Combined shard names.

[Firesong she/her]

1 hour ago, alder24 said:

Nitpicking time (sorry)  

Odium hasn't left his power on Sel, but let's just say he visited Sel again once he got freed from Roshar or something.

What's the Shard's name? Hatred + Dominion + Devotion = ? Tyranny for Odium + Dominion alone, but with Devotion what about Abuse? I think it "nicely" combines all 3 intents of Shards.

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sufficientlyadvanced

It says that it's dangerous to travel to Shadesmar on Sel. Why?

Brandon Sanderson

It has to do with the Dor and the lack of an entity controlling much of the power Odium left in his wake on Sel.

Phantine

Woah, that's interesting. I had no idea Odium left little bits of his power on Sel... I guess it kinda makes sense for evil monks to be powered by pure hate, though.

Brandon Sanderson

Odium did not leave his power behind, one should note. He left several other powers which are now, to a large extent, mindless...

Windrunner

If you wouldn't mind answering, does Roshar have a similar problem, with Honor being Splintered?

Brandon Sanderson

No, Roshar does not have the same problem. There are some differences going on. (One reason being that the spren are far more extensive on Roshar, and provide something of a "release valve." The seons and the skaze on Sel are not numerous enough to fulfill a similar function. Though, of course, that's only one part of the puzzle. Raw power is dangerous.

It's one reason everyone should be thankful Kelsier was around on Scadrial.

General Reddit 2013 (March 11, 2013)

 

Around as close by or literally a moat around the Tower is the perpendicularity? 

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I know Odium didn't, this is just assuming he did as I thought it would make a cool idea. Kind of like an alternate universe version where part of him broke off. 

the S with a triangle is an Sh. The alternate u I think of being close to a schwa. 

For the Perpendicularity, it is like, the tower is inside of it.  It is a pool which surrounds it. Also, note, the Tower isn't a literal building, just a beautiful cylinder of God Metal and gemstones which reflect light just so. 

On bonding, haven't really thought about that, maybe. I'll get back to you on that. The Primarily-Dominion ones would be a definite no, though. I would add the Devotion ones wouldn't like being forced to only serve one person, instead of serving the Shard by helping everyone that lives up to their high standards

Yes, the red moon is based on Mars with what made it red, with the iron oxide. 

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You can't just say "one is 2 km bigger" without giving us approximate sizes of those moons! Are they big and spherical like the Moon, or small and irregular like Phobos and Deimos of Mars? I was going to write a long explanation on why 2 big spherical moons are very unlikely to exist around a planet, especially on the same orbit, but the "2 km larger" made me think they're small and irregular. If that's the case then big plus for a planet with small non-spherical moons! If not, were those moons there before the Shard arrived?

The sizes large enough for a regular shape, but they are smaller than our moon. Thinking like, 450-500 km, maybe larger, but I don't think any larger than 1000 km. If that doesn't work I am fine with them being non-spherical so long as they appear at least nearly spherical from the surface. 

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Oh boy, that's complicated. Is the Greater Prayer the necessary ritual twice a day? And the Lesser Prayer isn't required at all or there is a number of Lesser Prayers you need to do a day? Are women basically doomed to sit in a bathtub all day? Is using a toilet also an impure act? Is pregnancy impure? What about medical procedures? Surgeries? Amputations? Contact with blood?

Yes, Greater Prayers are twice a day, Lesser Prayers are strongly recommended, but not absolutely required. The Splinters would probably not be too pleased if you completely neglect them, though. I would say they wouldn't consider pregnancy impure/unclean, but would consider childbirth as such. On contact with blood, I would say they would, as an expansion from their views on menstruation. Just a case of "touching blood is bad". 

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Oooo, from what time period?  

On time period, I am thinking rather early, not like, Ottoman Arquebuses (15-16th century), but like, mid-18th century. 

They would be allowed to make temples and shrines, yes. In fact, most houses have a room dedicated to prayer which is basically like a shrine or miniature temple. 

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But if the red moon has the Night, and green has the Day, does this mean that they only appear during night (red) and day (green)? That's not possible with a geostationary orbit, or an orbit that's a bit shorter than it. You would need to put them at L1 and L2 Lagrange points, but they are 1.5 mil km away from Earth. Or they both appear during both day and night but they just call it that way?

One the Day and Night thing, it is mostly them associating the Splinters with day or night. The Devotion ones mostly come out at day, the Dominion ones mostly come out at Night. So it is not due to the moons themselves only being visible at day or night. Another part is in how the Green Moon has a higher albedo, so even night feels brighter then when the other moon is over head, so they think of it as almost not being true night. 

I am not sure if I want day length to be longer or shorter than standard. I am currently leaning more towards 30 hour days, but the hour length is shorter, making it closer to around 26-27 hours. 

The Splinters would not be very open to visitors, no. They are a big reason behind the planet not being part of interplanetary trade and politics, it is just, a very defended planet. They are also aggressive towards foreigners who travel to it in the Physical Realm, as well, isolating it from the rest of the world. 

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Can one have his wishes granted by Su'aúrlimmu and deemed Devoted and still be killed by Su'arakalmin and deemed not Devoted enough at the same time?

I would say probably not, but maybe with certain people. If so, it would be a rather rare circumstance. 

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Just a thought that entered my mind quickly - because this Shard and world is focused on tyrannical zeal, how about something similar to extreme emotional allomancy when you burn it? When you burn it you can break into people around you and assume some kind of hemalurgic control over them, turning them into minions of yours, following you like you're a prophet (at least in terms of religious practice)? That's why it's desirable, but the Shard doesn't want to have any competition so he will hunt you down using Splinters. But I still haven't read more than the first section so I don't know how it fits with the rest.

I actually do like that idea, a form of mental control over people, would make it desirable by more tyrannical nations. (Also the Vessel is They/them, I used that intentionally. Wasn't just a placeholder)

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For what they're using those gems and metals? 

Basic things, tools and art. Like nations have done throughout history on Earth. 

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What about the ecosystem? Something unique or just Earth-like?

Relatively Earth-like, although the average humidity is higher, leading to the ecosystem being more focused around animals and plants evolved for higher humidity and warm temperatures. I imagine like, Cisandean South America. Also, animals are not expected to worship the Shard, they are considered to unintelligent to be expected to. They do, however, expect them to stay away from the Tower, so they will kill any that get nearby. This has lead to them all just, basically evolving to inherently know to stay away. 

Not the biggest fan of Abuse as the name of the Shard, but they are rather abusive, yeah. So it is at least relatively accurate. 

Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed it. It is fun to do more over-the-top worldbuildlng for a change. Past year I have been doing extremely down to Earth worldbuilding as in literally talking about the economy, politics, prehistoric migrations, and historical genetics. So, this was a nice change of pace. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Firesong

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

12 hours ago, Firesong said:

Shard:

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The Shard is a fusion of Devotion and Dominion, with some bits of Odium from when Odium attacked them and accidently left some parts of himself there, which suffused them. 

It manifests through a extremely forceful and tyrannical enforcement of worship and Devotion. Punishing any of those that are not properly Devoted (basically a mix of Dominion and Odium). The Vessel of this Shard is extremely violent and seeks expansion of its power through faith. 

It rewards those that are Devoted, both with direct rewards, and with a reward of a very deep euphoria (Odium). 

Overall, the fragments of Odium take the form of both passion and euphoria, and a hatred for anyone who falls short of their expectations. 

It was picked up by a major religious leader who began with good intentions, believing that they had to help lead mankind to greater wisdom and salvation. Due to Sel being too corrupted by war and hatred, they took their followers and anyone who would listen to another planet, this being Munsašagar, in order to start anew. However, over time, they became corrupted by the Shard and began to see themselves as the only true God, and became increasingly more violent and totalitarian. This corruption was not out of nowhere, as they always had issues of megalomania and dissatisfaction with how people didn't show them the respect that they thought they deserved.  They used to be a truly good person who just had a few vices that they didn't let control them, but very quickly had these vices exacerbated and made to consume them, turning them into a monster.  

They have manifested a massive tower of God Metal and crystal on the planet, which became a centre of devotion and worship to the people. Around the tower is the Perpendicularity. This tower is seen as a very good source of Investiture and God Metal. However, the Splinters are extremely protective of it and will kill anyone who tries to touch it, even moreso those that would try and take metal from it. (Not sure what the effect would be for a Devotion + Dominion + a bit of Odium Metal would do, you can give ideas, but just assume it is something very good and desirable) The protectiveness they have over the tower and the Perpendicularity also makes it very difficult to travel to and from the planet. 

They hate all other Shards in the cosmere, and have a wish to Splinter all of them. They, however, are debating between if they just want to kill them, or if they want to fuse together in order to become an even greater deity than before. 

Astronomy:

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It is one planet which is around 1.25992x Standard Cosmere size, with 1.114689927272x the gravity. It is around 60% water, and is made up of three primary continents. It is named Munsašagar. It is rather warm and humid on average, and is covered in forests and jungles. There are several large cave systems spread across the planet, many of which are interconnected. These cave systems are exploited by the people to gather various gems and precious metals. 

It is orbited by two moons which are tidally locked with the planet on directly opposite sides of the planet. These are almost geostationary, but have an orbit ever so slightly faster than the rotation of the planet. They are both very close to each other in size and mass, with one only being around 2.3 kilometres larger in radius. 

One moon is covered in iron oxide, giving it a red colour. This moon is known as Pešyammu

The other is green due to a layer of Chromium(III) oxide. It also has various large veins of cuprorivaite, giving a blue colour stretching across the moon. It has a somewhat higher albedo than that of the crimson moon. It is known as Pešyakalmin. It is around 2.3 kilometres larger than Pešyammu, the difference in size is not noticeable from the surface of the planet, and thus people assume they are the same size. 

There are eight other planets in the system. Culturally, each one is associated with one of the virtues of their god. Immutability, Mercy, Justice, Wisdom, Guidance, Radiance/Beauty, Goodness, and Immateriality. None of these other planets are habitable, with the only other planet inside the habitable zone, Mercy, lacks an atmosphere required for life. Evidence shows that it did, however, have an atmosphere and ecosystem some time in the relatively recent past, around 3,500 years ago. This planet was, in fact, the Shardworld of Mercy, the source of the planet's association with Mercy came from this. Mercy was Splintered there by the new Shard, and the atmosphere was stripped away. This was actually an accident, and they intended to inhabit the planet themselves. It was due to this that they inhabited Munsašagar instead. 

Splinters:

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There are two main types of Splinters on the planet, those with more Devotion than Dominion, and Vice Versa.

Devotion:

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The Devotion-focused ones travel around and reward those who properly worship the Shard, showing great amounts of love and devotion, and following their precepts. These are very kind to those that are deemed as proper worshippers, and can grant their wishes (rather small scale wishes, that is). They can grant food or money, heal you from incurable diseases, change your body to match your Cognitive Ideal, etc. 

They are known as the Su'aúrlimmu (sing) or Su'aúrlimmani (pl.). 

In shape, they are vaguely humanoid, but appear to be made out of light and not have the clearest of features, except for the eyes, which seem to glow even brighter than the rest of the body, looking into the eyes brings a sense of serenity and euphoria to those that are devoted, but one of shame to those that fall short. Like the moon of Devotion they are green with blue-marble-like patterns that cover them, and constantly shift and reform. If you focus, some of the patterns can appear vaguely like several geographic features, but it can be hard to make out. 

They are rather kind and respectful to whoever they approach, but they are quite dismissive and even aggressive to those that approach them that they deem unworthy. When upset like this, they appear to almost suck in light, but this state quickly passes. They also never act out in aggression in the form of verbal attacks or physical violence. They simply speak of how lowly they are and how they must turn their life around and turn to the Shard, lest they be punished. Even if they are directly attacked, they tend to not act out in violence, but just show even greater judgmental disappointment and sorrow. 

They have every right to turn down a wish if they deem it too immoral. 

They speak in a very musical and harmonious manner, to the rhythm of the Shard from which they were cut. When they give a blessing to you, you can hear the Pure Tone of the Shard. 

The Dominion aspect of them is in how they essentially control people by forcing them to be devoted to the Shard, and feel angry whenever someone does not properly obey. But, for Devotion, they obey those that properly obey them, by granting wishes and showing kindness.  

Dominion:

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The Dominion-focused ones punish those that are not devoted enough, typically through killing them. The people who live on the planet greatly fear these, always worrying that they would be chosen next.  But they respect their decisions as they believe that they are intelligent and make worthy and correct decisions in who they decide is not loyal enough. This leads them to not mourn the deaths of those killed by them, but consider the victims to have "deserved it". 

They are known as the Su'arakalmin (sing), or Su'arakalmani (pl.).

They appear black and red, and also appear humanoid like the Su'aúrlimmani, but their features are even harder to make out. That is, except for pure crimson eyes and a wide jaw full of jagged fangs, and their hands are less like hands, and more like weapons of mass destruction, with the fingers being like massive claws or knives. Looking into their eyes causes a deep sense of fear to all that see them, but the panic is even greater in those that are their targets. They seem to absorb and warp light around them. They have touches of a radiant golden colour which appears and disappears in various chaotic patterns.  

They are very aggressive and almost animalistic. They move quickly and hunt primarily and night. When they see a target, they let out an animalistic howl and quickly sprint towards them in order to kill them with their fangs and claws, attacking with such brutality that the result is barely recognizable as human. This destruction of the human form into something unrecognizable and base is meant as a commentary, expressing that their lack of devotion makes them something less than human. 

They can convert between physical and incorporeal at will. Thus they can interact physically, and can also pass through walls with ease, and also let weapons pass through their body. 

While they appear animalistic, they are rather intelligent and have their own civilization in the Cognitive realm. 

They appear every day, but are most notable when the respective moon is visible in the sky. When the red moon is visible, it is the Night of Dominion (Akalmin Hášal mušaa), when it is the green moon, it is the Day of Devotion (Ulimmu Išinu mušaa). 

Relationship between the two types of Splinters are tense, they both acknowledge how necessary each other are. But at the same time don't want to interact with one another. They thus make civilizations on the Subastrals of their respective moons. This is the reason for them appearing in largest numbers in areas their moon is over, as it makes them closest to the area in question, thus less of a distance to travel. 

Languages:

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There are only two primary language families on the planet, due to the relative age of mankind's arrival on the planet not allowing for the development of a large amount of primary families. 

The largest of the families is typically Ergative-Absolutive and VSO, with a tendency towards agglutination. This family itself is separated into two primary branches, which are each separated into four sub-families each, which are each split into eight languages. This makes for 56 languages in the family. The level of symmetry is very notable, and has been a point of much curiosity by linguists due to natural linguistic drift never producing such order and symmetry. It is theorized that there was some direct hand in the way the languages developed. 

The other family is organized in the same manner, with two primary branches, with four subfamilies, with eight languages each. 

Culture:

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Culture varies greatly all over the planet, but they all have rather similar views on various subjects due to the intervention of the Shard, and based on the cultural substratum left by their ancestors which migrated to the planet. 

They feel they must worship the Shard in a complex prayer ritual twice a day, and that twice a year they must go on a pilgrimage to the Tower. Which they must circumambulate 16 times clockwise, and 16 times counter-clockwise, all while uttering prayers. They must not touch the Perpendicularity or tower itself,  as they are all too unclean to be allowed to touch it. They must fast on the day of ritual, and must clean their body 16 times, purifying body and soul before they approach the most holy of grounds. 

The Greater Prayer ritual requires one clean their full body twice, and they must pray in the direction of the Tower, which they believe makes the prayer go to their God. It is like conduit which takes in the prayers, and sends them straight to their god. They show a degree of Realmatic-awareness, believing the Tower to be a part of the Shard's body. 

Lesser Prayer, that which one does without complex rituals, one does not need to wash twice for fully immure themselves, they only must wash their hands and arms, and their face for 16 seconds each. They also still must face the Tower when doing their prayer. It is suggested that one do several Lesser Prayers a day, beyond the two obligatory Greater Prayers. However, if one does an impure act before it (within seven days), such as contact with death, menstruation, childbirth, interacting with someone who was later slain by a Su'arakalmin, intercourse, or various things that I cannot exactly go into detail on here, (You can assume what I mean, and yes, they are rather strict and judgmental) one must do a full ritual purification before even a Lesser Prayer. 

They feel that the killings by the Su'arakalmani are not just necessary, but justified and morally good. They claim all those killed by them fully deserved it and were evil people. Those killed by them are remembered as evil people until they fade away from memory over time. When a criminal is apprehended, they are not locked in a normal prison, but are instead chained to a stake outside of city limits, to be given as a sacrifice to the Su'arakalmani. If they survive for 3 days, they are deemed as being chosen to survive by the Su'arakalmani, and thus are let go. 

They have developed various forms of guns, however, these are used primarily in hunting rather than combat, and thus they are modeled primarily for hunting. 

The Tower is used as the point-zero of their coordinate system, being the point at 0 degrees, thus it is on the equator and prime meridian. Many maps, especially more artistic and religious ones, are molded in order to show it as the centre of the world, think the Bunting Clover Leaf map. This comes from how they do truly think that it is the centre of the world, they further believe that it is the metaphysical centre of the universe as a whole (different from a physical centre). 

The leaders of nations must be chosen by the Shard and its Splinters, one not chosen by them, and one who is not fully devoted, is not allowed to rule. Due to them all working for the same entity, fighting between nations is actually very minimal. 

Inspirations:

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If you are wondering if I based a lot of the prayer rituals, and the circumambulation of the Tower, on Islamic Salat and the Kaaba, I did. I felt it was a good example of strong devotion, and felt that it would make sense in the world I created that they would see the Tower in a similar sort of light. The self-washing was based on things like Tevilah, Tsukubai, and Ghusl.

The language I heavily based upon Sumerian, as I like the feel of the language, and also didn't exactly feel like making my own phonetic inventory from the ground up. I know how to do it, I just felt it wouldn't be important as I am not building every language, so just making one with certain vibes works. 

The multiple coloured moons were mostly based on Lumar and Roshar. 

 

I am absolutely in awe of this entire thing. The worldbuilding is explicit and incredibly well thought-out, not to mention detailed to an extraordinary degree. I love how creative it all is, with the combination of Devotion, Dominion, and Odium turning into a religiously fanatical tyrant and the entire world being built around that foundation. The languages weren't as explicit, but the fact that you even thought to mention them and come up with names and meanings was insane. I also can't even begin to pronounce the words, my mouth just kinda fumbles and then stops working when I do, which makes it so much more fun.

The modeling of the religion after Abrahamic traditions and Islam especially was a great touch, describing their religious practices in such detail fleshed the world out so much more. The Splinters were excellent too. I wonder what bonding them would do, even if their nature means they'd never actually bond someone. And, as Alder mentioned, what are the magic systems of this planet?

You didn't give a name for the Shard, and Alder's suggestion of Abuse doesn't ring right for me, especially with all the religious iconography in this one. Maybe Supremacy, or Authority? Dominion + Odium = Tyranny, then Tyranny + Devotion = Authority, Supremacy, or Sovereignty.

Also loved the little hint that the Shard is so powerful they accidentally Splintered Mercy just by trying to Invest in the same world.

 

[alder24]

8 hours ago, Firesong said:

I know Odium didn't, this is just assuming he did as I thought it would make a cool idea. Kind of like an alternate universe version where part of him broke off. 

That's fine. Alternate Cosmere sounds fun. Anyone wants to remake known Shards?  

8 hours ago, Firesong said:

the S with a triangle is an Sh. The alternate u I think of being close to a schwa. 

I get s, u not so much. Let's say it's German or Polish u, which I can pronounce.

Ohhh, schwa as ə. Get it, kind of. 

8 hours ago, Firesong said:

For the Perpendicularity, it is like, the tower is inside of it.  It is a pool which surrounds it. Also, note, the Tower isn't a literal building, just a beautiful cylinder of God Metal and gemstones which reflect light just so. 

Oh I thought the Tower is like Urithiru, with corridors inside. How big is the Tower? But the perpendicularity being like a moat is a fun idea.

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

On bonding, haven't really thought about that, maybe. I'll get back to you on that. The Primarily-Dominion ones would be a definite no, though. I would add the Devotion ones wouldn't like being forced to only serve one person, instead of serving the Shard by helping everyone that lives up to their high standards

Maybe some kind of force bond?

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

The sizes large enough for a regular shape, but they are smaller than our moon. Thinking like, 450-500 km, maybe larger, but I don't think any larger than 1000 km. If that doesn't work I am fine with them being non-spherical so long as they appear at least nearly spherical from the surface. 

That's big. It would be improbable for a rocky planet to have 2 spherical moons that big and impossible to have them on the same orbit. For rocky planets moons are formed either through collision events and subsequent accretion of debris or orbital capture. Once the first moon is formed, it's very unlikely for the second to be formed from the same debris field and remain stable in orbit, not to mention any later impact events, as the already existing moon would disturb any formation of another moon, making debris either collide with itself or with a planet. Capturing another big moon is also very unlikely to happen, as it wouldn't be able to find a close stable orbit and would be flung out by gravity. Rocky planets like Earth are too light in mass to have several massive moons around them. 

But this is a fantasy. We have a canon planet with 12 moons hanging 300 km from the surface, I made an unrealistic ring system, you can have fun with 2 moons. At least they're not like the Moon. I'm just nitpicking  

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

I am not sure if I want day length to be longer or shorter than standard. I am currently leaning more towards 30 hour days, but the hour length is shorter, making it closer to around 26-27 hours. 

Now I can do the math! So exciting!  

But I have to ask first, was my calculated planet mass accurate?

Assuming the day is 26h long, and my mass was good, your planet's geostationary orbit would be around 46000 km away from its surface (Earth's is around 36000 km). That means that moons on this orbit, with a radius of 500 km, would have an angular size of 1.249 degree, our Moon has the angular size of 0.51 degree. That means your moons are almost 2.5 times larger in the sky than our Moon. That's fine. Calculating more to determinate if 2.3 km difference in radius would be visible, the difference in angular size between larger and smaller moon would be only 0.0057 degree, comparing it to our Moon on closest and furthest point in its orbit, its angular size changes by 0.058 degree and it's almost impossible to see that difference with the naked eye. Your being 10x smaller than that would mean that people would indeed perceive those moons as having the same size.

If your moons have a radius of 1000 km, their angular size would be 2.5 degree, almost 5x larger than our Moon.

Sooo satisfying  Thanks for numbers.

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

On time period, I am thinking rather early, not like, Ottoman Arquebuses (15-16th century), but like, mid-18th century. 

Good, close to the Napoleonic period. Bayonets are fun.

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

One the Day and Night thing, it is mostly them associating the Splinters with day or night. The Devotion ones mostly come out at day, the Dominion ones mostly come out at Night. So it is not due to the moons themselves only being visible at day or night. Another part is in how the Green Moon has a higher albedo, so even night feels brighter then when the other moon is over head, so they think of it as almost not being true night. 

That clears things out. What happens during the solar eclipse? If your planet is with the same star as the Sun, at the same distance as Earth, orbiting in the same plain, there would be total solar eclipses. If the Green Moon eclipses the sun, would it be dark enough for Dominion’s Splinters to appear? Or because it's below the Green Moon they wouldn't?

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

The Splinters would not be very open to visitors, no. They are a big reason behind the planet not being part of interplanetary trade and politics, it is just, a very defended planet. They are also aggressive towards foreigners who travel to it in the Physical Realm, as well, isolating it from the rest of the world. 

How do they look in CR? Like humans? Do they use weapons there or have claws there too?

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

I would say probably not, but maybe with certain people. If so, it would be a rather rare circumstance. 

I'm asking because spren can have different opinions on the same topic (like Honorspren about bonding) so do your Splinters determine who's worthy based on their individual perception or Shard's perception or people's own perception about themselves. If only Splinter's perception matters, 2 Splinters can disagree on what being Devoted means.

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

Basic things, tools and art. Like nations have done throughout history on Earth. 

If they do temples and shrines, do they make them out of gems and precious metals to make them look like the Tower?

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

Also, animals are not expected to worship the Shard, they are considered to unintelligent to be expected to. They do, however, expect them to stay away from the Tower, so they will kill any that get nearby. This has lead to them all just, basically evolving to inherently know to stay away. 

I was going to ask about those things.

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

Not the biggest fan of Abuse as the name of the Shard, but they are rather abusive, yeah. So it is at least relatively accurate. 

Yeah, it doesn't give any religious vibes.

9 hours ago, Firesong said:

Past year I have been doing extremely down to Earth worldbuilding as in literally talking about the economy, politics, prehistoric migrations, and historical genetics.

That's still fun! 

 

2 hours ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

I also can't even begin to pronounce the words, my mouth just kinda fumbles and then stops working when I do, which makes it so much more fun.

You should try to pronounce some Polish words: chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie (the beetle sounds in the reeds - it loses its charm after translation)

2 hours ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

Maybe Supremacy, or Authority? Dominion + Odium = Tyranny, then Tyranny + Devotion = Authority, Supremacy, or Sovereignty.

Those fits for Dominion and Odium but for me don't represent Devotion. It's hard.

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

 

16 minutes ago, alder24 said:

Those fits for Dominion and Odium but for me don't represent Devotion. It's hard.

True. I don't think there are any words that encapsulate totalitarianism but also denote devotion of some kind in the way Devotion is meant to be represented, so in my head, I'm rationalizing it this way: Dominion doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, so really it's just Odium and Devotion balancing each other out, with Dominion making their theme center around control. Under that, something like Supremacy or Sovereignty kinda works, in a way that also lines up with what's going on on their planet.

[alder24]

12 minutes ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

True. I don't think there are any words that encapsulate totalitarianism but also denote devotion of some kind in the way Devotion is meant to be represented, so in my head, I'm rationalizing it this way: Dominion doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, so really it's just Odium and Devotion balancing each other out, with Dominion making their theme center around control. Under that, something like Supremacy or Sovereignty kinda works, in a way that also lines up with what's going on on their planet.

How about the other way? Devotion and Odium being Passion and you add Dominion to it to make Passionate Control or something.

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

39 minutes ago, alder24 said:

How about the other way? Devotion and Odium being Passion and you add Dominion to it to make Passionate Control or something.

I can't think of anything that has connotations of passion and control, the best I can come up with is Ascendency, Autocracy, or Majesty, but I'm not sure if they fit

[Firesong she/her]

I have some ideas for new worlds, let me give some ideas and yous can choose which you want me to work on.

• Cultivation + Ruin
• Honor + Odium
• Honor + Dominion
• Invention
• The Shard of Annoying Persistence (All of those damn bots manifested as a Shard) [joke]

While I don't have any ideas for these, I am interested to see how these would work:

• Whimsy + Honor 
• Whimsy + Ruin
• Virtuosity + Invention
• Whimsy + Odium
• Odium + Devotion (might just be like, Zeal)

There are basically 120 different Double Shards, 240 if they all have two manifestations like Harmony. 65,535 if you count any combination of n-shards, this is under the assumption that (Preservation + Ruin) + Autonomy would be the same as (Ruin + Autonomy) + Preservation. I am not sure exactly would to do the math for it if the order matters. The number would become pretty extreme. But regardless, there are so many different ways that Shards can combine. 

Maybe to include order would be like, ((120 * 14) * 13!), which would be 1.0461394944×10^13. Actually, no, it can simply be thought of as an ordered string of 16 values, which would be 2.0922789888*10^13 for 16, and when you sum up all of them, 5.6874039553×10^13 total combined Shards (you have to subtract 120 as this does also order the first two shards, but those two should be an unordered set). I did not check for if there is an Unbalanced form of every one. So, a lot of different ones possible.

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

2 hours ago, Firesong said:

I have some ideas for new worlds, let me give some ideas and yous can choose which you want me to work on.

• Cultivation + Ruin
• Honor + Odium
• Honor + Dominion
• Invention
• The Shard of Annoying Persistence (All of those damn bots manifested as a Shard) [joke]

I'm most interested in Cultivation+Ruin, Honor+Odium and Honor+Dominion seem like they'd be more militaristic Shards, and we've seen some of that already.

2 hours ago, Firesong said:

While I don't have any ideas for these, I am interested to see how these would work:

• Whimsy + Honor 
• Whimsy + Ruin
• Virtuosity + Invention
• Whimsy + Odium
• Odium + Devotion (might just be like, Zeal)

I can't remember if it was Whimsy+Ruin or Whimsy+Odium, but that one's been done on the first page, we called it Sadism. Zeal was done too, though I don't recall if it was specifically Odium+Devotion. They're interesting avenues to explore, Whimsy+Honor especially.

2 hours ago, Firesong said:

There are basically 120 different Double Shards, 240 if they all have two manifestations like Harmony. 65,535 if you count any combination of n-shards, this is under the assumption that (Preservation + Ruin) + Autonomy would be the same as (Ruin + Autonomy) + Preservation. I am not sure exactly would to do the math for it if the order matters. The number would become pretty extreme. But regardless, there are so many different ways that Shards can combine. 

Maybe to include order would be like, ((120 * 14) * 13!), which would be 1.0461394944×10^13. Actually, no, it can simply be thought of as an ordered string of 16 values, which would be 2.0922789888*10^13 for 16, and when you sum up all of them, 5.6874039553×10^13 total combined Shards (you have to subtract 120 as this does also order the first two shards, but those two should be an unordered set). I did not check for if there is an Unbalanced form of every one. So, a lot of different ones possible.

Lovely maths, always a delight to calculate.

[Firesong she/her]

30 minutes ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

I'm most interested in Cultivation+Ruin, Honor+Odium and Honor+Dominion seem like they'd be more militaristic Shards, and we've seen some of that already.

I can't remember if it was Whimsy+Ruin or Whimsy+Odium, but that one's been done on the first page, we called it Sadism. Zeal was done too, though I don't recall if it was specifically Odium+Devotion. They're interesting avenues to explore, Whimsy+Honor especially.

Lovely maths, always a delight to calculate.

I think I found out the number for unbalanced Shards.

2.2598099578*10^18. Got this by doing the normal formula, but multiplied each summed value by the summation of the amount of possible subsets of a set with cardinality n from 2 to n. So like, 4 is 11 due to having 6 sets of 2, 4 sets of 3, and 1 set of 4. This does it so that like, when we check or how many Shards exist that are made up of 4 shards, we will multiply each by 11 due to there being 11 different ways it can be unbalanced. 

If sets are not ordered, so as I said, (Ruin + Autonomy) + Preservation is the same as (Preservation + Ruin) + Autonomy, then this number is far less, at 42,456,897. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Firesong

[Firesong she/her]

Ruin + Cultivation

Spoiler

Shard

Spoiler

Ruin and Cultivation combined together into one Shard. 

It brings forth both growth and decay in an eternal cycle, encouraging people to grow and change, and for society to develop, but it opposes them growing too much, for when they grow too much, disaster strikes and sends them back into prehistoric development and the death of much of their population. The Shard itself holds no malice and has no wish for people to suffer, she simply believes that change, both positive and negative, should be encouraged and pushed forth. That the status quo, when it stays for too long, is an inherent evil. 

The people call both the Shard and the cycle that it brings forth Tlaakala, or The Great Wheel, The Great Cycle, or The Great Circle but often to differentiate them they will call her Citlaton'Tlaakala, Spinner (f.) of the Great Wheel. Of course, different cultures and languages have different names, this is just the one I am choosing to share.

God Metal

Spoiler

Her God Metal exhibits strange behavior, wherein it forms rust and begins to fall apart, and then pulls itself back together into the original state.

This, however, is only observed when the metal is not under great heat and pressure, when it is in such a state, such as under large amounts of earth, it stays in a stable state. This cycle uses energy in order to bring forth the stage, and pull itself back together, but it is not a source of infinite energy. This is due to the fact that it the energy is made from a conversion of small amounts of the metal into heat that it radiates outward, light that is also radiated outward, and energy that it uses to bring it back together (this is just due to the fact that the efficiency of reformation is not perfect, and therefore part of the energy is released as light and heat). Thus, it slowly decays over time. It has a half-life of around 500 years (period pending). The rate of decay, however, is dependent upon various factors such as the local gravity, and the density of the atmosphere, as these would increase the energy required in order to pull itself back together. However, in most cases, the difference is negligible. 

This decay is a result of both the Intent of Ruin, and with the Metal's own metaphysical conflict with itself, one calling for growth while the other calls for decay, causing it to be unstable. Like Harmonium, it also reacts when it interacts with water, but the reaction is much slower and less intense. It does release heat in an exothermic reaction and produce hydrogen gas, but it does not explode, and the reaction is slow and mild enough that you can use it allomantically. However, touching it for too long during this reaction (especially to sensitive areas such as the tongue) will cause burns. 

The metal is rather soft, around 2.3-2.4 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, and thus you can scratch at it with your nail. However, it has a rather high compressive strength. It also conducts electricity rather well, but due to its instability, it cannot be used in wires. 

Its colour is close to a silver-gold or gold-platinum, with a slightly (but easily noticeable) green tint. 

I have not thought about what to make it do when burned. 

Splinters:

Spoiler

Her Splinters look like Terrispeople, with their long and lanky builds, and their ear lobes expanded into large loops; but they are made not out of flesh, but out of green, black, and red vines covered in gnarly thorns. Almost like a person skinned, revealing only their muscles, but the vines are far more chaotic and less orderly than muscle fibres. The vines making up their feet seem to meld into the ground, and whenever they put their hands against something natural, their hands and fingers do the same.

These Splinters are made to bring forth the Cycle. Both helping them advance (rather indirectly), and bringing them to destruction (more directly). 

They do not act out of malice, but out of a genuine belief that this is what is best for humanity, and that it is a reflection of the true nature of nature and reality. 

They have societies in the Cognitive Realm, which are notable for practicing Slash-and-burn agriculture, a perfect reflection of their views on reality. Both nurturing and destructive, but with the destruction being done to nurture a new generation. 

Various parts of their society are based on Terris culture, as a reflection of the Vessel holding the Shard, and as a reflection of the ancestors of the people living on the planet.  

She does not mind visitors to her planet, even if she does hate how much they reject the inevitability of societal collapse and a return to their fundamental roots. When people come, she in fact tries to convince them to stay and adopt the way of life of the people of her planet. However, most reject her offer. She lets them use her planet for resources so long as they do not bring any people with them, nor give them knowledge and technology to let them advance too far. 

My ideas for a name, Ewige Wiederkunft, Samsara, Eternity, Recurrence, etc. 

History: (I abandoned this backstory as it just didn't work out in the timeline at all, even if I try fudging it a bit it is still really off. Left it here for you all to read anyway)

Spoiler

She used to be a Terriswoman who knew about Preservation, and deeply hated him for how much he kept the status quo. She believed that he was responsible for all the suffering she and her people went through under Rashek, as not only did Rashek gain his political and magical power through contact with Preservation, but Preservation fully supported it just due to the fact that it was the Status Quo. Thus, she called for an end to the system, and a change to come. This left her rather ideologically aligned with Ruin, and showed bits of Cultivation. 

She eventually fled from Scadrial, and came across Roshar. Where she immediately felt a deep connection to Cultivation, as she too was a force of change. She came to the Nightwatcher, who, despite her usual reticence around worldhoppers,  offered her Nightblood, as she did to Dalinar in the past. She accepted the blade, feeling the Ruinous influence upon it.  

With the blade, she managed to slay Cultivation and take up the Shard herself. 

 

 

Astronomy:

Spoiler

Main Planet (Ixatluni'dla):

Spoiler

Ixatluni'dla (I-sha-tɬun-iʔ-ɮa), often shortened to Ishach, is mostly wind-swept, grassy plains with a somewhat dry air. These plains are broken up by mountain ranges, which cast rainshadows that bring forth the relative dryness of the land. Some of these mountains have more humid areas on the opposite side, where they collect large amounts of the humidity in the air, and thus get the majority of the rain. The shadows of these mountains are never blocked from so much rain as to become deserts. 

Plants on this planet grow quickly, but also die and rot away quickly. 

The planet lacks major oceans, instead, it has large in-land seas. The largest is around 1.3x the size of the Caspian Sea. These seas form in various deep basins where water from mountains can collect over time. Due to the lack of oceans, they don't think of continents in the same way that we do, they don't even think of them at all. All that matters to them is the area that they are living in in the present. What is far out, hundreds of miles outside of their territory, doesn't matter to them. 

The size of the planet is around 1.05946x cosmere standard, with a gravity around 1.079-1.1x cosmere standard. The iron-rich core of the planet is somewhat larger than that of Earth. This contributes to an overall greater density. 

Moon:

Spoiler

The planet has one moon, which is a purple colour. It has a quick orbit around the planet, doing around 2.1 orbits a day. It is somewhat smaller than our own moon, coming down to around 3127.32 km in diametre. It has volcanic activity brought forth by meteoric impact, and thus it has noticeable lunar mares. They are large and basaltic, the iron content is higher than our moon, causing the mares to appear darker in hue. Due to other chemicals mixed in, this makes them come to look almost black. The proto-planetary disk of the system was relatively high in iron-content and vanadium. This is also the reason for the larger size of the iron core. 

 

Nedlokti

Spoiler

Nedlokti (Ne-ɮok-chi) is the second planet in the Ixatluni'dlen System.

Like Ixatluni'dla this planet has a large amount of iron and God Metal contained throughout it. 

It, surprisingly, has an oxygen-rich atmosphere which is perfectly inhabitable to humans. It is, in fact, more oxygen-rich than the Main Planet due to it having more water on its surface which were populated by large amounts of cyanobacteria. While higher than average, it is not unsafe for humans. Furthermore, due to how present water is, the humidity and level of rainfall is far greater than its sister planet. 

The planet is actively populated by bases of humans from other worlds such as Scadrial and Roshar, who take advantage of the planet for its richness in iron and God Metal. This is due to their presence on this planet having far less rules, stipulations, and pestering than they get on Ixatluni'gha. Both nations tend to fight over territory whenever one happens to step onto another's land. These typically only resulted in bureaucratic bickering and Pig War style military escalations without actual payoff. 

The planet is around 65-70% water, and is made up of 5 major continents. It is around 0.95 Cosmere standard size, with gravity around 1.02 Cosmere standard. It too has a larger core than Earth, made up of primarily iron and God Metal. 

Scadrian and Rosharan scholars question why the Shard decided to inhabit Ixatluni'dla when Nedlokti is far nicer and far more hospitable to life. Some have come to the conclusion that the reason why is for the very reason that it is too nice, that it would have far less struggle. 

It has three small moons, each ranging from 30-50 km in radius. 

 

Ixatluni'dla III

Spoiler

A very distant planet that has never been observed by the people of Ixatluni'dla due to its distance. Thus, the name is given by Rosharan and Scadrian organizations based upon its position in the system. 

It is an ice giant made up of primarily hydrogen, helium, methane, and sulfur. It has a rocky core with God Metal embedded into it. The rocky core is encased in a thin layer of God Metal which was once floating around in the layer of water and ammonia, but was ultimately sunk to the bottom and forced together into a dense layer by the pressure. It is around 50 metres thick on average, with the thickest point being around 70 metres. 

Around this, is a much thicker layer of water, ammonia, and methane ices, making up the majority of the planet's mass and volume. Even further out, it has a hydrogen envelope that makes up around 18% of its mass. 

 Due to eddies of heat escaping from under the surface, the planet is covered in nigh-constant storms. 

It has a large amount of moons orbiting it, along with a ring system of rock and ice, with the rock being peppered with veins of God Metal as well. However, it is not thought to be a very effective place to mine for it due to how far it is from a heat source, and due to the speed of rotation making it even harder to mine. Thus, it is largely left alone.  

(I did an Ice Giant as it is too far out for the creation of gas giants, which are typically closer to the sun. Ice Giants are typically further out from it.)

The Shard's God Metal is found in great quantities throughout not just this planet, but the entire system. She found the protoplanetary disk while it was still forming, and made the planets herself from the disk. She Invested into it and thus her God Metal began to form in this disk, and thus was made into the planets themselves. This has made them very good sources for the God Metal. 

Arcanists question why the Shard manifested so much God Metal into the interplanetary disc, but they are happy that she did so as it makes for such an easy place to find easy-to-access God Metal in very high quantities. 

Culture:

Spoiler

They are very nomadic peoples, living as hunter-gatherers for most of their existence. Every so often, they manage to settle, learn agriculture, and develop civilization which grows and advances, only to lose it all and return to their nomadic lifestyle. But one thing they always remember, is the inevitability of the cycle, and they find comfort in this inevitability, that it is a natural part of life. An extension upon the cycle of life, as all plants and animals are born, live, and die, and provide nutrients for other plants and animals. They develop their civilization, let it collapse, and leave the seeds and mental sustenance for the next turn of the wheel. 

All of the cultures also recognize mental health and personal growth, and greatly encourage it. They see personal growth and dealing with ones mental health to be one of the main goals and purposes of life. They see trauma as just something to face and confront, and eventually grow past it and become a more complete person.  

The quick growth and quick death and rotting of plants deeply effects how they go about agriculture, as they are not able to store it for long. Thus, they tend to grow far less, growing it when it is needed. The average lifecycle of such produce is usually only around a week to a week and a half at the most. 

Many cultures have developed various drums made from animal skin stretched over a hollow concavity, allowing them to make loud and deep sounds by striking it. 

Due to the growth and decay, and their inability to have any sort of written record for any significant length of time, language and culture diverge very quickly, to the extent that there are around 200 language families and around 15,000 different languages across the planet. 

The Tlaakala

Spoiler

The Tlaakala is a cycle of development and collapse brought forth by the Invested Shard. It encourages the nomadic peoples of the world to develop and advance, but then, before they can get too advanced, strikes down with plague, famine, earthquakes, social unrest, etc, in order to bring a collapse to their civilization. This usually winds of killing of all scribes and destroying records of history and knowledge, as to send them back to the stone age. 

But even though they return to the stone age, knapping stone and not even using composite tools, they advance quickly and can reach complex civilization again within only a few centuries. 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Firesong

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

1 hour ago, Firesong said:

Ruin + Cultivation

  Hide contents

Shard

  Hide contents

Ruin and Cultivation combined together into one Shard. 

It brings forth both growth and decay in an eternal cycle, encouraging people to grow and change, and for society to develop, but it opposes them growing too much, for when they grow too much, disaster strikes and sends them back into prehistoric development and the death of much of their population. The Shard itself holds no malice and has no wish for people to suffer, she simply believes that change, both positive and negative, should be encouraged and pushed forth. That the status quo, when it stays for too long, is an inherent evil. 

The people call both the Shard and the cycle that it brings forth Tlaakala, or The Great Wheel, The Great Cycle, or The Great Circle but often to differentiate them they will call her Citlaton'Tlaakala, Spinner (f.) of the Great Wheel. Of course, different cultures and languages have different names, this is just the one I am choosing to share.

God Metal

  Hide contents

Her God Metal exhibits strange behavior, wherein it forms rust and begins to fall apart, and then pulls itself back together into the original state.

This, however, is only observed when the metal is not under great heat and pressure, when it is in such a state, such as under large amounts of earth, it stays in a stable state. This cycle uses energy in order to bring forth the stage, and pull itself back together, but it is not a source of infinite energy. This is due to the fact that it the energy is made from a conversion of small amounts of the metal into heat that it radiates outward, light that is also radiated outward, and energy that it uses to bring it back together (this is just due to the fact that the efficiency of reformation is not perfect, and therefore part of the energy is released as light and heat). Thus, it slowly decays over time. It has a half-life of around 500 years (period pending). The rate of decay, however, is dependent upon various factors such as the local gravity, and the density of the atmosphere, as these would increase the energy required in order to pull itself back together. However, in most cases, the difference is negligible. 

This decay is a result of both the Intent of Ruin, and with the Metal's own metaphysical conflict with itself, one calling for growth while the other calls for decay, causing it to be unstable. Like Harmonium, it also reacts when it interacts with water, but the reaction is much slower and less intense. It does release heat in an exothermic reaction and produce hydrogen gas, but it does not explode, and the reaction is slow and mild enough that you can use it allomantically. However, touching it for too long during this reaction (especially to sensitive areas such as the tongue) will cause burns. 

The metal is rather soft, around 2.3-2.4 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, and thus you can scratch at it with your nail. However, it has a rather high compressive strength. It also conducts electricity rather well, but due to its instability, it cannot be used in wires. 

Its colour is close to a silver-gold or gold-platinum, with a slightly (but easily noticeable) green tint. 

I have not thought about what to make it do when burned. 

Splinters:

  Hide contents

Her Splinters look like Terrispeople, with their long and lanky builds, and their ear lobes expanded into large loops; but they are made not out of flesh, but out of green, black, and red vines covered in gnarly thorns. Almost like a person skinned, revealing only their muscles, but the vines are far more chaotic and less orderly than muscle fibres. The vines making up their feet seem to meld into the ground, and whenever they put their hands against something natural, their hands and fingers do the same.

These Splinters are made to bring forth the Cycle. Both helping them advance (rather indirectly), and bringing them to destruction (more directly). 

They do not act out of malice, but out of a genuine belief that this is what is best for humanity, and that it is a reflection of the true nature of nature and reality. 

They have societies in the Cognitive Realm, which are notable for practicing Slash-and-burn agriculture, a perfect reflection of their views on reality. Both nurturing and destructive, but with the destruction being done to nurture a new generation. 

Various parts of their society are based on Terris culture, as a reflection of the Vessel holding the Shard, and as a reflection of the ancestors of the people living on the planet.  

She does not mind visitors to her planet, even if she does hate how much they reject the inevitability of societal collapse and a return to their fundamental roots. When people come, she in fact tries to convince them to stay and adopt the way of life of the people of her planet. However, most reject her offer. She lets them use her planet for resources so long as they do not bring any people with them, nor give them knowledge and technology to let them advance too far. 

My ideas for a name, Ewige Wiederkunft, Samsara, Eternity, Recurrence, etc. 

History: (I abandoned this backstory as it just didn't work out in the timeline at all, even if I try fudging it a bit it is still really off. Left it here for you all to read anyway)

  Hide contents

She used to be a Terriswoman who knew about Preservation, and deeply hated him for how much he kept the status quo. She believed that he was responsible for all the suffering she and her people went through under Rashek, as not only did Rashek gain his political and magical power through contact with Preservation, but Preservation fully supported it just due to the fact that it was the Status Quo. Thus, she called for an end to the system, and a change to come. This left her rather ideologically aligned with Ruin, and showed bits of Cultivation. 

She eventually fled from Scadrial, and came across Roshar. Where she immediately felt a deep connection to Cultivation, as she too was a force of change. She came to the Nightwatcher, who, despite her usual reticence around worldhoppers,  offered her Nightblood, as she did to Dalinar in the past. She accepted the blade, feeling the Ruinous influence upon it.  

With the blade, she managed to slay Cultivation and take up the Shard herself. 

 

 

Astronomy:

  Hide contents

Main Planet (Ixatluni'dla):

  Hide contents

Ixatluni'dla (I-sha-tɬun-iʔ-ɮa), often shortened to Ishach, is mostly wind-swept, grassy plains with a somewhat dry air. These plains are broken up by mountain ranges, which cast rainshadows that bring forth the relative dryness of the land. Some of these mountains have more humid areas on the opposite side, where they collect large amounts of the humidity in the air, and thus get the majority of the rain. The shadows of these mountains are never blocked from so much rain as to become deserts. 

Plants on this planet grow quickly, but also die and rot away quickly. 

The planet lacks major oceans, instead, it has large in-land seas. The largest is around 1.3x the size of the Caspian Sea. These seas form in various deep basins where water from mountains can collect over time. Due to the lack of oceans, they don't think of continents in the same way that we do, they don't even think of them at all. All that matters to them is the area that they are living in in the present. What is far out, hundreds of miles outside of their territory, doesn't matter to them. 

The size of the planet is around 1.05946x cosmere standard, with a gravity around 1.079-1.1x cosmere standard. The iron-rich core of the planet is somewhat larger than that of Earth. This contributes to an overall greater density. 

Moon:

  Hide contents

The planet has one moon, which is a purple colour. It has a quick orbit around the planet, doing around 2.1 orbits a day. It is somewhat smaller than our own moon, coming down to around 3127.32 km in diametre. It has volcanic activity brought forth by meteoric impact, and thus it has noticeable lunar mares. They are large and basaltic, the iron content is higher than our moon, causing the mares to appear darker in hue. Due to other chemicals mixed in, this makes them come to look almost black. The proto-planetary disk of the system was relatively high in iron-content and vanadium. This is also the reason for the larger size of the iron core. 

 

Nedlokti

  Hide contents

Nedlokti (Ne-ɮok-chi) is the second planet in the Ixatluni'dlen System.

Like Ixatluni'dla this planet has a large amount of iron and God Metal contained throughout it. 

It, surprisingly, has an oxygen-rich atmosphere which is perfectly inhabitable to humans. It is, in fact, more oxygen-rich than the Main Planet due to it having more water on its surface which were populated by large amounts of cyanobacteria. While higher than average, it is not unsafe for humans. Furthermore, due to how present water is, the humidity and level of rainfall is far greater than its sister planet. 

The planet is actively populated by bases of humans from other worlds such as Scadrial and Roshar, who take advantage of the planet for its richness in iron and God Metal. This is due to their presence on this planet having far less rules, stipulations, and pestering than they get on Ixatluni'gha. Both nations tend to fight over territory whenever one happens to step onto another's land. These typically only resulted in bureaucratic bickering and Pig War style military escalations without actual payoff. 

The planet is around 65-70% water, and is made up of 5 major continents. It is around 0.95 Cosmere standard size, with gravity around 1.02 Cosmere standard. It too has a larger core than Earth, made up of primarily iron and God Metal. 

Scadrian and Rosharan scholars question why the Shard decided to inhabit Ixatluni'dla when Nedlokti is far nicer and far more hospitable to life. Some have come to the conclusion that the reason why is for the very reason that it is too nice, that it would have far less struggle. 

It has three small moons, each ranging from 30-50 km in radius. 

 

Ixatluni'dla III

  Hide contents

A very distant planet that has never been observed by the people of Ixatluni'dla due to its distance. Thus, the name is given by Rosharan and Scadrian organizations based upon its position in the system. 

It is an ice giant made up of primarily hydrogen, helium, methane, and sulfur. It has a rocky core with God Metal embedded into it. The rocky core is encased in a thin layer of God Metal which was once floating around in the layer of water and ammonia, but was ultimately sunk to the bottom and forced together into a dense layer by the pressure. It is around 50 metres thick on average, with the thickest point being around 70 metres. 

Around this, is a much thicker layer of water, ammonia, and methane ices, making up the majority of the planet's mass and volume. Even further out, it has a hydrogen envelope that makes up around 18% of its mass. 

 Due to eddies of heat escaping from under the surface, the planet is covered in nigh-constant storms. 

It has a large amount of moons orbiting it, along with a ring system of rock and ice, with the rock being peppered with veins of God Metal as well. However, it is not thought to be a very effective place to mine for it due to how far it is from a heat source, and due to the speed of rotation making it even harder to mine. Thus, it is largely left alone.  

(I did an Ice Giant as it is too far out for the creation of gas giants, which are typically closer to the sun. Ice Giants are typically further out from it.)

The Shard's God Metal is found in great quantities throughout not just this planet, but the entire system. She found the protoplanetary disk while it was still forming, and made the planets herself from the disk. She Invested into it and thus her God Metal began to form in this disk, and thus was made into the planets themselves. This has made them very good sources for the God Metal. 

Arcanists question why the Shard manifested so much God Metal into the interplanetary disc, but they are happy that she did so as it makes for such an easy place to find easy-to-access God Metal in very high quantities. 

Culture:

  Hide contents

They are very nomadic peoples, living as hunter-gatherers for most of their existence. Every so often, they manage to settle, learn agriculture, and develop civilization which grows and advances, only to lose it all and return to their nomadic lifestyle. But one thing they always remember, is the inevitability of the cycle, and they find comfort in this inevitability, that it is a natural part of life. An extension upon the cycle of life, as all plants and animals are born, live, and die, and provide nutrients for other plants and animals. They develop their civilization, let it collapse, and leave the seeds and mental sustenance for the next turn of the wheel. 

All of the cultures also recognize mental health and personal growth, and greatly encourage it. They see personal growth and dealing with ones mental health to be one of the main goals and purposes of life. They see trauma as just something to face and confront, and eventually grow past it and become a more complete person.  

The quick growth and quick death and rotting of plants deeply effects how they go about agriculture, as they are not able to store it for long. Thus, they tend to grow far less, growing it when it is needed. The average lifecycle of such produce is usually only around a week to a week and a half at the most. 

Many cultures have developed various drums made from animal skin stretched over a hollow concavity, allowing them to make loud and deep sounds by striking it. 

Due to the growth and decay, and their inability to have any sort of written record for any significant length of time, language and culture diverge very quickly, to the extent that there are around 200 language families and around 15,000 different languages across the planet. 

The Tlaakala

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The Tlaakala is a cycle of development and collapse brought forth by the Invested Shard. It encourages the nomadic peoples of the world to develop and advance, but then, before they can get too advanced, strikes down with plague, famine, earthquakes, social unrest, etc, in order to bring a collapse to their civilization. This usually winds of killing of all scribes and destroying records of history and knowledge, as to send them back to the stone age. 

But even though they return to the stone age, knapping stone and not even using composite tools, they advance quickly and can reach complex civilization again within only a few centuries. 

 

 

This is awesome, but I'm just about ready to keel over and die right now, so I'll talk about it more in-depth tomorrow. Still, definitely amazing enough to warrant a quick post saying that I'm in love with your worldbuilding.

[Scars of Hathsin he/him]

All the ideas you guys have written are all so good, and so in detail. I may try and make one, but it may take me a while

[Firesong she/her]

1 hour ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

This is awesome, but I'm just about ready to keel over and die right now, so I'll talk about it more in-depth tomorrow. Still, definitely amazing enough to warrant a quick post saying that I'm in love with your worldbuilding.

Oh dear, hope you get better soon. And also, thanks for the compliment. 

[Aeoryi she/her]

What about mercy and like, devotion?

[alder24]

20 hours ago, Firesong said:

This, however, is only observed when the metal is not under great heat and pressure, when it is in such a state, such as under large amounts of earth, it stays in a stable state. This cycle uses energy in order to bring forth the stage, and pull itself back together, but it is not a source of infinite energy. This is due to the fact that it the energy is made from a conversion of small amounts of the metal into heat that it radiates outward, light that is also radiated outward, and energy that it uses to bring it back together (this is just due to the fact that the efficiency of reformation is not perfect, and therefore part of the energy is released as light and heat). Thus, it slowly decays over time. It has a half-life of around 500 years (period pending). The rate of decay, however, is dependent upon various factors such as the local gravity, and the density of the atmosphere, as these would increase the energy required in order to pull itself back together. However, in most cases, the difference is negligible. 

 

Oh yes, radioactive god metal. I love it. What kind of radiation are we talking about? Any hopes for ionising? Can this process be sped up? Is it "fissile"?  Basically, can you build a nuclear reactor from it?

20 hours ago, Firesong said:

My ideas for a name, Ewige Wiederkunft, Samsara, Eternity, Recurrence, etc. 

For me Ruin+Cultivation fits the best as Evolution. It works with you too, but with what you've crafted, Eternity or Recurrence fits better.

20 hours ago, Firesong said:

The planet lacks major oceans, instead, it has large in-land seas. The largest is around 1.3x the size of the Caspian Sea.

I see a problem with this configuration. Rain. Majority of rain on Earth, more like 80% comes from evaporation of oceans. With no large bodies of water your water cycle has a problem, manageable however. And you acknowledged it later, that's fine.

21 hours ago, Firesong said:

The planet has one moon, which is a purple colour. It has a quick orbit around the planet, doing around 2.1 orbits a day

That's fun, math time! It's ~26000 km above the surface of the planet and has an angular size of around 7 degrees (14x larger than the Moon), which would be massive in the sky. And very bright, until it goes beyond the planet's shadow.

21 hours ago, Firesong said:

Due to the growth and decay, and their inability to have any sort of written record for any significant length of time

What about stone tables?

 

It's a very fun world, especially astronomy is so good. And the idea of fast decay and rotting, and decaying god metal is great. Love this world (and names).

Today I was inspired and created some magic system, and now I'm thinking about a world for Mercy.

[Firesong she/her]

23 minutes ago, alder24 said:

 

Oh yes, radioactive god metal. I love it. What kind of radiation are we talking about? Any hopes for ionising? Can this process be sped up? Is it "fissile"?  Basically, can you build a nuclear reactor from it?

For me Ruin+Cultivation fits the best as Evolution. It works with you too, but with what you've crafted, Eternity or Recurrence fits better.

I see a problem with this configuration. Rain. Majority of rain on Earth, more like 80% comes from evaporation of oceans. With no large bodies of water your water cycle has a problem, manageable however. And you acknowledged it later, that's fine.

That's fun, math time! It's ~26000 km above the surface of the planet and has an angular size of around 7 degrees (14x larger than the Moon), which would be massive in the sky. And very bright, until it goes beyond the planet's shadow.

What about stone tables?

 

It's a very fun world, especially astronomy is so good. And the idea of fast decay and rotting, and decaying god metal is great. Love this world (and names).

Today I was inspired and created some magic system, and now I'm thinking about a world for Mercy.

On the metal, so far my thoughts are that it doesn't have Alpha or Beta decay. It is mostly heat and light, instead of particle radiation. As what it does is it converts a very small part of its mass into energy, and it uses that to power the reformation of the metal, it just isn't perfect so that the conversion into kinetic energy isn't perfect and some is made into heat and light. But that should actually bring about gamma radiation, as I understand it all. 

Not exactly sure how alpha and beta would work with God Metals, as we don't really know their atomic structure. 

On if it can be used in a reactor, well, it technically would be able to heat up water. But you would need to find a way in order to speed up the decay process, as the normal amount of heat released; while ranging from uncomfortable (or First Degree) to like, Third-degree burns (the heat released varies a lot, larger bodies of the metal release more heat as it needs more energy to recombine, this is of course based around what is perceived as the same body as metal, and by the metal's soul's self-perception); is not enough to boil water at the amounts needed for a nuclear reactor. 

But if you find a way to accelerate the decay, yeah, it could totally be used for a reactor. I would actually like to add this as one of the reasons it is so popular among interstellar nations. (Still have no idea what to do for the allomantic, feruchemical, or hemalurgic use of the metal. I guess all three the answer would be cancer, technically.)

Also, I think that, while it stabilizes under heat and pressure, if you look at the microscopic level (or a bit bigger, such very small levels), you will be able to observe it fluctuating between stability and instability and converting very small amounts of mass into energy to pull it back into place. But it is so insignificant that it is not particularly worth note. 

Also, I feel 500 years is definitely way too short for the half-life. Gonna have to increase that by a lot. 

And on the seas, yeah, it would lead to less rain, which is what is observed. But also note, there are actually a lot of seas on the planet. But not enough to make it rain as much as Earth does. 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Firesong

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

 

30 minutes ago, alder24 said:

Today I was inspired and created some magic system, and now I'm thinking about a world for Mercy.

Me too

Looking forward to seeing what you make, I have some interesting ideas for this one.

[Firesong she/her]

Virtuosity + Endowment

Spoiler

Planet:

Spoiler

Main Planet:

Spoiler

 

Planet:

Quote

The name of the planet is Hokyia'umi Msan, often shortened to just Hokyia or Hokka. It is around 0.931 Cosmere standard radius, and 0.85 cosmere standard gravity. 

It is a largely tropical planet, the majority of the surface is water, except for a archipelago of thirteen major islands, and 233 minor islands. The majority of these islands rest between 23.43623° N and 23.43623° S. A few other islands pepper the rest of the world, made by mountains and volcanic activity. The majority of these islands are far from the main islands, and are typically uninhabited. This is with the exception of the poles, which are frozen over.

The year length is 377 days, and the day length is 21 hours, and the hour length is 55 minutes, which is 55 seconds. Seconds are roughly 1.61803 standard seconds. Thus a year is 1.2287599773x that of a standard year, and days are 1.18964825388x longer than the standard day. They divide the year into 13 months of 29 days each. 

The largest island is Michivai, which is around the half the size of the Arabian Peninsula (1618750 km2), the other major islands are typically around 3x the area of Honshu (683694 km2) [still debating on sizes]

Large amounts of cyanobacteria in the water makes the atmosphere oxygen rich, and has led to the evolution of various rather large animals. Many of which being bird-like winged creatures of resplendent and vibrant colours, which are able to fly for long distances to travel between islands. These, as a larger class, are known as Raichipo. 

Raichipo:

Spoiler

Large bird-like creatures with vibrant colours. They are known for their ability to fly long distances without rest, and for their beautiful singing. 

They differ from birds in various ways, such as in the presence for four legs instead of two. These extra two legs are further up their body and are used both for movement, grasping onto branches to further stabilize themselves, or to use to hold and lift up objects. They often use them to pick up fruits or small animals such as the Kowa'a, so that they can hold them up to their beak to eat them. 

They have developed a Nictitating membrane which they use before diving underwater to grab fish from under the surface, in order to protect their four eyes. Their pupils are also irregular, shaped like a four-pointed star (the one where the sides between points is like an inward curve, you should be able to find it by just looking up "four-point star")

Their jaw strength is high, able to easily crush the bones of small animals, and the bones in human fingers. 

They have a special organ that lets them feel changes in pressure, temperature, and wind speed to be able to detect when a storm is arriving, so that they would be able to hide. 

Some smaller species exist, which are closer to passerines in size. These ones have the frontal limbs manifest in a much smaller form, and move further up the body. These are far less useful than their variants on the larger species, but are not quite vestigial, as they still allow them to carry small sticks or insects. 

All species in this grouping have an elaborate song and dance ritual for mates. But strangely, it is the female that has to do the ritual to attract a male. This is due to the fact that males have surprisingly little paternal instinct or desire to search out a mate, thus they have to be convinced by a female. However, due to this, they typically only mate once, the female lays eggs, and then leaves. 

The eggs of a Raichipo are surprisingly soft and warm to the touch, almost fleshy, and surrounded by a translucent membrane of sorts which prevents it from touching the ground. If you look closely, you can see the baby Raichipo forming inside the fleshy interior layer. 

Kowa'a:

Quote

A small prey animal most comparable to a small cacomistle. They are thin but have a long body and tail, and fur that is thin and short in most places, but becomes rather bushy around the tail, likely as an adaptation to prevent being grabbed by the tail by predators. 

They tend to have a thin, spiral-like pattern that runs down the tail. 

Like the Raichipo, they have four eyes with a strange pupil shape. 

Their front paws are long and clawed, evolved to let them shovel out dirt and soil in order to make complex burrows, where they spend most of their time when not hunting for food. They are capable of feeling when a storm is coming, and have large rocks that they collect which they pull in front of the entrance to their burrows in order to prevent too much water from flooding into it. These burrows have rooms made for specific purposes, showing a very high degree of intelligence. 

A significant reason for hiding away in burrows is due to all the predators that hunt for them, such as the Raichipo, that makes it very unsafe to travel outside of the burrow. However, they have adapted to be brightly coloured in a manner that lets them blend in with their environment. 

They have a tendency to mate for life in a monogamous relationship. Both parents raise the children until they are old enough to leave the burrow. 

They have venom sacs in their mouth which they activate when they bite in self-defence, this venom is anti-coagulant, and even paralytic to some small animals. To humans and Raichipo, it is simply anti-coagulant in nature, although bacteria from the bite can cause infection which would bring about worse effects than the venom itself. 

They have vestigial nictating membranes which can be seen in the corner of their eyes, these are small and no longer have the proper muscles required to use them. Thus, they are completely vestigial. 

They have light and hollow bones, which makes them very light and fast on their feet. 

They are not just hunted by other animals, but are also a popular source of meat for humans. Which is safe as long as you remove the venom sacs. 

Kyunai'a

Spoiler

A form of domesticated animal kept as pets by the people. They have six legs, the largest being in the back for them to use to sit on. 

They have an elongated snout (longer than a normal dog, think like Borzoi but a bit wider), and they have no external ears, just ear holes. They have four eyes with strange pupils, like most animals on the planet. They lack fur and have no tail, you can see patterns of many different vibrant colours across their skin, every dog has a different pattern, and different breeds can have wildly different patterns in both the pattern themselves, and what colours are exhibited in the patterns. 

They don't bark, but instead do a beautiful and almost musical howl, and other stable and melodic sounds, but never a traditional bark. 

They are very smart and friendly animals.  

It is considered rather beautiful by its inhabitants and by visitors to the planet. The amount of water covering the surface motivates large storms. 

Ecosystem:

Spoiler

The ecosystem of the planet is rather unique, in how vibrant it is in myriad colours that are not as heavily reflected in most enviroments. The primary colour of grass, plants, and trees are various shades of red and orange and occasionally pinks, with black bark. It is considered a beautiful site that everyone should visit at least once. 

While not as active as Rosharan Plants, the plants on this planet are imbued with more life than most others, having evolved to react to movement and lightly lean away. Various plants and grasses have also developed to have deeper and stronger root systems to resist being torn out by animals or storm force winds. 

There are a large amount of plants on the surface that, when crushed, produce very vibrant dyes which are used in painting. 

 

 

Moon:

Spoiler

It has 1 moon which orbits exactly (1+√5)/2 times a day. The radius of this moon is 1073.77225205 km. 

(Yes, I know there is a lower limit to the accuracy of measurements, as physics and measurements kind of stop working as we understand them at the Planck scale. But it is accurate to around the 35th decimal place.)

The moon also rotates relative to the planet, rotating once every 13 orbits (so once every 8.03444185375 days, or around every 8 days, yes, that is also a Fibonacci number, but it isn't that special due to how the golden ratio is the limit of the ratio between Fibonacci numbers. But it is lovely)

The moon has a yellow, almost golden colour. The lunar mares are a darker yellow, but are still notably yellow for large amounts of the substance being mixed into the iron-rich basalts. 

 

 

Culture:

Spoiler

Housing:

Spoiler

Housing tends to use very geometric shapes, most often platonic solids such as cubes, with the sides flattened down into a smooth and uniform surface. The outside and inside walls are both painted in vibrant colours, to an extent that most modern people would consider it gaudy. A town or city on this planet is a sight to behold. 

Floors tend to be smaller as they go up, thus buildings tend to look somewhat reminiscent of step pyramids, a cuboid ground floor versus a smaller cuboid first floor. It is common for the roof of the ground floor, which is not taken up by the second floor, to be fenced off and used as a nice balcony to overlook the city and landscape, and bask in the warm sun. 

Richer homes often are built around courtyards opened to the sky, with plants growing in them. These are used for meeting areas, and simply for relaxation in the sun. 

These houses are typically made of hardened mixtures of clay and other materials, rather than from brick or stone. Roofs also tend to be only nearly flat, with a slight slant in order to direct water off the roof when it rains or storms. 

Food:

Spoiler

They typically have dishes that are made up of a large amount of fruits and vegetables, with meat mainly being a side dish. 

They love very sweet foods, such as fruits or anything with sugar or syrup. They sometimes add sugar to things that one would never expect. There is one dish that involves melting down sugar with water, and dousing fruits, vegetables, or even meat in the sugar soup, to create a layering of sugar, let it sit for a bit in the mixture to let it crystalize, then take it out. Like Tanghulu. You let it cool down and then it becomes a sweet that you can bite into. And yes, they occasionally do this with Kowa'a meat as well, it is disgusting. 

They also have a type of alcohol that is made from fermented sugarcane (technically it is only something similar to sugarcane, but the sugar that it produces is exactly the same as Earth sugar, same chemical formula) It is, as one would expect, rather sweet. The alcohol content depends on how it was made, some have low amounts of alcohol, like a beer, but some get as strong as 30%. 

More coastal cities, like a lot of them are, very much enjoy fish and use it in many different dishes. There is actually a very vibrant and complex fishing culture using canoes, nets, and harpoons to catch marine life. One popular dish uses fish head or the remains from filleting, and then cuts and beats them down into a mash with a hatchet, which they then season with various onion-like and chive-like spices, and salt. They often mix in other forms of meat, such as Kowa'a, and other spices in order to flavour it up more. They call this Tamitami (onomatopoeic for to beat). This was usually eaten over several days with other foods, and if it wasn't that flesh, they would form it into balls and add it too soup. 

Sometimes, Tamitami was pushed into buns in order to add flavour to them. Or used as fillings in the reversed and washed intestines of some animals (an early way people did sausage irl). 

Overall, they really like chopped and mashed food. And sugar, lots of sugar. They would really enjoy America for the sugar, but places like Japan for the thriving seafood market. 

Drugs:

Spoiler

There is a popular form of recreational drug on the planet, known as Sakihai, it causes euphoria and mild hallucinations, but it is also good for mental health in smaller amounts. However, it is illegal and unregulated, and often looked down upon in their culture, despite a lot of people actually using it in secret, even those that actively speak against it. While it can help mental health though, it can be difficult to properly control oneself as it can become addictive over time due to the euphoric high that in gives you. 

In terms of negative effects on the body, nothing more than the standard effects of smoking when it is smoked. For direct consumption, no real health risks have been recorded as long as one doesn't take too much. But again, not recommended as it is actually addictive. 

Gender:

Spoiler

Due to their focus on self-expression, they are rather accepting of many different forms of gender identity and expression, more so than most places. This is due to the fact that they feel that art is a form of self-expression, and thus self-expression is a form of art. Therefore, they see any form of self-expression of ones identity and personality to be artistic. They also feel that it is through art that one finds themselves, only increasing their support of the idea. 

People:

Spoiler

They have a rather intense form of Methemoglobinemia which spread to the majority of people, causing them to have blue skin due to a heterozygous CYP5R3 gene. 

However, they do not appear to suffer from the lower oxygen, and in fact thrive. This can be traced in part to a EPAS1 mutation that increases efficiency in the use of oxygen. they have around eleven times more nitric oxide and double the forearm blood flow of standard Scadrians. This, mixed with the higher than average oxygen on the planet, appears to diminish many of the negative effects of methemoglobinemia. 

Due to the lower gravity, they tend to be on the taller end, though not as tall as many Rosharans. 

Artistry:

Spoiler

They very deeply value artistry, and expect everyone to be a talented artist and add to the field over their life. Art is, essentially, seen as the highest calling that one can have. Be it music, literature, painting, architecture, sculpting, poetry, or so forth, art is synonymous with god. It is an act of immaculate creation, pouring ones soul out into the world and letting it take magnificent forms the enriches the hearts and minds of everyone around them. It is simply a pure and sublime act that cannot be encapsulated in words, be they a hundred or a million. A singular majestic note, held still in eternity. Allwhere man lays, he prays to art. Like wine to the bacchanalian, it fills his heart. 

They value all art, from beestings to the strokes of a octogenarian master laying on his death bed, creating one last masterpiece before his soul departs. 

The Magnum Opus:

Spoiler

Every person is expected to spend their whole life on a work of art known as their Magnum Opus, or their Lifetime Art. This is to be started when they are a kid and added to and expanded upon as they grow, only finishing it when they perish. This is supposed to represent them, their true nature, and their entire lifetime, compressed into one pure and deeply meaningful work. 

It is like Tolkein's story of Niggle, working on one piece of art ones entire life making one work, going into such minute detail over ones life that it is so immaculate and so reflective of the artist that it can only be called a masterpiece. 

 

 

 

 

Shard:

Spoiler

Investiture

Spoiler

Its Investiture is especially odd, it actually fluctuates in colour like a clock reaction or chemical oscillator, moving between cyan, magenta, and yellow. The amount it stays as any one colour is actually predictable, it is based upon the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio up to 13. 

1 second cyan, 1 second magenta, 2 seconds yellow, 3 seconds cyan, 5 seconds magenta, 8 seconds yellow, 13 seconds cyan, 8 seconds yellow, 5 seconds magenta, 3 seconds cyan, 2 seconds yellow, 1 second magenta, 1 second cyan. 

This repeats on a cycle. It is notable that it is exact to the second, and thus it is likely influenced by the perspective of humanity, which shaped the exact intervals in this pattern. 

God Metal:

Spoiler

Her God Metal is very soft, soft enough to easily chew, like Indium. It is also able to easily stretch, it is compared to a sort of putty, but one that is metallic in texture. It is soft and can easily be used as a sort of pencil led, as it comes off when dragged over paper. Although it isn't used for this purpose. It is non-toxic. 

If the metal is broken down into a powder and mixed into water, this has to be mixed very finely with a machine for the best reaction. As it mixes, you have to apply some degree of heat to the substance for the reaction to fully take place. If done properly, the water would take on traits of the Investiture, in the sense that it becomes a chemical oscillator. The colour is more vibrant the more metal that you mix into it, which of course is limited by the maximum solubility of the water. 

Splinters:

Spoiler

It has many Splinters, known as Muses, who are granted to each person to bond when they turn 13 years of age. This muse helps guide and develop their artistic talent, and help grant them ideas on what to create. 

A muse is normally hidden from all but the person it is bound to, they cannot be seen or heard, but if they wish too, they can chose to reveal themselves to others. It is through the bond that they are not just given inspiration for their art, but they sometimes have the Muse siphon off Investiture from the Shard, and grant it to their bonded, which briefly increases their creativity and artistic aptitude, it is very effective at sparking creative ideas in their  mind and giving them the motivation to actually make it a reality. 

They take on a vaguely humanoid shape, but are strange, with four arms and strange eyes and hair (yes, they look like Sho Del). They are also made of twirling and fluctuating spirals of cyan, magenta, and yellow energy. They can appear any size they want (within reason), and can also choose to take on the form of a ball of energy, which can separate into a spiral as if cut along a constant curve from pole to pole and grow brighter when they get emotional. 

A Splinter of herself is also put in every person at birth, this is called the Creative Spark, and it grants them a heightened talent in art, via granting them a deeper Connection to the Cognitive and Spiritual Realms. It is similar to Rosharan Lightweavers, that way.  It also grants them a greater ability to discern the differences between shades, and a very deep appreciation for art and ability to read into the Spiritual Realm to feel all the emotion and meaning behind a piece. This granting of a spark to all peoples is very similar to what Endowment does to Nalthians. 

 

 

Hope this one was as good as the last few. I always feel what I make is boring and not good, lol. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Firesong

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

1 hour ago, Firesong said:

Virtuosity + Endowment

  Hide contents

Planet:

  Hide contents

Main Planet:

  Hide contents

 

Planet:

 

Moon:

  Hide contents

It has 1 moon which orbits exactly (1+√5)/2 times a day. The radius of this moon is 1073.77225205 km. 

(Yes, I know there is a lower limit to the accuracy of measurements, as physics and measurements kind of stop working as we understand them at the Planck scale. But it is accurate to around the 35th decimal place.)

The moon also rotates relative to the planet, rotating once every 13 orbits (so once every 8.03444185375 days, or around every 8 days, yes, that is also a Fibonacci number, but it isn't that special due to how the golden ratio is the limit of the ratio between Fibonacci numbers. But it is lovely)

The moon has a yellow, almost golden colour. The lunar mares are a darker yellow, but are still notably yellow for large amounts of the substance being mixed into the iron-rich basalts. 

 

 

Culture:

  Hide contents

Housing:

  Hide contents

Housing tends to use very geometric shapes, most often platonic solids such as cubes, with the sides flattened down into a smooth and uniform surface. The outside and inside walls are both painted in vibrant colours, to an extent that most modern people would consider it gaudy. A town or city on this planet is a sight to behold. 

Floors tend to be smaller as they go up, thus buildings tend to look somewhat reminiscent of step pyramids, a cuboid ground floor versus a smaller cuboid first floor. It is common for the roof of the ground floor, which is not taken up by the second floor, to be fenced off and used as a nice balcony to overlook the city and landscape, and bask in the warm sun. 

Richer homes often are built around courtyards opened to the sky, with plants growing in them. These are used for meeting areas, and simply for relaxation in the sun. 

These houses are typically made of hardened mixtures of clay and other materials, rather than from brick or stone. Roofs also tend to be only nearly flat, with a slight slant in order to direct water off the roof when it rains or storms. 

Food:

  Hide contents

They typically have dishes that are made up of a large amount of fruits and vegetables, with meat mainly being a side dish. 

They love very sweet foods, such as fruits or anything with sugar or syrup. They sometimes add sugar to things that one would never expect. There is one dish that involves melting down sugar with water, and dousing fruits, vegetables, or even meat in the sugar soup, to create a layering of sugar, let it sit for a bit in the mixture to let it crystalize, then take it out. Like Tanghulu. You let it cool down and then it becomes a sweet that you can bite into. And yes, they occasionally do this with Kowa'a meat as well, it is disgusting. 

They also have a type of alcohol that is made from fermented sugarcane (technically it is only something similar to sugarcane, but the sugar that it produces is exactly the same as Earth sugar, same chemical formula) It is, as one would expect, rather sweet. The alcohol content depends on how it was made, some have low amounts of alcohol, like a beer, but some get as strong as 30%. 

More coastal cities, like a lot of them are, very much enjoy fish and use it in many different dishes. There is actually a very vibrant and complex fishing culture using canoes, nets, and harpoons to catch marine life. One popular dish uses fish head or the remains from filleting, and then cuts and beats them down into a mash with a hatchet, which they then season with various onion-like and chive-like spices, and salt. They often mix in other forms of meat, such as Kowa'a, and other spices in order to flavour it up more. They call this Tamitami (onomatopoeic for to beat). This was usually eaten over several days with other foods, and if it wasn't that flesh, they would form it into balls and add it too soup. 

Sometimes, Tamitami was pushed into buns in order to add flavour to them. Or used as fillings in the reversed and washed intestines of some animals (an early way people did sausage irl). 

Overall, they really like chopped and mashed food. And sugar, lots of sugar. They would really enjoy America for the sugar, but places like Japan for the thriving seafood market. 

Drugs:

  Hide contents

There is a popular form of recreational drug on the planet, known as Sakihai, it causes euphoria and mild hallucinations, but it is also good for mental health in smaller amounts. However, it is illegal and unregulated, and often looked down upon in their culture, despite a lot of people actually using it in secret, even those that actively speak against it. While it can help mental health though, it can be difficult to properly control oneself as it can become addictive over time due to the euphoric high that in gives you. 

In terms of negative effects on the body, nothing more than the standard effects of smoking when it is smoked. For direct consumption, no real health risks have been recorded as long as one doesn't take too much. But again, not recommended as it is actually addictive. 

Gender:

  Hide contents

Due to their focus on self-expression, they are rather accepting of many different forms of gender identity and expression, more so than most places. This is due to the fact that they feel that art is a form of self-expression, and thus self-expression is a form of art. Therefore, they see any form of self-expression of ones identity and personality to be artistic. They also feel that it is through art that one finds themselves, only increasing their support of the idea. 

People:

  Hide contents

They have a rather intense form of Methemoglobinemia which spread to the majority of people, causing them to have blue skin due to a heterozygous CYP5R3 gene. 

However, they do not appear to suffer from the lower oxygen, and in fact thrive. This can be traced in part to a EPAS1 mutation that increases efficiency in the use of oxygen. they have around eleven times more nitric oxide and double the forearm blood flow of standard Scadrians. This, mixed with the higher than average oxygen on the planet, appears to diminish many of the negative effects of methemoglobinemia. 

Due to the lower gravity, they tend to be on the taller end, though not as tall as many Rosharans. 

Artistry:

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They very deeply value artistry, and expect everyone to be a talented artist and add to the field over their life. Art is, essentially, seen as the highest calling that one can have. Be it music, literature, painting, architecture, sculpting, poetry, or so forth, art is synonymous with god. It is an act of immaculate creation, pouring ones soul out into the world and letting it take magnificent forms the enriches the hearts and minds of everyone around them. It is simply a pure and sublime act that cannot be encapsulated in words, be they a hundred or a million. A singular majestic note, held still in eternity. Allwhere man lays, he prays to art. Like wine to the bacchanalian, it fills his heart. 

They value all art, from beestings to the strokes of a octogenarian master laying on his death bed, creating one last masterpiece before his soul departs. 

The Magnum Opus:

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Every person is expected to spend their whole life on a work of art known as their Magnum Opus, or their Lifetime Art. This is to be started when they are a kid and added to and expanded upon as they grow, only finishing it when they perish. This is supposed to represent them, their true nature, and their entire lifetime, compressed into one pure and deeply meaningful work. 

It is like Tolkein's story of Niggle, working on one piece of art ones entire life making one work, going into such minute detail over ones life that it is so immaculate and so reflective of the artist that it can only be called a masterpiece. 

 

 

 

 

Shard:

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Investiture

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Its Investiture is especially odd, it actually fluctuates in colour like a clock reaction or chemical oscillator, moving between cyan, magenta, and yellow. The amount it stays as any one colour is actually predictable, it is based upon the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio up to 13. 

1 second cyan, 1 second magenta, 2 seconds yellow, 3 seconds cyan, 5 seconds magenta, 8 seconds yellow, 13 seconds cyan, 8 seconds yellow, 5 seconds magenta, 3 seconds cyan, 2 seconds yellow, 1 second magenta, 1 second cyan. 

This repeats on a cycle. It is notable that it is exact to the second, and thus it is likely influenced by the perspective of humanity, which shaped the exact intervals in this pattern. 

God Metal:

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Her God Metal is very soft, soft enough to easily chew, like Indium. It is also able to easily stretch, it is compared to a sort of putty, but one that is metallic in texture. It is soft and can easily be used as a sort of pencil led, as it comes off when dragged over paper. Although it isn't used for this purpose. It is non-toxic. 

If the metal is broken down into a powder and mixed into water, this has to be mixed very finely with a machine for the best reaction. As it mixes, you have to apply some degree of heat to the substance for the reaction to fully take place. If done properly, the water would take on traits of the Investiture, in the sense that it becomes a chemical oscillator. The colour is more vibrant the more metal that you mix into it, which of course is limited by the maximum solubility of the water. 

Splinters:

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It has many Splinters, known as Muses, who are granted to each person to bond when they turn 13 years of age. This muse helps guide and develop their artistic talent, and help grant them ideas on what to create. 

A muse is normally hidden from all but the person it is bound to, they cannot be seen or heard, but if they wish too, they can chose to reveal themselves to others. It is through the bond that they are not just given inspiration for their art, but they sometimes have the Muse siphon off Investiture from the Shard, and grant it to their bonded, which briefly increases their creativity and artistic aptitude, it is very effective at sparking creative ideas in their  mind and giving them the motivation to actually make it a reality. 

They take on a vaguely humanoid shape, but are strange, with four arms and strange eyes and hair (yes, they look like Sho Del). They are also made of twirling and fluctuating spirals of cyan, magenta, and yellow energy. They can appear any size they want (within reason), and can also choose to take on the form of a ball of energy, which can separate into a spiral as if cut along a constant curve from pole to pole and grow brighter when they get emotional. 

A Splinter of herself is also put in every person at birth, this is called the Creative Spark, and it grants them a heightened talent in art, via granting them a deeper Connection to the Cognitive and Spiritual Realms. It is similar to Rosharan Lightweavers, that way.  It also grants them a greater ability to discern the differences between shades, and a very deep appreciation for art and ability to read into the Spiritual Realm to feel all the emotion and meaning behind a piece. This granting of a spark to all peoples is very similar to what Endowment does to Nalthians. 

 

 

Hope this one was as good as the last few. I always feel what I make is boring and not good, lol. 

As always, it was indeed amazing. I love the exact scientific detail in this one, I didn't expect it to have such strong ground in real science. The chemical oscillator surprised me, that was a really good touch, especially with the Fibonacci change intervals. The science behind the blue skin was also very well-researched and plausible, I really like it.

The focus on art was a nice cultural basis, but I love the concept of the Magnus Opus, as an artist myself. The multiple renditions of 13 on the planet were also very nice.

But I do have a few questions:

• What if someone really doesn't want to be an artist of any kind? Are they compelled to by the Investiture and bond they hold?
• You said the transition of color in the chemical oscillators was exact to the second. Is that Hokiyan seconds or Cosmere Standard seconds?
• With the 6-limbed animals, are there any fain roots to these?
• Can the Creative Spark be divested from the people, if they so choose?
• Does the Creative Spark grant artistic ability, or only appreciation/motivation for art?
• What's the art critiquing landscape on this planet?
• Can a person refuse to bond a Muse?
• What do the Muses do while they aren't bonded to anyone? Do they have cities in the Cognitive, or do they manifest in the Physical Realm only?
• Can the Muses form physically?
• What's the name of the local Shard?
• Is there any kind of Invested Art on the planet, besides the Muses inspiring their bonded?

[Firesong she/her]

16 minutes ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

As always, it was indeed amazing. I love the exact scientific detail in this one, I didn't expect it to have such strong ground in real science. The chemical oscillator surprised me, that was a really good touch, especially with the Fibonacci change intervals. The science behind the blue skin was also very well-researched and plausible, I really like it.

The focus on art was a nice cultural basis, but I love the concept of the Magnus Opus, as an artist myself. The multiple renditions of 13 on the planet were also very nice.

But I do have a few questions:

• What if someone really doesn't want to be an artist of any kind? Are they compelled to by the Investiture and bond they hold?
• You said the transition of color in the chemical oscillators was exact to the second. Is that Hokiyan seconds or Cosmere Standard seconds?
• With the 6-limbed animals, are there any fain roots to these?
• Can the Creative Spark be divested from the people, if they so choose?
• Does the Creative Spark grant artistic ability, or only appreciation/motivation for art?
• What's the art critiquing landscape on this planet?
• Can a person refuse to bond a Muse?
• What do the Muses do while they aren't bonded to anyone? Do they have cities in the Cognitive, or do they manifest in the Physical Realm only?
• Can the Muses form physically?
• What's the name of the local Shard?
• Is there any kind of Invested Art on the planet, besides the Muses inspiring their bonded?

On if they don't want to be one of any kind, I guess that can happen but it would be rarer due to how the Investiture encourages artistic expression. But it is definitely a possibility. They would just do jobs and not do art on the side. Most people on the planet, outside of the most talented of artists, or those whose job is art like architects, tend to have a job that they do as well. Because society would collapse if nobody worked as they don't have automation of labour yet at the technological level they are at. 

On if they can refuse a muse, yeah, they can. Some do chose to reject one. Such people are seen as strange and looked down upon, but they aren't exactly systemically oppressed, just seen as very peculiar. Some would definitely be more bigoted about it though, they are human, what else would you expect? Usually the bigoted ones are more of a "not in my house" type. But generally, doesn't go as far as open bigotry.  

For 6-limbed animals, yeah, I assume some degree of fain roots. Part of why I chose a Sho Del Vessel. It is a mix of fain, and just a different strand of standard ecology. It was like, it developed somewhat standard, but with different colouration, but it was basically cross-bred with fain and it led to them taking on some fain characteristics as they evolved. 

The Muses would probably have cities in the Cognitive Realm, yeah. And I do think they can form physically, it would be like Syl, though. Where they just can interact a bit but are not that strong. 

Haven't thought of a name, it is basically just Virtuosity with a degree of thought into how art gives to others. 

The Spark does grant ability, though it doesn't instantly make you a master. It is like, a head start. You start better than most people would start, but you have to actually put in practice to hone the skill. The highest point they can reach is higher than the highest point for normal people, though. Due to the Cognitive and Spiritual aspects of the creation, and in their very honed ability to distinguish colours. 

For the Seconds that influence it, it is by their own seconds. Not standard seconds. So it would be different if you look at it in Scadrian seconds or Rosharan seconds. If the Shard Invested a different planet and people, and was influenced by their idea of time length, it would shift to going by those units. It is all about perception, in this case. 

[alder24]

2 hours ago, Firesong said:

Virtuosity + Endowment

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Planet:

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Main Planet:

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Planet:

 

Moon:

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It has 1 moon which orbits exactly (1+√5)/2 times a day. The radius of this moon is 1073.77225205 km. 

(Yes, I know there is a lower limit to the accuracy of measurements, as physics and measurements kind of stop working as we understand them at the Planck scale. But it is accurate to around the 35th decimal place.)

The moon also rotates relative to the planet, rotating once every 13 orbits (so once every 8.03444185375 days, or around every 8 days, yes, that is also a Fibonacci number, but it isn't that special due to how the golden ratio is the limit of the ratio between Fibonacci numbers. But it is lovely)

The moon has a yellow, almost golden colour. The lunar mares are a darker yellow, but are still notably yellow for large amounts of the substance being mixed into the iron-rich basalts. 

 

 

Culture:

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Housing:

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Housing tends to use very geometric shapes, most often platonic solids such as cubes, with the sides flattened down into a smooth and uniform surface. The outside and inside walls are both painted in vibrant colours, to an extent that most modern people would consider it gaudy. A town or city on this planet is a sight to behold. 

Floors tend to be smaller as they go up, thus buildings tend to look somewhat reminiscent of step pyramids, a cuboid ground floor versus a smaller cuboid first floor. It is common for the roof of the ground floor, which is not taken up by the second floor, to be fenced off and used as a nice balcony to overlook the city and landscape, and bask in the warm sun. 

Richer homes often are built around courtyards opened to the sky, with plants growing in them. These are used for meeting areas, and simply for relaxation in the sun. 

These houses are typically made of hardened mixtures of clay and other materials, rather than from brick or stone. Roofs also tend to be only nearly flat, with a slight slant in order to direct water off the roof when it rains or storms. 

Food:

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They typically have dishes that are made up of a large amount of fruits and vegetables, with meat mainly being a side dish. 

They love very sweet foods, such as fruits or anything with sugar or syrup. They sometimes add sugar to things that one would never expect. There is one dish that involves melting down sugar with water, and dousing fruits, vegetables, or even meat in the sugar soup, to create a layering of sugar, let it sit for a bit in the mixture to let it crystalize, then take it out. Like Tanghulu. You let it cool down and then it becomes a sweet that you can bite into. And yes, they occasionally do this with Kowa'a meat as well, it is disgusting. 

They also have a type of alcohol that is made from fermented sugarcane (technically it is only something similar to sugarcane, but the sugar that it produces is exactly the same as Earth sugar, same chemical formula) It is, as one would expect, rather sweet. The alcohol content depends on how it was made, some have low amounts of alcohol, like a beer, but some get as strong as 30%. 

More coastal cities, like a lot of them are, very much enjoy fish and use it in many different dishes. There is actually a very vibrant and complex fishing culture using canoes, nets, and harpoons to catch marine life. One popular dish uses fish head or the remains from filleting, and then cuts and beats them down into a mash with a hatchet, which they then season with various onion-like and chive-like spices, and salt. They often mix in other forms of meat, such as Kowa'a, and other spices in order to flavour it up more. They call this Tamitami (onomatopoeic for to beat). This was usually eaten over several days with other foods, and if it wasn't that flesh, they would form it into balls and add it too soup. 

Sometimes, Tamitami was pushed into buns in order to add flavour to them. Or used as fillings in the reversed and washed intestines of some animals (an early way people did sausage irl). 

Overall, they really like chopped and mashed food. And sugar, lots of sugar. They would really enjoy America for the sugar, but places like Japan for the thriving seafood market. 

Drugs:

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There is a popular form of recreational drug on the planet, known as Sakihai, it causes euphoria and mild hallucinations, but it is also good for mental health in smaller amounts. However, it is illegal and unregulated, and often looked down upon in their culture, despite a lot of people actually using it in secret, even those that actively speak against it. While it can help mental health though, it can be difficult to properly control oneself as it can become addictive over time due to the euphoric high that in gives you. 

In terms of negative effects on the body, nothing more than the standard effects of smoking when it is smoked. For direct consumption, no real health risks have been recorded as long as one doesn't take too much. But again, not recommended as it is actually addictive. 

Gender:

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Due to their focus on self-expression, they are rather accepting of many different forms of gender identity and expression, more so than most places. This is due to the fact that they feel that art is a form of self-expression, and thus self-expression is a form of art. Therefore, they see any form of self-expression of ones identity and personality to be artistic. They also feel that it is through art that one finds themselves, only increasing their support of the idea. 

People:

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They have a rather intense form of Methemoglobinemia which spread to the majority of people, causing them to have blue skin due to a heterozygous CYP5R3 gene. 

However, they do not appear to suffer from the lower oxygen, and in fact thrive. This can be traced in part to a EPAS1 mutation that increases efficiency in the use of oxygen. they have around eleven times more nitric oxide and double the forearm blood flow of standard Scadrians. This, mixed with the higher than average oxygen on the planet, appears to diminish many of the negative effects of methemoglobinemia. 

Due to the lower gravity, they tend to be on the taller end, though not as tall as many Rosharans. 

Artistry:

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They very deeply value artistry, and expect everyone to be a talented artist and add to the field over their life. Art is, essentially, seen as the highest calling that one can have. Be it music, literature, painting, architecture, sculpting, poetry, or so forth, art is synonymous with god. It is an act of immaculate creation, pouring ones soul out into the world and letting it take magnificent forms the enriches the hearts and minds of everyone around them. It is simply a pure and sublime act that cannot be encapsulated in words, be they a hundred or a million. A singular majestic note, held still in eternity. Allwhere man lays, he prays to art. Like wine to the bacchanalian, it fills his heart. 

They value all art, from beestings to the strokes of a octogenarian master laying on his death bed, creating one last masterpiece before his soul departs. 

The Magnum Opus:

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Every person is expected to spend their whole life on a work of art known as their Magnum Opus, or their Lifetime Art. This is to be started when they are a kid and added to and expanded upon as they grow, only finishing it when they perish. This is supposed to represent them, their true nature, and their entire lifetime, compressed into one pure and deeply meaningful work. 

It is like Tolkein's story of Niggle, working on one piece of art ones entire life making one work, going into such minute detail over ones life that it is so immaculate and so reflective of the artist that it can only be called a masterpiece. 

 

 

 

 

Shard:

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Investiture

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Its Investiture is especially odd, it actually fluctuates in colour like a clock reaction or chemical oscillator, moving between cyan, magenta, and yellow. The amount it stays as any one colour is actually predictable, it is based upon the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio up to 13. 

1 second cyan, 1 second magenta, 2 seconds yellow, 3 seconds cyan, 5 seconds magenta, 8 seconds yellow, 13 seconds cyan, 8 seconds yellow, 5 seconds magenta, 3 seconds cyan, 2 seconds yellow, 1 second magenta, 1 second cyan. 

This repeats on a cycle. It is notable that it is exact to the second, and thus it is likely influenced by the perspective of humanity, which shaped the exact intervals in this pattern. 

God Metal:

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Her God Metal is very soft, soft enough to easily chew, like Indium. It is also able to easily stretch, it is compared to a sort of putty, but one that is metallic in texture. It is soft and can easily be used as a sort of pencil led, as it comes off when dragged over paper. Although it isn't used for this purpose. It is non-toxic. 

If the metal is broken down into a powder and mixed into water, this has to be mixed very finely with a machine for the best reaction. As it mixes, you have to apply some degree of heat to the substance for the reaction to fully take place. If done properly, the water would take on traits of the Investiture, in the sense that it becomes a chemical oscillator. The colour is more vibrant the more metal that you mix into it, which of course is limited by the maximum solubility of the water. 

Splinters:

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It has many Splinters, known as Muses, who are granted to each person to bond when they turn 13 years of age. This muse helps guide and develop their artistic talent, and help grant them ideas on what to create. 

A muse is normally hidden from all but the person it is bound to, they cannot be seen or heard, but if they wish too, they can chose to reveal themselves to others. It is through the bond that they are not just given inspiration for their art, but they sometimes have the Muse siphon off Investiture from the Shard, and grant it to their bonded, which briefly increases their creativity and artistic aptitude, it is very effective at sparking creative ideas in their  mind and giving them the motivation to actually make it a reality. 

They take on a vaguely humanoid shape, but are strange, with four arms and strange eyes and hair (yes, they look like Sho Del). They are also made of twirling and fluctuating spirals of cyan, magenta, and yellow energy. They can appear any size they want (within reason), and can also choose to take on the form of a ball of energy, which can separate into a spiral as if cut along a constant curve from pole to pole and grow brighter when they get emotional. 

A Splinter of herself is also put in every person at birth, this is called the Creative Spark, and it grants them a heightened talent in art, via granting them a deeper Connection to the Cognitive and Spiritual Realms. It is similar to Rosharan Lightweavers, that way.  It also grants them a greater ability to discern the differences between shades, and a very deep appreciation for art and ability to read into the Spiritual Realm to feel all the emotion and meaning behind a piece. This granting of a spark to all peoples is very similar to what Endowment does to Nalthians. 

 

 

Hope this one was as good as the last few. I always feel what I make is boring and not good, lol. 

Colors. That's a masterpiece. It's very good, and so detailed. 3 new animal species, lots of numbers, a fully developed and interesting culture, genetically changed people, and nice investiture addition to end. Love it. You're really good at it. 

[Firesong she/her]

Just now, alder24 said:

Colors. That's a masterpiece. It's very good, and so detailed. 3 new animal species, lots of numbers, a fully developed and interesting culture, genetically changed people, and nice investiture addition to end. Love it. You're really good at it. 

Why thank you. Nice to hear. 

33 minutes ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

As always, it was indeed amazing. I love the exact scientific detail in this one, I didn't expect it to have such strong ground in real science. The chemical oscillator surprised me, that was a really good touch, especially with the Fibonacci change intervals. The science behind the blue skin was also very well-researched and plausible, I really like it.

The focus on art was a nice cultural basis, but I love the concept of the Magnus Opus, as an artist myself. The multiple renditions of 13 on the planet were also very nice.

 

And thanks to you as well, forgot to mention it in the first comment. 

[alder24]

I've finished my Mercy world. It's not as detailed as the one just shown by Firesong, but I can't think of anything more. Here it is:

Spoiler

Astronomy:

Spoiler

The system of Suffering is a planetary system located around a G-type star, named Joy. It is composed of 5 planets, one of which is a ringless Saturn-like gas giant, named Misery, and 3 ice giants (named Anguish, Sorrow, and Agony) located further away, with 1 smaller icy planet named Solitude on the outskirts of the system. Interestingly the habitable body isn’t a planet but a moon orbiting around Misery. 

Misery is the closest planet to its star approximately 1.396 AU away from Joy, completing its orbit in 602 days. Its atmosphere is yellow-red-brown in color with massive swirling and chaotic storms raging within. It has 3 major spherical moons and 35 minor, non-spherical ones. The three moons are named, starting from the closest one, Pain, Suffering and Depression, and are in orbital resonance of 1:2:4 (which means for every one orbit of Depression, Suffering makes 2 and Pain makes 4 orbits). Both moons Pain and Depression are barren bodies with no atmosphere. Pain is reddish in color and has a radius of around 1800 km, while Depression is bluish with a radius of around 2600 km. Suffering however not only has an atmosphere but also is habitable. All 3 moons are tidally locked with Misery.

Suffering orbits its host planet in around 77.5 hours, which is 3.23 Cosmere Standard days. The moon has the gravitational acceleration of 0.9 Cosmere Standard and the size of 0.9 Cosmere Standard. Surprisingly, this moon has a sub-moon, named Hope, orbiting in a period of around 13.2 hours, 25000 km above Suffering. Hope is white in color and it's irregularly shaped - approximately 250 km in length and 130 km in height and width. 

This system is inhabited by Mercy. 

Suffering:

Spoiler

Suffering is mostly covered by oceans with 3 continents, a bigger, populated one being directly below Misery, and 2 other smaller ones on the other side of the planet. Those 2 small continents are still undiscovered and as far as I can tell, no humans are living there.

Because Suffering orbits so close to Misery, the gas giant covers 15.8 degrees of the sky (30.5 times larger than the Moon, 0.5). Pain has an angular size of 1.33 degrees at the closest, and Depression it’s 1.22 degrees at the closest. Both moons shrink 3 or 4 times as they move away on their orbit. The sub-moon Hope has an angular size of around 0.4 degrees (slightly smaller than that of the Moon). Because Suffering covers so much sky, the total solar eclipses last much longer than anywhere in Cosmere. It’s also the darkest time of the day. When Suffering is between Joy and Misery, the only inhabited continent is illuminated by the gas giant, causing nights to be very bright. Misery’s huge raging storms are clearly visible from Suffering’s surface. 

A week on Suffering is equal to 4 local days (a day has ~77,5h), which is a little less than 13 Cosmere Standard days. A dozen here is equal to 13. 

The people of Suffering develop proverbs based on their solar system. For example “hope never stays for long but returns after a dozen”, “hope is in sight”,  “misery will extinguish every joy of your life”, “you can’t escape from misery” or “pain comes twice a day”.

Invested Art:

Spoiler

Population of Suffering has access to invested art known as Blood Healing. It’s end-negative as investiture is always lost in the process, but can be performed by anybody with proper knowledge. A Blood Healer can use his body to heal another person. It’s done by drawing complicated symbols with the blood of the Healer on the body of a person in need. Symbols are drawn around binding points and are like a Command, they must describe what to heal and where to focus its healing power. It starts by drawing a starting symbol around the heart, then different symbols (composed of a command part and a focus part, focus parts are based on 13 Essences, like head, eyes, mouth, heart, blood, bone, flesh etc, the last 13th being the soul) around different binding points, mostly in the area where healing is needed, ending with lines connecting those symbols, forming a path emerging from the heart. When the last line is completed, part of the healer's life force (innate investiture) is transferred into a patient, healing him from physical or even mental injuries. Healing spiritual damages is impossible. The more demanding healing requires more life force, turning the healer into a worse than a Darb state in most demanding cases. This Drab state numbs their empathy and the ability to feel positive emotions. 

However this can be done in reverse. A person performing the art can use somebody else’s blood and draw symbols on his own body (or on a body of a 3rd party), transferring the life force of the victim into himself. This doesn’t require permission of a victim nor victim’s intent, it is essentially stealing somebody else's life force. If the victim is already ill, the act of stealing their life force will worsen their conditions or even cause their death. However this life force is always in the form of kinetic investiture, it doesn’t stay in a healed person, it doesn’t add into their spirit web - it only performs a specific task commanded by symbols.

The most skillful Blood Healers can transform more than just health. They can transform strength, speed, sight or other attributes, which can be stolen many at once. They aren’t permanent, they enhance the attributes of the recipient only for a week, getting weaker with each day, until they vanish fully. The transmission of attributes isn’t stackable, you can’t give yourself strength of many people at once, instead it replaces the already possessed enhancements. Fortunately this advanced knowledge is limited only to very few most skilled individuals and isn’t commonly practiced. 

Blood Healing can be performed wrongly. Drawing wrong symbols in wrong places can either result in no healing (with loss of innate investiture), pain, worsening of injury or illness, or in most severe situations even death. 

Blood Healing loses the least amount of investiture when “Joy is eclipsed by Misery and Hope is nowhere to be found”.

The innate investiture of a donor is slowly regenerated in a period of a year. This is most likely because every animal and plant on this planet is a little bit invested, and people consuming it can use it to somehow regain their lost innate investiture. This process is poorly understood. 

Murks:

Spoiler

Inhabitants of Suffering are united by their religious practices and beliefs. It is because every time a person dies, they’re turned into a weak Cognitive Shadow, named Murk, which are very similar to Shades from Threnody, but usually far less dangerous. Murks are mindless and look like a dark blur in the air. They're slowly losing their investiture, until after a few local weeks they decay into nothingness disappearing from this world. However they can be invested allowing them to stay longer and even turn into fully sapient and developed Cognitive Shadow with a body, named Memory. Memory still needs to be invested periodically to remain in this state, if not he will decay back into a Murk after a local week.

Murks are generally not hostile. This is because there are rituals performed by people of Suffering to calm Murks down by investing them with investiture. This is done every week, when Joy is eclipsed, and draws every Murk from the surrounding area to the place where it’s performed. If the ritual isn’t performed, Murks will turn hostile, searching for weak, ill or wounded people to consume their soul to feed and invest themselves. This usually results in hundreds of casualties, but they’re working as a group, and thus not every Murk will be fed that day of hostility, yet they still will be satisfied. 

This is prevented by performing ritualistic sacrifices. They are performed in specially constructed amphitheaters, where thousands of Murks take seats in the auditorium around the altar in the center. There is usually 1 amphitheater per a medium sized city, which attracts all Murks from the city and all surrounding villages. Dozens or even hundreds of people are sacrificed on the altar. Each will invest a Murk according to the intent of the priest. The sacrifice is done by placing victims around the altar, draining their blood, allowing for mostly painless death. Later complicated symbols are drawn on each body on the altar, like during Blood Healing. The ritual somehow binds the soul and mind of the victim to the body, so that even if they die initially due to the blood loss, they aren’t turned into another Murk, nor do their souls escape into the Beyond. Each sacrifice is ended by cutting the heart out and squeezing it in the priest's hands. The victim’s soul is then fed to one chosen Murk, almost in its entirety, investing this Murk and allowing it to stay for another weeks to come. A priest can choose to give each soul to different Murks or all souls to one Murk, investing it to the point when it can become a proper Cognitive Shadow with a physical body. This usually requires around 52 (4*13) souls full of investiture. The ritual is much more efficient than what hungry, hostile Murks can find on their own, with only little investiture being lost in the process.  

Even though not every Murk can be invested in the ritual, they seem to be satisfied as a group and won’t turn hostile. Many will fade unfed after the ritual, losing all of their investiture, but they will still accept their fate peacefully.

The people that are sacrificed are usually criminals, but also ill, disfigured people, sometimes even homeless, poor or struggling. Everyone whose death can be viewed as merciful can be chosen. And because people believe that it's merciful to shorten someone's suffering by killing them there is no shortage of victims, however of course those aren’t willing victims. 

Silver is as effective against Murks as against Shades, however due to its rarity and price it isn’t commonly used as a protection against them. 

Memory:

Spoiler

A Memory is a properly developed Cognitive Shadow. A Murk has to consume around 52 souls to turn into a Murk. This can be done by hostile Murks but because they are less efficient than rituals in consuming souls, they need much more than 52 souls and it’s very rare to see a Memory developed from a hostile Murk. After consuming the soul of the 52nd victim, a Murk will bind himself to the body of the last victim, becoming a proper Memory.

The Memory regains sentence and gains personality of unknown source - they aren’t like the person whose death created them, nor like a person whose body they took. They seem to be a mix of all recently eaten souls. They do however possess glimpses of memories belonging to every person which they fed on, including the one which gave birth to this Murk. A newly acquired body of a Memory is healed during this process (scars and symbols remain permanently) and their appearance changes drastically and they no longer look like the body used to look just a moment before. A Memory still has to be fed with investiture every week, however now he can perform Blood Healing and fed himself sufficiently with just innate investiture taken from his victims. Each victim gives him a week more. If a Memory is unable to find investiture he will deteriorate back into a Murk and decay slowly within a few weeks. A newly made Memory will turn back into Murk after 1 week, and will dacay fully after a little less than 12 weeks. Reinvesting such Murk back into a Memory won’t bring the previous Memory back to life, while the new Memory might possess some memories of a previous one, they are a totally new entity. 

Due to Memories' soul being composed of dozens of damaged souls and the constant decay of their soul, their mental instability derived from their Cognitive Shadow status advances quicker compared to Cognitive Shadows from other places.

A Memory is instinctively far better at Blood Healing than an average person. A Memory will never be a target of hostile Murks. 

 

I'm missing culture and ecology, but I can't think of anything. My imagination doesn't reach that deep. Still, I Hope it's enJoyable to read  

 

Spoiler

Yes, 13 is Mercy's number, but the imperfection of it in this world is intentional. That's because Mercy was severely wounded around the Threnody system fight, which ripped a chunk of her power away from her. This loss is represented in different values being close to 13, but never reaching it. Like the number of moons Misery has is 3*13-1. with the -1 being Hope as a sub-moon of Suffering. Hope dimension added together and divided by 3 is around 13.1*13. The 13th Essence is the soul but the soul can't be healed. Murks require around 4*13 souls to turn into Memory. A new Memory decays fully in a bit less than 13 weeks. Even the number of planet types is 1-3-1, with the last one being a small icy and lonely planet (that one was Fortunate, I didn't make it intentionally but it fits). Always close to 13, but never being exactly 13 (except for a dozen which is a human construct). 

And I've done a lot of math to make this system correct by numbers. Orbits, periods, masses etc. It's beautiful, Hopefully it's not that wrong (I know where it's wrong).  

[Underwater_Worldhopper he/him]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

I've finished my Mercy world. It's not as detailed as the one just shown by Firesong, but I can't think of anything more. Here it is:

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Astronomy:

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The system of Suffering is a planetary system located around a G-type star, named Joy. It is composed of 5 planets, one of which is a ringless Saturn-like gas giant, named Misery, and 3 ice giants (named Anguish, Sorrow, and Agony) located further away, with 1 smaller icy planet named Solitude on the outskirts of the system. Interestingly the habitable body isn’t a planet but a moon orbiting around Misery. 

Misery is the closest planet to its star approximately 1.396 AU away from Joy, completing its orbit in 602 days. Its atmosphere is yellow-red-brown in color with massive swirling and chaotic storms raging within. It has 3 major spherical moons and 35 minor, non-spherical ones. The three moons are named, starting from the closest one, Pain, Suffering and Depression, and are in orbital resonance of 1:2:4 (which means for every one orbit of Depression, Suffering makes 2 and Pain makes 4 orbits). Both moons Pain and Depression are barren bodies with no atmosphere. Pain is reddish in color and has a radius of around 1800 km, while Depression is bluish with a radius of around 2600 km. Suffering however not only has an atmosphere but also is habitable. All 3 moons are tidally locked with Misery.

Suffering orbits its host planet in around 77.5 hours, which is 3.23 Cosmere Standard days. The moon has the gravitational acceleration of 0.9 Cosmere Standard and the size of 0.9 Cosmere Standard. Surprisingly, this moon has a sub-moon, named Hope, orbiting in a period of around 13.2 hours, 25000 km above Suffering. Hope is white in color and it's irregularly shaped - approximately 250 km in length and 130 km in height and width. 

This system is inhabited by Mercy. 

Suffering:

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Suffering is mostly covered by oceans with 3 continents, a bigger, populated one being directly below Misery, and 2 other smaller ones on the other side of the planet. Those 2 small continents are still undiscovered and as far as I can tell, no humans are living there.

Because Suffering orbits so close to Misery, the gas giant covers 15.8 degrees of the sky (30.5 times larger than the Moon, 0.5). Pain has an angular size of 1.33 degrees at the closest, and Depression it’s 1.22 degrees at the closest. Both moons shrink 3 or 4 times as they move away on their orbit. The sub-moon Hope has an angular size of around 0.4 degrees (slightly smaller than that of the Moon). Because Suffering covers so much sky, the total solar eclipses last much longer than anywhere in Cosmere. It’s also the darkest time of the day. When Suffering is between Joy and Misery, the only inhabited continent is illuminated by the gas giant, causing nights to be very bright. Misery’s huge raging storms are clearly visible from Suffering’s surface. 

A week on Suffering is equal to 4 local days (a day has ~77,5h), which is a little less than 13 Cosmere Standard days. A dozen here is equal to 13. 

The people of Suffering develop proverbs based on their solar system. For example “hope never stays for long but returns after a dozen”, “hope is in sight”,  “misery will extinguish every joy of your life”, “you can’t escape from misery” or “pain comes twice a day”.

Invested Art:

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Population of Suffering has access to invested art known as Blood Healing. It’s end-negative as investiture is always lost in the process, but can be performed by anybody with proper knowledge. A Blood Healer can use his body to heal another person. It’s done by drawing complicated symbols with the blood of the Healer on the body of a person in need. Symbols are drawn around binding points and are like a Command, they must describe what to heal and where to focus its healing power. It starts by drawing a starting symbol around the heart, then different symbols (composed of a command part and a focus part, focus parts are based on 13 Essences, like head, eyes, mouth, heart, blood, bone, flesh etc, the last 13th being the soul) around different binding points, mostly in the area where healing is needed, ending with lines connecting those symbols, forming a path emerging from the heart. When the last line is completed, part of the healer's life force (innate investiture) is transferred into a patient, healing him from physical or even mental injuries. Healing spiritual damages is impossible. The more demanding healing requires more life force, turning the healer into a worse than a Darb state in most demanding cases. This Drab state numbs their empathy and the ability to feel positive emotions. 

However this can be done in reverse. A person performing the art can use somebody else’s blood and draw symbols on his own body (or on a body of a 3rd party), transferring the life force of the victim into himself. This doesn’t require permission of a victim nor victim’s intent, it is essentially stealing somebody else's life force. If the victim is already ill, the act of stealing their life force will worsen their conditions or even cause their death. However this life force is always in the form of kinetic investiture, it doesn’t stay in a healed person, it doesn’t add into their spirit web - it only performs a specific task commanded by symbols.

The most skillful Blood Healers can transform more than just health. They can transform strength, speed, sight or other attributes, which can be stolen many at once. They aren’t permanent, they enhance the attributes of the recipient only for a week, getting weaker with each day, until they vanish fully. The transmission of attributes isn’t stackable, you can’t give yourself strength of many people at once, instead it replaces the already possessed enhancements. Fortunately this advanced knowledge is limited only to very few most skilled individuals and isn’t commonly practiced. 

Blood Healing can be performed wrongly. Drawing wrong symbols in wrong places can either result in no healing (with loss of innate investiture), pain, worsening of injury or illness, or in most severe situations even death. 

Blood Healing loses the least amount of investiture when “Joy is eclipsed by Misery and Hope is nowhere to be found”.

The innate investiture of a donor is slowly regenerated in a period of a year. This is most likely because every animal and plant on this planet is a little bit invested, and people consuming it can use it to somehow regain their lost innate investiture. This process is poorly understood. 

Murks:

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Inhabitants of Suffering are united by their religious practices and beliefs. It is because every time a person dies, they’re turned into a weak Cognitive Shadow, named Murk, which are very similar to Shades from Threnody, but usually far less dangerous. Murks are mindless and look like a dark blur in the air. They're slowly losing their investiture, until after a few local weeks they decay into nothingness disappearing from this world. However they can be invested allowing them to stay longer and even turn into fully sapient and developed Cognitive Shadow with a body, named Memory. Memory still needs to be invested periodically to remain in this state, if not he will decay back into a Murk after a local week.

Murks are generally not hostile. This is because there are rituals performed by people of Suffering to calm Murks down by investing them with investiture. This is done every week, when Joy is eclipsed, and draws every Murk from the surrounding area to the place where it’s performed. If the ritual isn’t performed, Murks will turn hostile, searching for weak, ill or wounded people to consume their soul to feed and invest themselves. This usually results in hundreds of casualties, but they’re working as a group, and thus not every Murk will be fed that day of hostility, yet they still will be satisfied. 

This is prevented by performing ritualistic sacrifices. They are performed in specially constructed amphitheaters, where thousands of Murks take seats in the auditorium around the altar in the center. There is usually 1 amphitheater per a medium sized city, which attracts all Murks from the city and all surrounding villages. Dozens or even hundreds of people are sacrificed on the altar. Each will invest a Murk according to the intent of the priest. The sacrifice is done by placing victims around the altar, draining their blood, allowing for mostly painless death. Later complicated symbols are drawn on each body on the altar, like during Blood Healing. The ritual somehow binds the soul and mind of the victim to the body, so that even if they die initially due to the blood loss, they aren’t turned into another Murk, nor do their souls escape into the Beyond. Each sacrifice is ended by cutting the heart out and squeezing it in the priest's hands. The victim’s soul is then fed to one chosen Murk, almost in its entirety, investing this Murk and allowing it to stay for another weeks to come. A priest can choose to give each soul to different Murks or all souls to one Murk, investing it to the point when it can become a proper Cognitive Shadow with a physical body. This usually requires around 52 (4*13) souls full of investiture. The ritual is much more efficient than what hungry, hostile Murks can find on their own, with only little investiture being lost in the process.  

Even though not every Murk can be invested in the ritual, they seem to be satisfied as a group and won’t turn hostile. Many will fade unfed after the ritual, losing all of their investiture, but they will still accept their fate peacefully.

The people that are sacrificed are usually criminals, but also ill, disfigured people, sometimes even homeless, poor or struggling. Everyone whose death can be viewed as merciful can be chosen. And because people believe that it's merciful to shorten someone's suffering by killing them there is no shortage of victims, however of course those aren’t willing victims. 

Silver is as effective against Murks as against Shades, however due to its rarity and price it isn’t commonly used as a protection against them. 

Memory:

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A Memory is a properly developed Cognitive Shadow. A Murk has to consume around 52 souls to turn into a Murk. This can be done by hostile Murks but because they are less efficient than rituals in consuming souls, they need much more than 52 souls and it’s very rare to see a Memory developed from a hostile Murk. After consuming the soul of the 52nd victim, a Murk will bind himself to the body of the last victim, becoming a proper Memory.

The Memory regains sentence and gains personality of unknown source - they aren’t like the person whose death created them, nor like a person whose body they took. They seem to be a mix of all recently eaten souls. They do however possess glimpses of memories belonging to every person which they fed on, including the one which gave birth to this Murk. A newly acquired body of a Memory is healed during this process (scars and symbols remain permanently) and their appearance changes drastically and they no longer look like the body used to look just a moment before. A Memory still has to be fed with investiture every week, however now he can perform Blood Healing and fed himself sufficiently with just innate investiture taken from his victims. Each victim gives him a week more. If a Memory is unable to find investiture he will deteriorate back into a Murk and decay slowly within a few weeks. A newly made Memory will turn back into Murk after 1 week, and will dacay fully after a little less than 12 weeks. Reinvesting such Murk back into a Memory won’t bring the previous Memory back to life, while the new Memory might possess some memories of a previous one, they are a totally new entity. 

Due to Memories' soul being composed of dozens of damaged souls and the constant decay of their soul, their mental instability derived from their Cognitive Shadow status advances quicker compared to Cognitive Shadows from other places.

A Memory is instinctively far better at Blood Healing than an average person. A Memory will never be a target of hostile Murks. 

 

I'm missing culture and ecology, but I can't think of anything. My imagination doesn't reach that deep. Still, I Hope it's enJoyable to read  

  Hide contents

Yes, 13 is Mercy's number, but the imperfection of it in this world is intentional. That's because Mercy was severely wounded around the Threnody system fight, which ripped a chunk of her power away from her. This loss is represented in different values being close to 13, but never reaching it. Like the number of moons Misery has is 3*13-1. with the -1 being Hope as a sub-moon of Suffering. Hope dimension added together and divided by 3 is around 13.1*13. The 13th Essence is the soul but the soul can't be healed. Murks require around 4*13 souls to turn into Memory. A new Memory decays fully in a bit less than 13 weeks. Even the number of planet types is 1-3-1, with the last one being a small icy and lonely planet (that one was Fortunate, I didn't make it intentionally but it fits). Always close to 13, but never being exactly 13 (except for a dozen which is a human construct). 

And I've done a lot of math to make this system correct by numbers. Orbits, periods, masses etc. It's beautiful, Hopefully it's not that wrong (I know where it's wrong).  

Honestly, breathtaking. The Threnodite System-esque naming of the astronomical bodies, the disturbing, voodoo-like, parasitic magic system, and the ritual sacrifice to appease the dead, it's all a masterpiece. It was a lovely world-building choice to create idioms and linguistic phrases inspired by the names, and the result is fittingly dramatic. The whole Murks to Memories thing was very fleshed out as well, I liked it a lot. The concept is very intriguing. I also love the motif of not quite 13s, even before you mentioned it in your post. Very good backstory lore. Don't worry about the ecology and the culture, unless it was part of your original idea, it's not necessary to include it. There's no fixed template, so you can write whatever you came up with without having to also come up with other, extra things.

Some questions:

• Is it plausibly sustainable for every medium-sized (at minimum) city to be sacrificing potentially hundreds of people every four days?
• Any ideas on Mercy's God Metal?
• Could someone from off-world perform Blood-Healing with the right knowledge?
• Could a Memory divest itself of Investiture to heal someone via Blood Healing? What would be the effect of that? As they're more Invested, and have instinctive knowledge of BH, does that mean they can perform more dramatic Healings?
  • If so, do wealthy/influential/powerful people create and maintain Memories in case they need emergency healing, like how some cultures on Nalthis buy fresh corpses in a bid to get a Returned, who they can keep as an emergency cure-all?
• What would happen if you bond a Murk?
• What would happen if a Murk was sufficiently Invested to become a Memory, but had no body to possess, or chose not to?
  • Is it possible to bond a Memory, if they remain in Murk form instead of possessing a body? Is it possible to bond one while they are possessing a body?
• Since Sufferers (is that what the people native to Suffering are called?) can slowly regenerate innate Investiture, could they very slowly heal spiritual wounds on their own (outside of Blood Healing), provided they don't accept and view the wound as part of themselves?

Also, I'm happy to note that while your world was very detailed and amazing, the Mercy Shardworld I'm making is distinctly different, enough for it to still be worth posting, which I'll be doing sometime tomorrow, if I have the time. It's a bit scary though, because I also came up with an idea for the natives regenerating their own Investiture, though mine was faster. Coincidence?

Also, just something I wanted to bring up in my reply to @Firesong's post but forgot to, should we maybe separate all the heavy mathematical calculations and in-depth scientific workings in a spoiler tag at the end? I've realized that when we go deep into the scientific specifications, it may not be accessible for everyone and stop them from also enjoying the worlds we're creating here. What do you say, @Lightweaver2? It might just be me being overly concerned, but I remember someone mentioned it on a different thread, so I thought I should bring it up, just in case it's stopping other people from joining in on the fun too by intimidating them with fancy calculations.

On 7/28/2023 at 1:26 AM, Scars of Hathsin said:

All the ideas you guys have written are all so good, and so in detail. I may try and make one, but it may take me a while

I hope you do write something, I love reading all these ideas people are coming up with. Looking forward to reading yours if you do end up writing one!  

Edited July 30, 2023 by Underwater_Worldhopper

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

15 minutes ago, Underwater_Worldhopper said:

What do you say, @Lightweaver2? It might just be me being overly concerned, but I remember someone mentioned it on a different thread, so I thought I should bring it up, just in case it's stopping other people from joining in on the fun too by intimidating them with fancy calculations.

I definitely agree, if you want to do the calculations feel free, but please just separate them with a spoiler tag. I’ll update my first post with this.