.

In battle, aerial supremacy is a common tactic: not every Noble is gifted with wings (biological or mechanical) but other forms of personal flight are extremely common, from theurgic incantations to billowing dust clouds and summoned mounts. Flying high above the battlefield, the battle-sorcerers of the Oasian Nobles rain divine judgment upon their enemies and, sometimes, may or may not destroy those they no longer have a need for or those who have slighted them.

Statting the Nobles

Aside from their statline below (Lesser, Average, Greater, Battle-Sorcerer or Sorcerer-Lord) which represent a gradient increase in overall noble power, potency and insanity each Noble is likely to have a semi-unique set of Gifts which extrapolate a mixture of personal skills and inherited transhuman legacy.

• All Nobles of Average or greater rank have at least Adept of the Gate. Battle-Sorcerers all have Adept of the Way and the Sorcerer-Lords have Adept of the Throne. There might be a few Greater Nobles who lack such a gift but then simple substitute it for a suitable Gift of the Words of Alacrity, Might, Endurance or Command to represent a lineage warrior-princes and generals who prefer to lead armies than use sorcery.
• All Nobles of Average or Greater rank have at least one Word bound to allow them some forms of Miracles.
• Quite a few, if not most Nobles are utterly immune to fire and heat. Of course, do keep in mind a Godbound of Fire can utterly bypass such resistance. This does give, however, a massive advantage when the Oasian fight on their own turf as they need not fear the environmental effects of the scorching desert. Augmented warriors can exist in the harshest of environments with almost no water or food, similar to the passive effect of the Desert Word.

Enemy	HD	AC	Atks	Dmg	Move	Morale	Saves	Effort	Actions
Augmented Warrior	3	5	+6	1d8+2	30’	11	14+	1	1
Lesser Noble	5	4	+8 x2	1d10+2	40’	8	13+	6	1
Noble	7	3	+10 x2	1d12+2	40’	8	12+	7	1
Greater Noble	9	3	+12 x2	1d8 Straight	40’ Fly	8	11+	8	1
Battle Sorcerer	12	3	Auto x2	1d10 Straight	40’ Fly	7	10+	9	2
Sorcerer Lord	14	3	Auto x2	1d12 Straight	40’ Fly	7	9+	10	2

The Gifts of the Oasian Nobles are quite varied and compared to the mechanical Boyar they tend to have a few more Gifts, as they tend to rely on flashy powers and their use of Effort when fighting something on their level of power. Lesser Nobles and above have at least two gifts, one rolled in each column.

D8	Combat Gift	Support Gift
1	Sirocco Sword	Firewalker
2	Nimbus Of Flame	All Directions As One
3	Firestorm	Heart Of The Lion
4	Omnipresent Reach	Veiled Step
5	The Seeking Flight	Sandshaper
6	Sunstrike	Shining Mirage
7	Searing Blade	Hope Of Dawn
8	Flesh Of Shifting Sand	Purity Of Brilliant Law

Oasian Names

Of course, none of these kind of posts are complete without an expansive list of names, which can be used for the posthuman nobles and their various near-human underclasses of servants and warriors alike. Oasian names naturally draw heavily upon Egyptian names with a slight fantasy bent.

OASIAN NAMES
D20	Male Names	Female Names	Nickname/Title
1	Ekhem	Katsiu	The Pure
2	Anen	Berner-Ib
3	Aftri	Nejet	The Flawless
4	Khufen	Tuaitthesit
5	Geb	Neferneshmt	The Fair
6	Arqur	Nerset
7	Baseka	Tiye	The Unfair
8	Heriabgher	Tamit
9	Ejed	Meritamun	Sun-Blessed
10	Bat	Sekhi
11	Netermest	Neferuntu	Sand-Touched
12	Thaparthal	Inhapi
13	Inaros	Mejed	Hand of the Storm
14	Semenre	Benerib
15	Minmose	Henutmire	The Destroyer
16	Djet	Iput
17	Bebnum	Kapes	The Magician
18	Khafra	Menhet
19	Menkhaure	Semat	The Motherless/Fatherless
20	Nectanebo	Khensa

Godbound: The Oasis States and their God-Kings, Part 2

The nobles of the Oasis States are cursed. Oh, sure, they are perhaps among those in Arcem who posses the most divine-level powers outside of abandoned and forgotten Made Gods, dread Parasite Gods and of course the Godbound but is it worth it? Centuries of inbreeding and flesh-shaping has corroded their form and metaphysical nature. Even those who appear as shining golden transhuman divinities of flawless perfection aren't so perfect if one was to look at them on the inside. Maybe not so much in their organs, these could very well be perfectly formed. The issue run deeper, at the cellular and metaphysical level.

Egyptian Alien by Samurai Icecandy.

Degraded Demiurges

As previously stated, it stand to reason the nobles of the Oasis States are very similar to the Ancalian cousins. However it is possible their curse is somewhat different, especially if they used their flesh-shaping theurgy to create something a little more stable than the Ancalian Fae. Those very same modifications could also be their undoing. Some speculation on their nature and flaws:

• The presumably enhanced lifespan of the Oasian nobles could be a double-edged sword and possibly make their problems worse as they get older. Assuming their augmented bodies remain at least partially suceptible to problems like we do they could see an increased risk of cancer. Given their augmented divine physiology this cancer could be even more horrific and deadly than in humans, requiring intensive modification and repair from flesh-shaping theurge...which could very well cause new physical problems.
• Their presumed enhanced healing and regeneration could, likewise, also become an issue. While initially Oasian nobles may have healed faster and better (and without scarring) there may exist a chance that instabilities cause the process to fail or regenerate defective organs, turning what would have been a long but flawless healing process into a nightmare as what should have been a fully functional regrown severed hand into a hideous stump of deformed flesh. The answer? Obviously, more flesh-shaping. Do you see the issue here?
• What of their enhanced mental abilities? It is hard to say, but perhaps these complex brains were designed to be optimized for the post-scarcity, posthuman society of the Polyarchy of Kham. It is possible they are not wired to interact and understand more 'normal' humans. It is also possible these modifications were failures even before the fall of Kham in which case the Oasian have been perpetuating the development and nurture of sick and demented brains.

Overall there is little proof in the 'canon' of Godbound that any of the augmentations of the Oasian nobles were seen as fully completed, tested and stable modifications. Rather what seems more likely is that these were highly experimental and volatile experiments of the human form, mind and nature which somehow survived and were kept in existence via inbreeding, with mistakes corrected by horrific and ill-understood procedures which only made things worse in the long run.

What's wrong with THIS Oasian Noble?

While the current God King and Queen are beings of immense power and beauty (and insanity!) not every Oasian Noble is identical to these two, which are likely the product of the most intensive theo-eugenic breeding. No two noble share the same flaws but some flaws certainly run in the family as a result of inbreeding. Of course, sometimes it's the opposite: two families only distantly related breed in hope of diversifying their bloodline while remain posthuman demigods only for their wildly incompatible bloodline to produce a viable yet horribly unstable offspring. Others still suffer degradation for breeding with those of lower stock, inheriting incomplete sequences of soul-genes. There's just no winning for the Oasian nobles. Except maybe seeking help from a Godbound, Parasite God or Made God with suitably potent power over the Word of Health and Sorcery.

D20	OASIAN INSTABILITY
1-2	Minor Physical
3-4	1d4 Minor Physical
5-6	Minor Mental
7-8	1d4 Minor Mental
9-10	Minor Physical+Minor Mental
11-12	1d6 Minor Physical
13-14	Major Physical
15-16	Major Mental
17	Minor Physical+Major Mental
18	Minor Mental+Major Physical
19	Major Physical+Major Mental
20	Aberration

MINOR INSTABILITIES
D8	PHYSICAL	MENTAL
1	Repulsive Appearance: Be it googly eyes, massive over/underbite, large ears and crooked teeth, this noble is quite ugly.	Irascible: Biochemical imbalances and/or minor physical problems have made the noble notably easy to tick off.
2	Constant Cough: In spite of being technically more resilient than any mortal human in other aspects this noble is afflicted with an inexplicable respiratory problem.	Melancholic: This noble is prone to intense melancholy, depression and sometimes apathy as they lament the flaws of their existence.
3	Partially Paralyzed Limb: One or more limb is stiff and/or shrunken and misshapen. Alternatively the noble has a fused spine which make turning their head difficult.	Jumbled Memories: Sometimes the wires get crossed in ways they shouldn’t and this Oasian Noble has a terrible habit of misremembering events which happened moments ago.
4	Partially Blind: Either one eye is missing or malfunctioning or alternatively this noble suffers from heavy cataracts. Alternatively they have alien senses which are poor at perceiving colors and movement.	Nervous Tic: Pulling their nose or ears. Grinding of teeth. Rapid eye movement. For whatever reason this Noble is afflicted with some nervous tic which can become nearly self-destructive when stressed.
5	Rapid Aging: The Oasian Noble appear in their fifties and beyond in spite of whatever their actual biological age is. This can be an issue as it mean they may spend experience a century or more of life as an ailing old person.	Lethargic: This Oasian Noble is notoriously tired and blasé even when they don’t want to be. Unless their attention is focused on a task they will either enter a trance or fall asleep for hours on end.
6	Stunted Growth: Rather than a towering being of wrath and beauty, this Oasian Noble is stunted and dwarfish by their standards, barely able to escape the five feet mark.	Mood Swings: One moment this Oasian Noble is happy and the next they are ordering their subordinates be flayed alive. They can’t spend more than a few minutes without a complete switch of emotional state.
7	Repulsive Odor: This noble has some glandular problems and constantly sweat a disgusting smell. Alternatively they reek of chemicals used to stabilize their health.	Wild Imagination: This Noble live in it’s own fairy tale of a head and their augmented brain spend most of its processing capacity dreaming up make believe words.
8	Skin Grafts: This noble has scars indicating that flesh-sculpting was used to repair or improve their appearance.	Intense Phobia: There is something utterly mundane this Oasian Noble is afraid of: a certain word, a certain color or maybe rabbits. They will scream and flee from it like a vampire exposed to sunlight, no matter how silly.

MAJOR INSTABILITIES
D6	PHYSICAL	MENTAL
1	Crippled Body: This Oasian Noble has a weak and deformed body which is virtually useless for anything but walking around with braces, relying on Theurgy, augmentations or something else to function.	Mad Genius: This Noble is extremely intelligent and creative yet unable to focus this talent on anything useful to their society. They could be insane, degenerate artists or they could be criminal genius.
2	Veiled Monster: Deformed and twisted, this noble hide behind baroque clothes, masks or even illusion magic as it’s twisted form reject even flesh-sculpting.	Pathetic: Unlike the above, this Oasian Noble is a feeble creature. It is pitiable, weak of spirit and of mind and only kept around either due to its power or familial ties.
3	Atavistic Monstrosity: Rather than looking like a being beyond humanity this creature is ugly and bestial, the worst and most primitive traits of human appearance having reasserted themselves.	Murderous: This Noble should never be offended or else it will become mad and violent and use all it’s power at its disposal to inflict as much harm as possible on the offender.
4	Overstimulated Augmentations: Whatever augmentations this Noble have are visible, exaggerated and even grotesque. They look less like a posthuman god and more like an Uncreated monster.	Obsessive: A single thing or subject consume the Oasian Noble’s mind. It could be something harmless, which make them a shut in or it could be disemboweling live kittens. Usually the latter.
5	Flesh Sculpting Addict: This Oasian Noble has over-relied on flesh sculpting to the point they look artificial and waxy in an attempt to perfect their appearance.	Disconnected From Humanity: This Oasian Noble has a hard time grasping the limitations of baser forms of humanity and cannot understand they are individuals.
6	Siamese Twins: These two-in-one nobles are conjoined twins. Twice the power and ego and twice the insanity.	Delusions of Godhood: Technically speaking, the Oasian Nobles are a form of posthuman divinity but this Noble takes it to a new extreme: they speak in third person, are ridiculously grandiose and obsessed with never showing sign of weakness or mortality.

D4	ABERRATION
1-2	Curse of the Cousins: This Oasian Noble suffer from a degeneration much like the Ancalian Cousins, requiring flesh blood and minds to replenish what their transhuman bodies can no longer produce.
2	The Crackles: Specialized Prana-Canals and other theurgic organs exist inside this Noble and suffer from a major defect in that the Noble may undergo spontaneous combustion when attempting massive feats of sorcery. Unfortunately for the noble, such events are not fatal...but painful.
3	Unstable Form: Beautiful and perfect on the outside, this Oasian Noble hide a terrible secret. When inflicted severe damage their flesh will revolt and twist in horrific ways as new limbs and organs sprout at random.