OOC: World Building

[{WW}BetaBloodWolf7]

Ah, so kinda like our rocket scientists, where they aren't known by the public but what they do affects everyone?

[ch00beh]

yeah basically. you talk to one and you're like "oh shit, you're a rocket scientist. i'm in awe"

but yeah, there will be some kind of fear of them, but if we go with the physical control of magic, ie through crystals, then simply have magic laws that are similar to weapon laws, so people can assume you won't evaporate them, unless you're concealing. Most mages, being under supervision of some entity, will probably be law abiding citizens.

[The Evil Biscuit]

I can agree with that. Magic as a science; a profession or a practice for educated people. There can be small-time magic; things ingrained in the cultures that everyone knows and learns at a young age.

[Hamuu]

oppps accidentally posted this in crystal part 2 lol

So reading what you guys are saying about the top world has given me a few ideas for the underworld. Also, what do you think about the name The Nexus for the underworld territory? I like it, but it’s kinda overdone… Think of something better please

Anyways, I like the idea that, as you get closer to the “bottom” of the world (that magical spot where the water suddenly shifts from under to over the world) magic becomes more concentrated. That would explain why top side fewer people learn magic and why there are crystals that are usually required. While bottom side the magic is more concentrated, hence why the tribe and the company use it about more widespread and it’s more common, (I see top side world 1 out of 30 are magically oriented while underside it’s more 1 in 5.) Also since they are closer to the “center”? they are born with the ability to manipulate the natural magic current. I also think that the tribes druid like people could be called Ecomancers while the companys magic users could be called Technomancers since they are full on magic and tech combine.

Also I like the idea that bottomsiders aren’t as strong topside because there’s less natural magic in the air (it’s concentrated in the naturally occurring crystal/whatever) so when bottomside mancers go top side they have to either suffice with less power or find and harvest some of this naturally occurring stuff.

What do we think?

[The Evil Biscuit]

Bulbs raises an important question: how do we have an aversion to chemistry and science and still have this widespread mining company spanning the Low Side with technology and mancers, etc.? What sort of tech level are we talking for this enterprise? Are they full-scale mining, refining, and processing? Or are they pickaxes and shovels, hoarding ore and selling raw materials to others to process?

[ch00beh]

that sounds good, bulbs, though i'm a little iffy on the nature vs tech fight. it seems so clean cut cliche. can't really think of anything better atm, tho.

anyway, like sorcery 101 is basically home ec. learn the basics of drawing power from a crystal and using runes/glyphs/symbols/gestures to do basic commands, like conjuring sparks to set tinder on fire. The higher level sorcery classes teach more complex symbols and gestures as well as abstract theory on how to combine them for more effect, kind of like calculus or data structures. Basically, people hate it not because it's dangerous but because it dropped their GPA.

i'm going to start tossing out random names for the entire world, the top side, the bottom side, or anything else you draw inspiration for: Mother, Skaia, the Float, Fred, the Ward, Weble, Matr, Funland, the Dominion, Endless, Clockward, idk.

[The Evil Biscuit]

The Desert will need a common name, too. I doubt anyone would be comfortable calling the Isayoshindika all the time.

[ch00beh]

The world will be called Vast. y/n?

The desert's common name can be something degrading and barbarian. Like the Sandland.

[Hamuu]

Ok I will have to do two posts. (stupid photobucket is pissing me off so I'm just going to do attachments.

First questions. The company is sorta high tech but only in specific areas. They still mine the "hard way" they do use conveyor belts to move ore around but those aren't massively advanced but do require at least one to two Technomancers to operate. They use hot air balloons to travel around. When they find a new chunk to mine they attach ropes to it that connect it to the balloon. This is when they use their most advanced bit of technology. They have a device that converts magic into propulsion. It can usually be operated by one technomancer but some chunks require a lot of these things to move so sometimes they have a whole team of technomancers powering several of these things. They also have a sort of mechanized trolley but it's for large loads of ore and if you were to use it as a car you'd be passed by people walking. (it's slow and massive)

They are however on the edge of a high-tech break through. They have experimented with putting these magic propulsion devices on frames with wheels for speed but they lose almost all ability to turn. They are also trying to develop some type of airship but there are lots of kinks to be worked out.

Their most commonly used device is called a Focus. It's a small rod with lots of wires sticking out of the end. They channel their technomancer abilities through this and it can be used as a multipurpose device. You could channel your magic into a whip, a sword, a dagger, and ax. You could do a short burst and use it like a tazer, or a big burst and use it like a cannon. It's mainly used in mining but a few people do purchase them for protection.

They are fairly self sufficient but because there isn't much area for them to grow crops or raise livestock they trade with the tribe for produce and the topsiders for meat (mostly in living livestock so it remains fresh until they get it to one of their slaughter farms.

As for the nature vs tech fight that was in the past and as of right now they are at a pretty nice mutual peace. Their still a long ways off from eventually assimilating each other though.

Also I like the term "the Endless" for the area beneath the world.

Ok, so the image I linked is kinda an idea I had for how this place looks. (based so far) The mountain range is in the center and, though I didn't draw it that way, i can totally see it extending longer. The water sphere and the clouds are there. I see it as the dense jungle growing really close to the interior which then fades into forests and then into the big desert. I know biscuit had some landmarks and such so those would need to be incorporated. I also don't picture it as perfectly round or oval, that's just how it came out cause I suck at drawing.

Attachments:

[The Evil Biscuit]

...you want us to live on and under a floating tostada.

jkjk

[ch00beh]

yeah that's the image i had. maybe there could be more than one landmass?

[Hamuu]

Alright, the top image is the side view of Vast in relation to its two suns. One sun is slightly higher while the other is pretty even, I’ll explain why I did this when I get to the seasons. I have a moon, which I think more than one moon is kinda ugh, but if you guys think we need more go for it.

I also think that the disc would should rotate, I think 36 hour days sound neat, so 36 hours for the world to make one complete turn.

Ok the seasons are on the second page. I did a top view this time. So I have a seven season year with six season’s total. The left side is the warmer seasons because the orbit is closer to this sun while the right side is the bigger orbit so it’s cooler. So let’s start in the middle. This is the worst kind of summer ever. A sun on either side means that there really is no night. It’s constant harsh sunlight. The only relief is in the wooded and jungle areas topside and bottom side has it a little better off because they are only getting direct sunlight from one sun. But it’s still supper hot.

Then the next season is just as hot because they are closer to the sun (but it’s only one son so now they get a night again. The way I have it set up is that the mountain (the big mutha with the water ball is large enough to cast a massive shadow over whatever is behind it. So as the disc rotates the mountain creates the night behind it. The moon creates random patches of darkness based on its location and the position of the sun at the time. During the warmer months the night is decided bottom side by the disc world itself, casting a little over half in darkness with a smaller portion getting daylight. So topside has shorter nights and bottomside has longer nights during the warm months.

Next is a spring like season, this is a heavy rain like season following 5ish months of intense heat. It’s a nice reprieve before they cross in-between the suns again.

Which is the next season which is the return of the summer of death and no night time again.

It then loops toward the other sun.

Which brings us to a fall like season. Because this sun is lower, the bottom side really doesn’t get a definite night through the next three seasons. Instead, the portions of the bottomside that are farthest from the sun get a kinda twilight like dusk.

Next is a winter like season. It’s also good to add, when Vast is orbiting this sun, that the top side has longer nights and like I already said the bottom side gets a twilight.

Then we go into another spring like season.

Which turns into summer of death. Repeat the whole process.

I think the year should begin and end in the middle of the death summer. I can see the monks having some type of dial on one of the mountains that twice a year lines up with both suns. The first time means end of year and beginning of the next, while the second time means that they are finally going to start heading towards the cooler season. I see the second time the dial lines up as being a festival like day since it marks the end of the horrible summer months. (minus the spring reprieve month.)

What ya think?

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[The Evil Biscuit]

Yeah I could see that. There's that rational bastard side of me that doesn't necessarily want to say 'no, that can't work as a planetary mass' but rather says 'okay, how DOES that work?'

I now want to devise the planetary physiology for a tostada-shaped landmass. It'll be another wtflong post.

[The Evil Biscuit]

Oh fuck Bulbs beat me to it

[Hamuu]

ooo, A large landmass with some smaller ones or even two sorta equal sized (or one could be bigger with a dawrf one) and some smaller ones, that would be interesting and cool.

[Hamuu]

Jun 12, 2010 13:08:01 GMT -5 The Evil Biscuit said:

Oh f*ck Bulbs beat me to it

Ha-Ha Ha-Ha Ha-Ha I made you eat your parents!

Wait... channeling wrong person...

[ch00beh]

Well, then I guess night is called "shade" then.

[Hamuu]

Does that mean you guys like it?

[ch00beh]

yeah. but it just sucks during the summer. how do they sleep?

[Hamuu]

In beds?

[{WW}BetaBloodWolf7]

Actually, what I think would be awesome would be orbiting landmasses. Islands revolving around continents or continents revolving around islands or somn like that. I think that that would be pretty cool.

[ch00beh]

i think that's basically the entire Endless area. rocks with fauna and vegetation floating about.

OR MAYBE

Endless isn't so endless.

[The Evil Biscuit]

Well, if that's the case, then why not make the planet round, and just shattered in the middle?

[ch00beh]

because round + shatter is getting too close to real, and then real physics would start applying.

volcano-land is supposed to be substantially smaller than people-land, too. I had the random idea of possibly making it some mystic place that no one has ever come back from, so it could be like the afterlife or the dreamworld or something.

So the lava falling to people-land would harden on its way in and constantly build more floating rocks or land mass or something. And any lava that was still hot would just become steam upon hitting the water falling the other direction, meaning the core would be perpetually foggy and have lots of raining rocks so no one would want/can't get past it.

[{WW}BetaBloodWolf7]

I think that there should be something in the middle region. This is only a rough draft, as I'm pressed for time. Let me know what you think.


Golaudrin

A race of small insect-like creatures that lives in the mists between the the two lands. They are ruled by the Tolt, a subspecies that grows into a much larger size and is able to carry things to and from either land. Regular Golaudrin are no smarter than average insects and they die if they stray too close to either land. Due to the dangers of the middle region, the Golaudrin are often carried away from it within the safety of the Tolt when the time comes to breed. In return, the swarms of Golaudrin protect the Tolt by ramming into any incoming rocks.

[ch00beh]

i agree that something should be in the middle region. Lee's mindf*ck horror thing might work here too.

I assume those insect dudes carry back or destroy any foreign object that tries to cross in either direction?

Also, I want to clarify that when I said there was mist in the middle, I didn't mean that it completely obscures the view. People on the water side can see dim fires of the other land mass.

Thinking of calling water side "Here" and the other side "Far."

on another note, I keep thinking about magic and how it's governed. There are multiple ways to channel the crystals in my mind:

• Glyphs/symbols - think FMA alchemy. You draw something out of basic command shapes that cause a crystal's magic energies to flow in a certain way, doing what you want. The most basic way to perform magic; pretty much everyone knows the basics. Drawing is done with pencil type dealios made from the crystal.
  
• Singing - A little more flexible in that you're not bound to a surface. Basically you harmonize with the crystal using your voice to direct the magical energies. Unless you're really good with your voice, though, your abilities are probably limited to simple spells.
  
• Willpower - Through sheer force of mind alone you can direct a crystal's magical energies. Lower levels of this will use incantations and/or movements to keep the mind focused. Experienced mages can just think really hard. Like really really really experienced.
  
• Movement - A mage can just physically move the crystal in certain patterns to perform spells.
  
• Body - requires you to ingest crystals regularly. Since the magic is now literally flowing through your veins, you can do more complex Movement commanded spells. Also, you can use your actual blood to perform magic, because blood magic is scary awesome.