Furry Writers Guild Weekly Pawmpt: #52

As this short essay is set in the universe of the Korps, I will be attaching my standard prelude/intro:

This is an unofficial, non-canon story set in the wonderful and terrible Korps universe authored by @korpspropaganda.bsky.social. I will forever be a hopeless fan-dog-girl for Karen and all the authors of the Monster Fucker Book Club. If you would like to understand more about this universe, you can read the Brief Korps Primer or read some of the AMAZING canonical stories from this universe over in the MFBC Korps Shared Story Timeline. Additionally, you may find more unofficial/non-canon tales like this one in the KEU Public Index. My own introduction to this universe was through @syntaxtakes.bsky.social’s amazing Redline’s Downfall Book 1: Induction. Though I would be remiss to mention the equivalently inspiring writing of @runafjord.bsky.social and her To Crack a Geode Book 1 and 2: Dissolution and Crystallization. Then I read @mabelgreysmoke.bsky.social’s Greysmoke Rising and my world fell apart as I was shown everything broken and wrong with how I’d survived into my 20’s. Damn relatable writing and characters… And so began this whole journey… Thank you all, especially to those I have not named here, for you will forever be a part of my queer identity. I commit all my future villainy in your honour.

There are names and characters in this story that may bear resemblance to people in real life. These characters are purely fictional and purely fantasy of my own abstract mind, please do not take any of the writing here as fair representation of these people.

Furry Writers Guild

Weekly Pawmpt

Week 52

Prompts were:

Describe a dangerous natural or super natural weather phenomenon in your world.

What’s the latest fashion trend in your world?

What is the largest being in your world?

Chosen Prompt:

Describe a dangerous natural or super natural weather phenomenon in your world.

In the dark ages, when the Mušḫuššu bared its fangs, when the Mušḫuššu lead the charge, there existed the Ardat-lilǐ to bring balance to the mortal realm. When the Nun An-ki-a, known more so to the commoners as the Mušḫuššu, breached this plane, it brought with it the infections of the arcane. Power, magic, and the strength to wield it; all poured through the rift torn by the Nun An-ki-a’s impressive draconic body as it clawed its way into this realm. Large enough was this rift, long enough was it open, that it changed the face of the mortal realm for the rest of history. Power was distributed unevenly, manifestations in undue times and places, magic in the hands of Nature, and those that would seek only to exploit it. In an attempt to regain control of their creation, the gods Anu, Enlil and Ereshkigal, charge of Heaven, Earth and Nether, combined their might to create the Ardat-lilǐ. These spirits took the power of the Heavens, the might of the grand Earth, and the forms of the Nether. In Anu’s name they would wield the power of the Heavens; in Enlil’s name they would roam the mortal realm in tangible; in Ereshkigal’s name they would be creatures of the night, their formic inspiration to Lilith, and would serve as charge of the underworld.

These Ardat-lilǐ were created for but a single purpose: ensure the balance of power. Ensure that the mana spilled forth from the rift between realms was not imbalanced to one side or another. To the ‘right’ or the ‘wrong’. To the ‘good’ or the ‘bad’. To the ‘righteous’ or the ‘damned’. At first, the Ardat-lilǐ were successful in their tasks - the impish demon spirits roaming the land to bring fortune where needed, and despair where required. Power was beginning to distribute, the land was beginning to heal. Then the Ardat-lilǐ caught eyes of the Nun An-ki-a - a being of pure power, and not of this realm. A true imbalance. The Ardat-lilǐ, already at war with the mortals of the realm, waged a holy war renewed against the Nun An-ki-a, whom modern sensibilities now know as ‘The Overlord’.

Stretching themselves thin, fighting a war on three fronts, the Ardat-lilǐ were defeated. Their bodies broken and their spirits banished back to Ereshkigal’s care. The magic of the mortals was used to seal away their forms, and prevent their spirits from wandering the mortal realm. The Ardat-lilǐ were suddenly without bodies, their spirits unable to leave the Nether realm. What the mortal magicians of the time did not understand, was that the Ardat-lilǐ were but of three boons - their power source that of the Heavens. Without the spirits or bodies to wield it, this power too was dispersed amongst the lands. It is this moment of defeat for the Ardat-lilǐ that modern historians attribute the rise of powered individuals. Creatures of many abilities, most of which violate the expected physicalities of our realm. Redline - a Wolf with the power to summon lightning, energy created far in excess of its harvest. Starshade - a Bunny with the power to teleport, to instantly relocate her own atomic structure with but a minor trade in energy. All gifts of the now-undirected powers bestowed upon the realm by the Heavens. Anu’s unintended boon to the many feathered, scaled, furred and skinned (or somewhere in between!) creatures of the mortal realm.

Not only could the sapient beings of this realm wield the power, so too could Mother Nature herself. Less directed, less focused than a mortal wielder, but none-the-less deadly with it. The elemental powers of the Heavens manifesting themselves in weather systems, geological events, and atmospheric effects - storms, brutal storms. Arcane storms swept the land. The power within them truly dwarfing. Lightning of scorching fire, hail of searing plasma, wind that would tear ephemeral rifts between realms. Storms that could consume mountains, leaving nothing but a trace of the gargantuan stone formations. Wars between realms were regular, as storm-surged demons would pour through the rifts and set to gorge themselves on mortal energies. Even with the powers bestowed upon the mortals, often a battle with the demon hordes was a losing one. The only saving grace for the mortal realm being the storm-born rifts closing over time as the membranes between realms would heal.

Over time, the Magicians and the Powered of the realm learnt to contain the storms. To predict where and when they would form, to redistribute the energy, to steal the storm’s wind. To dispel the storms before they even formed. This methodology was refined, enriched, imbued and enforced, systems of arcane power developed to control and regulate the flow of Heavenly energy across the realm. These systems were entrusted to runic enchantments, and buried within the foundational bedrock of our realm. Forever watching, forever active.

In the modern day, almost none are aware of these systems. Their automated prowess silently protecting the realm, unsupervised, unguided. But the system is not without flaws. Minor flaws in the runic enchantments, minor gaps in the web of shielding, and occasionally a storm builds - often not of the power or scale of ages past, but it can happen. It will happen. It is not a matter of if, but when. A storm of this magnitude would level cities. Entire countries could be decimated. Even with the superheroes and supervillains of the world working together, these storms would scar the very core of our society long before we could stop them. For every hero of this world, there lies a hundred hungry Demons, waiting to feast. We must understand these enchantments. We must understand how they work. It is our duty to the families of today and tomorrow, to ensure a safe Earth. To restrain the powers of Anu, to protect Mother Nature. Become an investor in StellarTek today! Our Arcana Research Division is at the forefront of modern understanding, and with your careful investment, we may very well find the whims of Mother Nature in our control.

(Insert here a StellarTek corporate logo and advertising piece. Imagine I have actually spent the time to photoshop up a very corny early 2000’s style logo for StellarTek, perhaps some sort of retro style Propaganda poster as well, saying something like “Apply to work for StellarTek today!” with a buxom tiger girl in a labcoat smiling at the viewer and holding some sort of beaker or test tube full of magenta liquid.)