Adventures in Edassa Information Thread (RP Ongoing!)

[Unodus he/him]

I was going to say that you don't have to edit your post, but I saw you already did. That works too. I'll post a reply in the morning.

Ok, sorry about the confusion... XD

Cya in the morning, then .3.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Unodus

[BreathTaker he/him]

Name: Bran Mariksen 

 

Age: 38

 

Height/Weight: 6'5"/ 250lbs

 

Occupation: Banner General of the Legion of the Gods/ Paladin

 

Distinguishing Features: Long, braided and graying beard, close cut black hair with silver wings at the temples and a scar running over his left eye. Extremely muscled and capable in a fight but also calm and calculating as a general should be. 

 

Equipment: Bran wears the traditional plate armor of his calling but instead of burnished steel he paid for it to be lacquered in a deep crimson with black trim. He wears a well woven, crimson wool cloak with a spread winged raven resting between his massive shoulder blades. His armor also bears a raven on the left side of his chest. Very rarely does Bran wear the Tabbard of his order but when he does, that too has been altered to bear his family colors or Red and Black.

     As for weaponry, he wears the traditional long sword at his left hip but that is a secondary weapon. His primary weapon is a long bladed spear that he wields with deadly efficiency. Bran also carries a long curved dagger on his right hip for emergencies. 

 

Bio: Bran Mariksen has been a Banner General for the Legion for going on five years, he has led his forces to many victories against all kinds of enemies and is considered among the greater generals in the legion. Before obtaining an officer's rank he was a spear-man in the front lines and worked his way up to where he was now by sheer force of will and ability to lead and fight. 

      Among Bran's closest friends there is Fenrison, his familiar who Bran frequently refers to as Fen, and his two "squires" (eyes-and-ears) Hugi and Muni. Hugi and Muni are twins as well as Bran's nephews, sons of his sister. 

       Bran is a Northlander who traveled south because he grew tired of his peoples tribal bickering and searched for something more organized. The Court of Gods granted him that unity he looked for and he gave them his spear in return. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Remind me again, what magic do paladins use and how frequently do they use it? 

 

Joe, welcome to my pack.  If there is anything I need to change, let me know. 

 

Edit: I accidentally put sons of his daughter which would make them his grandchildren. It's fixed.

Edited January 10, 2015 by BreathTaker

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

How to speak Wolf: Use Hyphens.

 

Tall-Walkers: Humans.

 

Bad-Water: Alcohol

 

Metal-Men: Men in Armor

 

Tingle-No-See: Invisibility.

[Kobold King he/him]

How to speak Wolf: Use Hyphens.

 

Tall-Walkers: Humans.

 

Bad-Water: Alcohol

 

Metal-Men: Men in Armor

 

Tingle-No-See: Invisibility.

I'm thinking of playing a crocodilian familiar. Should crocodiles use Hyphen-Speak as well?

[Voidus]

I'm thinking of playing a crocodilian familiar. Should crocodiles use Hyphen-Speak as well?

But with more crunching.

[BreathTaker he/him]

Well Joe, Fen should be Tingle-no-see right now haha.

 

Also, I just read the post and I loved it. 

Edited December 18, 2014 by BreathTaker

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

I'm thinking of playing a crocodilian familiar. Should crocodiles use Hyphen-Speak as well?

 

Having never transformed into a Crocodile, I don't know how they Speak.

 

And thanks Breath.

[BreathTaker he/him]

As a side note I just read the "Has loaded dice" in your title... and upon further review of your picture you have loaded devil dice...

[Seonid he/him]

Excellent posts, all y'all.

 

BreathTaker, Bran sounds excellent. A Northlander (it sounds like you're a Svalding particularly) would be a rare sight in the Paladin Orders. He'd have faced quite a bit of prejudice while in training. But being able to use magic "covers a multitude of sins," as they say, and martial prowess and leadership ability would have silenced critics.

 

As to the magic Paladins use, that would be Type IIa magic. Sorcery, in other words. Basically, every morning you perform a set of sacred rituals that prepares all of the spells you plan on using that day. As part of that set of rituals, you etch into your memory the phrases and motions that will complete the spell and cast it. If the spell isn't prepared, you can't use it. You possess a holy book that contains teachings about divine power (at least partly correct) and how to access it. Specifically, it lists the standard list of Paladin spells and the proper memorization phrases for them.

 

I'll get you a list of the standard Paladin spells (probably tomorrow). If you want different spells than the ones on the list, PM me and we'll work them out. Mostly it's a matter of figuring out where you would have come across the instructions for the spell.

 

And Voidus, this is the same process for Inquisitors. They just have a different holy book and some different spells (some the same, too). Which means that if one of you manages to get your hands on a book of spells for the other order, you have an expanded list to choose from in the morning. (If your character can deal with the fact that the rituals to prepare them are from another religion.)

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Sorry for the delay in my character profile. I've been working with Seonid to get it as accurate as possible. I should have it done today or tomorrow.

 

Also, Unodus, can you please not quote posts when you reply in the other thread? It disrupts the flow and makes it harder to read.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Mailliw73

[Unodus he/him]

Sorry, I'm not very experienced with RP etiquette... .3.;

If there's anything else I should know, please say 

[Voidus]

In terms of Familiars for Inquisitors/Paladins how are they usually found? By the individual or does the order find them and present them to likely candidates?

[BreathTaker he/him]

I don't plan on describing Hugi and Muni directly. I might describe a person noticing something but I won't be very specific, after all I did say they were utterly forgettable. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Name: Khuvlai Vagadh(Vagadh means Bold) 

Physical Description: He is 32, of darker skin(Nessei are similar to Mongols, so think of that) and has dark brown eyes with only the slightest variation between pupil and iris. He has dark black hair and is short(~5'7") and slim (~150 lbs.)

History/Bio: Aguch was born into the Altauurid tribe years ago. He grew up as a normal infant of the tribe, with one exception: he was always trying to explore where he shouldn't. That trait stayed with him his entire life. As a child, he was always wandering away from his tribe, heedless of danger. When he turned twelve, he went through the coming of age ritual. He was given his adult name of Khuvlai and the identifier Vagadh, meaning bold. His secret name was also given to him: Ghalytai, meaning fire-smoke. The shaman who gave him the name realized that something was wrong with this. Typically, secret names have only one meaning.  

 

He was also bonded to his first horse, Khap, in that ritual. The stocky horse typical to Nessei tribes was a dark tan color with lighter, mottled patches at the feet. The shaman had decided to take Khuvlai as a protege after giving him his unusual spirit name. During his years of youth, Khuvlai studied under the shaman. He learned how to focus his mind, but never found a familiar. He learned however, that he could use the spirits of objects to fuel his magic. The shaman, Ethuki, became nervous after that. Magi are not common in Nessei culture and are regarded with fear and respect. 

 

Ethuki felt threatened by this new, powerful Mage. He distanced himself from Khuvlai and taught him only mundane things pertaining to the world. This is where Khuvlai learned to speak Imperial Kaloneri. He isn't fluent by any means, but can make himself understood in most cases. 

 

At fifteen, Khuvlai went through the ritual of becoming a man. He was given the finger bone of a great warrior of his tribe. His had belonged to his mother's father. Khuvlai continued to explore the land around his tribe, riding Khap around to go even more places. 

 

He went through all the ritual war trainings with the rest of his tribe, learning how to shoot a bow with extreme accuracy and how to duel with long knives. He fought in occasional battles when peoples attempted to drive them away from their land. 

 

Khuvlai obtained another horse when he was sixteen. He was making his way into Nessei society and had promise of becoming a leader of the tribe. He was also practicing his magic, but to avoid Ethuki's distrust, he did so mainly while out of the camp. He practiced with different techniques and learned that he couldn't create anything or destroy anything. He also had a harder time making anything happen at a distance. He discovered that small fires and smoke were the easiest for him. Smoke could be manipulated easily and used to hide something or distract. Fire burned and consumed. He began to learn how fire worked and how to create fuel for it and use air to propel that fuel. After practicing for a time, Khuvlai would tire easily. Sometimes, he kept pushing himself and he would get sick. One time, he even passed out for a short period of time. He noticed that the more he practiced, the more he could do. 

 

[Marriage stuff] Will be filled in when I get details on it. 

 

Alaqa and Khuvlai had a son two years after their marriage. Suvothi was born right before the Bolthayyid tribe declared a blood feud on the Altauurids. Khuvlai had to leave his infant child and recovering wife to fight for the tribe. He fought valiantly, but it made no difference. The Bolthayyids had managed to sneak into the Altauurid camp and slaughter some of the women and children before any of the men discovered it. The Bolthayyids were defeated soon after, but it was too late. Both Alaqa and Suvothi were found bleeding in the tent, dead from fatal wounds. Khuvlai was the only member of the tribe to have his entire family killed. 

 

Ethuki managed to use this situation to his advantage. He declared that Khuvlai had been consorting with evil spirits who had granted him evil powers. Khuvlai had brought the blood feud to the tribe because the ancestors of the Bolthayyids had come to cleanse the Nessei people of such uncleanliness. Ethuki proclaimed that that was the reason Khuvlai's son and wife had both been killed in the feud. The shaman declared exile for Khuvlai. Exile from the Nessei tribes was always permanent. Khuvlai was angry at Ethuki, but he left anyways. He took Khap and left the tribe, never to return. 

 

He spent the next years traveling and meeting new peoples. Most had inferior cultures, but Khuvlai found them interesting. His abilities as a mage were revered in some places and condemned in others. Khuvlai became a nomad, traveling around wherever and whenever he desired. He carried only his bow and quiver, his two long knives at his waist, and a pack with a sleeping roll and another set of clothes. He had one set of leather clothes and one of flax. He had learned as a youth how to mend his own clothes and did so as they wore out. 

Religion/Belief System (if any): Nessei don't have an organized religion, but they revere their ancestors. Khuvlai has this same belief. He prays to his ancestors for help on occasion.

 

Magic User (Y): Mage-Type IIb Magic. 

[Seonid he/him]

Warning! Walls of text incoming!

 

This is my massive compilation post intended to answer all of the backlogged questions. When I finish this post, I think that I will be caught up with answering all of the questions folks have asked. Except for spell lists for BreathTaker, Voidus, and anybody else who's playing a character with Type IIa magic. (Sorcery)

 

First, we have my response to Mailliw with regard to the limitations of magic. I've reproduced it here from our PM for everyone else's benefit.

 

Magical Limitations

 

And here's the treatise on magic limitations.

 

Starting with the general limitations on the use of power, and moving to the more specific limitations on different systems:

 

Power in general follows a few basic rules.

 

1 - Energy/matter can be neither created nor destroyed.

 

2 - Power must be voluntarily transferred from one being to another. (I.E. Stealing magic is impossible.)

 

 

All exercises of power, including by gods, follow these rules. (Gods draw power from their connection to the Void, so the regeneration of their power does not violate the first law)

 

In the Material Realm, the other laws of Thermodynamics also apply. (See 2nd and 3rd laws of Thermodynamics on Wikipedia).

 

These are essentially the only limitations on godly power. However, when that power is delegated to mortals (see Type I magic), it may be additionally limited in whatever way the god pleases. Many tie the availability of the power into a certain code of ethics, as well as limiting the potential uses. 

 

Type II magic has two broad limitations; it is limited by first, the mental capacity of the practitioner, and second, the knowledge of the practitioner.

 

In other words, the power itself is only subject to the limitations above, but the use to which the magic-user can put it is limited by his own capacity and knowledge.

 

Type IIa magic requires that the practitioner have the mental capacity to hold the spell in his mind while he waits to cast it. The more energy the spell requires, the more capacity needed to hold it. In addition, the practitioner must know the set of instructions to give the spirits who will provide the power for the spell itself. These are very specific, and require at least a general knowledge of how the power will be physically interacting with the world to cause the desired effect.

 

For Type IIb magic, the limitations are even more directly tied into the user. The user is acting as a bridge to connect energy taken from one place to another, but is only capable of handling a certain amount without harmful, even fatal side effects. This limit increases with practice, but there are fundamental limitations of the mortal form. In addition, the mage must know how to use the power in order to get the desired effect.

 

It's not just enough to will a fireball into existence, the mage has to know how to channel the energy into a fireball.

 

Another limitation on both forms of magic is that things far away are harder to effect than closer things. This follows an inverse square relationship - if you double the distance you are acting over, you quadruple the energy required.

 

Here's the piece on Spirit Interactions with the Material Realm for Kobold. Anybody playing a character with a familiar might want to check it out, though. It also contains my slight modifications to Type IIa magic.

 

Spiritual/Material Interactions:

Spirits perceive the Material Realm as constantly shifting fields and forces and concentrations of energy. Mortals could do this as well, as they are just class I spirits bound up in Material bodies, but most of their power is sunk into the bonds that tie them to their physical forms. Because awareness is (perhaps exponentially) dependent on available power, this means that a mortal's spiritual perception is very low. In addition, the physical senses (the messages interpreted by the brain) are distracting to that means of perception. Since, for most mortals, the physical senses are significantly superior to their spiritual ones, they most often live and die completely unaware of this alternate means of sensing the world around them.

 

For individuals who are born with what I'll call the magic gene (for now), this mode of perception is much easier to access. With a little effort and practice, they can sense and interact with intelligent entities (who are by far the largest sinks of energy around). They are familiar with the myriad spirits who flit about the Material Realm (and are especially drawn to inhabited worlds), and can invite them to perform tasks for them.

 

Spirit communication (including spirit-to-mortal and the reverse) is mind to mind. As spirits don't have physical senses of their own, the way they see is foreign to the sorcerer. This is especially true of the class of spirits who respond to a sorcerer's command, which have never been embodied (at least in a form with physical senses), and so have no frame of reference, even. This is why sorcerer's spells are memorized recitations. Creating a new spell is a trial and error process of finding new commands that produce the desired effect (without killing oneself in the process). When one works, it is recorded and passed down among the group that found it, because it cannot easily be reconstructed.

 

With a lot more effort and practice, a mortal can begin to perceive the world in terms of its fundamental forces and interactions. With this perception comes a partially intuitive knowledge of how to tinker with those forces. This is magery.

 

With regard to interacting with the Material Realm, the class of spirits that power a sorcerer's spells is completely unable to affect it until they are invited to do so by a sorcerer. They hunger to interact, and so power the spells eagerly for the mere chance of working in the Material Realm.

 

Other spirits can affect the Material Realm, but rarely linger there, moving back and forth among the Outer Realms where they make their homes. Some of these, however, can be convinced (or coerced) to become familiars.

 

Here is the definitive (for now) work on how familiars work, what they can do, and what benefits they grant their partner.

 

Familiars:

Familiars are always drawn from spirits who have been embodied before (almost always as an animal of some sorts, and often as many different animals in the past). These are able to communicate much more clearly with mortals. They are almost always class I beings (rarely class II, and only with a mortal of the same power level).

 

They manifest in a quasi-physical form. Because they can interact with the Material Realm, their form can do the normal things an animal might do. However, the more strongly they manifest, the more able the Material Realm is to interact back with them. Hence, a strongly manifesting familiar can be hit with a sword and hurt (but not killed). To seriously damage a familiar requires a magical weapon, but hurting the form can cause them to un-manifest and re-manifest later (about 5 to 15 minutes) with an undamaged from. This, also, puts them unable to assist their bonded partner.

 

A familiar can use some of its energy to power the spells of a mortal sorcerer. Once used, its power slowly regenerates to become available to it again. Depending on the strength of the familiar, it can power 1-5 spells per day while completely regaining its powers in the interim. If it exceeds those limits, it must rest to be back up to full power. As a general rule, the 1-5 spell limit represents a 10% drain on its power. If it uses a lot of its energy, it can't manifest as strongly, either, so most sorcerers don't draw on their familiar's power too often.

 

Because the familiar was embodied, it can interpret the forces/fields it sees into physical senses. Communication is much easier this way, and so spells powered by a familiar don't have to be memorized by the sorcerer. He can just give the brief instructions to the familiar and have it done. So, in a sense, the sorcerer isn't casting spells at all when he uses a familiar's power.

 

I'm sure that this will spawn a thousand more questions, so, fire away.

 

Oh, and about familiars. Everything I've seen in the RP so far has been completely consistent with how familiars operate.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Anyone have any specific ideas for things for Khuvlai to do in Menkor? Or does anyone want to meet him?

[BreathTaker he/him]

We can bump into each other while I'm running through the alleys. We don't have to fight but we can definitely interact. I'm trying to go for a mix between Gareth Bryne, Mat and Perrin with my character, not usually eager to fight but an excellent fighter and leader none the less. 

[Kobold King he/him]

Warning! Walls of text incoming!

 

This is my massive compilation post intended to answer all of the backlogged questions. When I finish this post, I think that I will be caught up with answering all of the questions folks have asked. Except for spell lists for BreathTaker, Voidus, and anybody else who's playing a character with Type IIa magic. (Sorcery)

 

First, we have my response to Mailliw with regard to the limitations of magic. I've reproduced it here from our PM for everyone else's benefit.

 

Magical Limitations

 

 

Here's the piece on Spirit Interactions with the Material Realm for Kobold. Anybody playing a character with a familiar might want to check it out, though. It also contains my slight modifications to Type IIa magic.

 

Spiritual/Material Interactions:

Spirits perceive the Material Realm as constantly shifting fields and forces and concentrations of energy. Mortals could do this as well, as they are just class I spirits bound up in Material bodies, but most of their power is sunk into the bonds that tie them to their physical forms. Because awareness is (perhaps exponentially) dependent on available power, this means that a mortal's spiritual perception is very low. In addition, the physical senses (the messages interpreted by the brain) are distracting to that means of perception. Since, for most mortals, the physical senses are significantly superior to their spiritual ones, they most often live and die completely unaware of this alternate means of sensing the world around them.

 

For individuals who are born with what I'll call the magic gene (for now), this mode of perception is much easier to access. With a little effort and practice, they can sense and interact with intelligent entities (who are by far the largest sinks of energy around). They are familiar with the myriad spirits who flit about the Material Realm (and are especially drawn to inhabited worlds), and can invite them to perform tasks for them.

 

Spirit communication (including spirit-to-mortal and the reverse) is mind to mind. As spirits don't have physical senses of their own, the way they see is foreign to the sorcerer. This is especially true of the class of spirits who respond to a sorcerer's command, which have never been embodied (at least in a form with physical senses), and so have no frame of reference, even. This is why sorcerer's spells are memorized recitations. Creating a new spell is a trial and error process of finding new commands that produce the desired effect (without killing oneself in the process). When one works, it is recorded and passed down among the group that found it, because it cannot easily be reconstructed.

 

With a lot more effort and practice, a mortal can begin to perceive the world in terms of its fundamental forces and interactions. With this perception comes a partially intuitive knowledge of how to tinker with those forces. This is magery.

 

With regard to interacting with the Material Realm, the class of spirits that power a sorcerer's spells is completely unable to affect it until they are invited to do so by a sorcerer. They hunger to interact, and so power the spells eagerly for the mere chance of working in the Material Realm.

 

Other spirits can affect the Material Realm, but rarely linger there, moving back and forth among the Outer Realms where they make their homes. Some of these, however, can be convinced (or coerced) to become familiars.

 

Here is the definitive (for now) work on how familiars work, what they can do, and what benefits they grant their partner.

 

Familiars:

Familiars are always drawn from spirits who have been embodied before (almost always as an animal of some sorts, and often as many different animals in the past). These are able to communicate much more clearly with mortals. They are almost always class I beings (rarely class II, and only with a mortal of the same power level).

 

They manifest in a quasi-physical form. Because they can interact with the Material Realm, their form can do the normal things an animal might do. However, the more strongly they manifest, the more able the Material Realm is to interact back with them. Hence, a strongly manifesting familiar can be hit with a sword and hurt (but not killed). To seriously damage a familiar requires a magical weapon, but hurting the form can cause them to un-manifest and re-manifest later (about 5 to 15 minutes) with an undamaged from. This, also, puts them unable to assist their bonded partner.

 

A familiar can use some of its energy to power the spells of a mortal sorcerer. Once used, its power slowly regenerates to become available to it again. Depending on the strength of the familiar, it can power 1-5 spells per day while completely regaining its powers in the interim. If it exceeds those limits, it must rest to be back up to full power. As a general rule, the 1-5 spell limit represents a 10% drain on its power. If it uses a lot of its energy, it can't manifest as strongly, either, so most sorcerers don't draw on their familiar's power too often.

 

Because the familiar was embodied, it can interpret the forces/fields it sees into physical senses. Communication is much easier this way, and so spells powered by a familiar don't have to be memorized by the sorcerer. He can just give the brief instructions to the familiar and have it done. So, in a sense, the sorcerer isn't casting spells at all when he uses a familiar's power.

 

I'm sure that this will spawn a thousand more questions, so, fire away.

 

Oh, and about familiars. Everything I've seen in the RP so far has been completely consistent with how familiars operate.

 

This is seriously awesome. The degree of quality worldbuilding in this thread continues to astonish me.

 

Here's the general concept for my character, presented for review.

 

I envision my character as a spirit who has been embodied hundreds of times through Edassa's history, usually taking the form of various animals of lower intelligence. She has lived many lives--a tomcat named Speckles one life, one of a thousand herrings in a school the next. Since becoming a familiar, however, she's taken to strongly identifying with what she sees as her most successful life--that of the Murk Lurker.

 

The Murk Lurker was an exceptionally large and powerful female crocodile which became infamous for her ferocity and sudden ambushes. Her life as the Murk Lurker lasted a hundred and twenty-eight years, during which she hatched countless young, staked out an enormous territory, and devoured dozens of villagers. She looks back to her crocodile days with nostalgia, and takes the shape of a gargantuan grey crocodile as her familiar form.

 

Would that be suitable, Seonid? If so, what sort of terrestrial crocodile is the most similar to Edassa's variety? I'm thinking in terms of the Australian saltwater crocodile, but I can change that if necessary. I could even change the character to a large alligator.

 

As a final note, I can't quite remember who my assigned sorcerer was. So who's interested in an enormous infamous crocodile as a familiar?

[Mailliw73 he/him]

This is seriously awesome. The degree of quality worldbuilding in this thread continues to astonish me.

 

As a final note, I can't quite remember who my assigned sorcerer was. So who's interested in an enormous infamous crocodile as a familiar?

 

Seriously. I applaud you Seonid. Kobold, you should see the stuff I got on the Nessei people to write my character. There's so much info for it. And I got a bunch of info on Mages and their power.

 

Wasn't it Voidus?

[BreathTaker he/him]

Hey Seonid can I get some info on the Svalding? I would like to know if they are tribal or not. I would also like to know if maybe they worshiped something similar to the Nordic pantheon so I can use some of their oaths as a habit that Bran never shook (I know Bran is a Gaelic name but I wanted to use it ((It's the root of my real name which translate to Little Raven from what I gathered.))) Also, tattoos, do they usually have any and what do they look like if they do? Some of you may know I love ink. 

 

Maybe you could just post that here since Cloud is also using a Svalding.

[Voidus]

Yeah it was me if that's still ok with you Kobold.

[Kobold King he/him]

Yeah it was me if that's still ok with you Kobold.

 

That's definitely fine by me. Are you OK with having a crocodilian familiar?

[Voidus]

That's definitely fine by me. Are you OK with having a crocodilian familiar?

Yeah definitely, it would suit my character pretty well I think.

[Kobold King he/him]

Yeah definitely, it would suit my character pretty well I think.

 

Murk Lurker will have at best an apathetic view of human life--being a spirit with knowledge of the afterlife, she doesn't see human fatalities as a particularly serious issue. Having died a thousand times herself, she sees it as only a temporary inconvenience in the life cycle of a soul. So she wouldn't be much of a moral leash to Samuel Carthen.

 

I imagine she'll spend much of her time lounging on riverbanks until Samuel needs her. She'll be less active and definitely not as meekly subservient as Muni the wolf.

 

 

EDIT: Seonid, how much awareness of past lives do familiar spirits possess? And are they all limited to an animal-like intellect, like Muni the wolf?

Edited December 20, 2014 by Kobold King

[Seonid he/him]

This is seriously awesome. The degree of quality worldbuilding in this thread continues to astonish me.

 

Here's the general concept for my character, presented for review.

 

I envision my character as a spirit who has been embodied hundreds of times through Edassa's history, usually taking the form of various animals of lower intelligence. She has lived many lives--a tomcat named Speckles one life, one of a thousand herrings in a school the next. Since becoming a familiar, however, she's taken to strongly identifying with what she sees as her most successful life--that of the Murk Lurker.

 

The Murk Lurker was an exceptionally large and powerful female crocodile which became infamous for her ferocity and sudden ambushes. Her life as the Murk Lurker lasted a hundred and twenty-eight years, during which she hatched countless young, staked out an enormous territory, and devoured dozens of villagers. She looks back to her crocodile days with nostalgia, and takes the shape of a gargantuan grey crocodile as her familiar form.

 

Would that be suitable, Seonid? If so, what sort of terrestrial crocodile is the most similar to Edassa's variety? I'm thinking in terms of the Australian saltwater crocodile, but I can change that if necessary. I could even change the character to a large alligator.

 

As a final note, I can't quite remember who my assigned sorcerer was. So who's interested in an enormous infamous crocodile as a familiar?

 

That sounds exactly in line with the way familiars (and other spirits like them who don't end up called into service) work!

 

The Edassan crocodile is most like the Nile species (C. niloticus), although several smaller variants exist (including a small freshwater species similar to the Terran caiman that is native to the Jyid). The Edassan crocodile's range spreads from the southern edge of the continent (which is located somewhat south of the equator, although not out of the tropics) up to the southern shores of the middle sea. Anciently, an even larger saltwater species inhabited the Minharan delta and the shores of the Jade Sea, but these have been hunted into extinction. Either would be appropriate for the Murk Lurker.

 

And thanks for the compliments. 

 

Seriously. I applaud you Seonid. Kobold, you should see the stuff I got on the Nessei people to write my character. There's so much info for it. And I got a bunch of info on Mages and their power.

 

Wasn't it Voidus?

 

I'll reproduce that here, too, if anyone is particularly interested in it. Keep in mind that these are clipped from PM responses to questions, so they may seem a little incomplete. But I hope y'all find it interesting. And if not, well, that's why it's in spoiler tags. Also, thank you Mail. It is nice to see folks so interested in this little universe of mine.

 

Nessei

If you want comparisons with similar (although by no means identical) Earth cultures, the Nessei are going to be most similar to the Mongols. (Probably because their ancestors were Mongolian refugees from Earth).

 

Nessei tend to be short and slim, with Mongoloid features and skin tone, though they have very little body fat generally. They are historically nomadic, following (or driving) their herds of cattle/game/whatever. They pretty much live in the saddle, and often develop very close bonds with their horses. Each adult Nessei male owns at least 3 or 4 horses, and chiefs can own upwards of 10. The number of horses you own is directly correlated with your standing in the tribe.

 

When a boy comes of age, he is given the gift of his own horse, which is ritually bonded to him. (No magic happening here, just coming of age rituals). He acquires other horses in raids on neighboring tribes or other enemies.

 

Their clothing tends to be leather or flax, and is all woven/cured/manufactured by themselves (generally done by the women, although all men know how to repair clothes on the war trail). They train heavily in the bow, and are the best mounted archers in the world. Their short horsebows are constructed from layered horn, and can put an arrow through chain mail at about 300 paces. (Plate mail is much more iffy, of course, but targeting the horse is always an option). In close combat, they use short, curved swords or long knives. Spears and lances are not preferred. At all.

 

War training is required of all members of the tribe; although only men are allowed to go on raids, the women are expected to know how to defend themselves and the tribe while the men are gone.

 

Naming conventions follow a standard pattern. Every child has a child-name, the one that they are called by growing up. When they come of age, they receive a secret spirit-name from the shaman of the tribe. Along with this, they are given their adult name, often that of a revered ancestor or tribal hero, and then an identifier is added onto that name to distinguish them.

 

Example: A child is born and given the child name Ikko. When he turns 12 (his coming of age), he goes to the shaman, and is given a new spirit-name of Ghal, or fire. This he keeps secret for his whole life. But he also is given an adult name of Temaur, who was his great great grandfather, and a notable member of the tribe. Because there have been several Temaurs, the shaman adds the identifier, Khur, or dark (referring to his darker than normal complexion). Henceforth, he'll be known as Temaur Khur, or Temaur the Dark. This name would be used within the tribe, or between other Nessei tribes.

 

He also has his tribe name (The Jeyyaurids), so to outsiders, he'd introduce himself as Temaur Jeyyaurid (Temaur of the Jeyyaurid tribe). He wouldn't use the identifier name unless he was close enough friends with the outsider to consider them as part of his tribe.

 

The Nessei religion is not organized at all. Each tribe has a shaman, who is supposed to be in contact with the world of the spirits (some are actually sorcerers, some are not). The shaman is generally supposed to deal with any spiritual issues, leaving the average tribesmember to focus on daily life matters.

 

Of far more importance in the individual spiritual lives of the Nessei are the ancestors. The ancestors are highly revered (personal, not tribal). The mother of each family is responsible for maintaining a portable shrine which has the ashes of several generations of ancestors (mostly patriarchal). Death is treated by cremation, except in cases where the deceased was declared to be dishonorable. Then their body is left to the beasts of carrion, and their name is sticken from the ancestral lists.

 

In addition to the familial ancestors, each male, when he officially becomes a man (not the same as the coming of age ceremony), is given a finger bone of a honored warrior of the tribe. His spirit is believed to watch over the new warrior, and even possess him in battle when the need is dire. Before every battle, the warrior slices a small cut into the palm of his hand, and coats the finger bone in his own blood. The scars left behind by the process are the source of one of the disparaging nicknames for a Nessei - scarhand.

 

In 1375, many Nessei tribes have taken service as warriors with one of the city-states. The tribes that haven't look down a little on that, but not a whole lot. It's seen as a treaty, which is a sign of weakness, but not a sign of dishonor. The full measure of Nessei disdain is reserved for those Nessei who have taken up residence inside a city (become 'city-dwellers') or hired out as mercenaries. These are seen as traitors and dishonored. However, as times get harder and harder in the north, more and more take this route, and the free Nessei on the plains are dwindling.

 

As far as magic goes, Nessei are far more likely to be sorcerers than mages, as the spirits figure so prominently into their superstition. However, mages are not unknown, and are referred to as powerful individuals who have been blessed with 'spiritsight,' the ability to see the world and affect it like spirits do. They are highly revered and feared (although not sought for as shamans), but also avoided because of that fear.

 

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Coming of age happens at the onset of puberty for both boys and girls (so between 11 and 12, generally, but sometimes later). This is the formal passing from childhood into adulthood. However, the youth is in a kind of a state of limbo until they either get married (for girls) or are inducted as a warrior (for boys). This tends to happen between 14 and 15, although can happen as young as 13 (or younger, in an emergency). During the inbetween time, the youth is no longer a child, but not fully an adult. It is seen as a very vulnerable time for the person, and they tend to spend a lot of time with the shaman receiving spiritual protection.

 

As far as your backstory, it all fits. The tribes constantly bicker among each other, although attacking the camps and families only happens during a blood feud, which are thankfully rare. Nessei bent on total extermination are brutal and thorough. It could certainly be that your character's family became victims of a blood feud (either still ongoing or resolved).

 

As far as being exiled from the tribe, there are reasons that could happen. If the shaman finds you (or claims to find you) consorting with evil spirits, or if you do something wholly dishonorable, like killing a tribe member, it could happen. Also, if you leave to take up residence in a city, or to hire out as a mercenary, exile is immediate and permanent.

 

Another reason for leaving the tribe, however, could be for a spirit-journey. It doesn't happen to everyone, but every now and then, the shaman tells someone that they have to go on an important journey that is vital for the spiritual welfare of the individual and the tribe. It commonly happens to young would-be shamans, who come back with a familiar spirit ready to be shamans in their own right. Or they don't come back at all. It happens to others too, especially after a traumatic death (such as deaths in a blood feud) or a dishonor. A relative of the deceased or exiled person will often undergo such a test or journey to either put to rest the restless spirits of the dead or to purge the stain of dishonor from the family.

 

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Oh, I forgot to mention that most Nessei have a racial superiority complex. Your character doesn't have to share it, but if you could work in there a belief that anybody who is non-Nessei is inherently inferior, it would be a culturally appropriate touch.

 

Mage Magic

The spirits that animate mortals are able to perceive the Material Realm in the same way as all other spirits, as shifting patterns of energy and forces, intermixed with other intelligent entities. However, the mortal brain is wired into physical senses, and most of the mortal's spiritual power is sunk into the bonds that tie their spirit to the physical body. This means that their spiritual perception is extremely low to begin with, and the physical senses add further interference. Actually being able to sense the spiritual perception is extraordinarily difficult for the average mortal.

 

Those born with the magic gene have a much easier time of it. Other intelligent entities are the easiest to perceive, as the highest concentrations of energy around. Sorcerers stop here, and just interact with these entities in order to perform magic. Mages push their perception further, until they can perceive (with effort, and only when they're concentrating) the fundamental forces and fields that make up the Material Realm. The ability to see it comes with an intuitive understanding of how to make simple changes. Adding or removing energy from an object (essentially, heating it up or cooling it down), and things of that nature are among the easiest and simplest things a mage can do. These require almost no practice, it just comes with the ability to see how things are put together. More complex things, like manipulating gravity or air pressure, require much more practice and experimentation.

 

With regard to your examples, yes, exploding a boulder or creating a wind shield are well within a mage's capabilities. Fireballs, lightning bolts, even weather control are also possible. However, those get progressively more difficult to accomplish. (Especially weather control. That complex of a system requires intimate understanding to pull off. Only the most powerful mages ever get any good at it.)

 

If Khuvlai has been practicing for 19 years, he'll probably be rather powerful and knowledgeable. The thing with mages is that, once they know how to do a thing, they can do it in any number of different circumstances. Magically starting a campfire and creating a fireball are fundamentally the same thing for the mage, it just takes different amounts of energy. Same with charging a battery and creating a lightning bolt. So instead of thinking of different discrete spells that he can do, it is more helpful to think of the kinds of things he can do, and then think of uses to which they (and combinations of them) can be put.

 

Examples: Manifesting fire

 

Can be used to start a campfire, light an enemy's clothes on fire, all sorts of things like that, etc.

 

Telekinesis

 

Can be used to pick things up, shoot them in different directions, stop things thrown/shot at you.

 

Heating and cooling:

 

Can freeze or vaporize water, heat an enemy's sword up so it burns him, cool a lava flow, or melt a rock.

 

Now think of combinations of uses:

Fire + telekinesis:

 

Shoot plumes of flame from a hand; fire fireballs at an enemy, create conjuring tricks with fire.

 

Cooling + fire:

Create a fire that gives light but doesn't burn. Create a wall of fire that burns only when you try to pass through it.

 

Cooling + telekinesis:

Drench and then freeze enemies with water. Create a shield of ice.

 

Limitation

Distance is an important factor. A sorcerer can just have a spirit go up to a distant target and affect it (although not too far away, because of reasons that aren't relevant here), so the range is the range from the spirit doing the effect. A mage does all of the affecting himself. So, it's much easier to create a fireball and launch it at someone than it is to create a fireball in the middle of the distant group of enemies. That's important to remember. If you want a distant effect, try to create something next to you and then move it.

 

The second important factor is how much energy it takes to produce an effect. The human mind can only handle being a bridge for so much energy without permanent damage to various parts of the body/mind/etc. So no nuking cities. Pretty much it's a cap on how much you can do, not on what you can do. And there is a sort of cooldown too. Too much energy in a short period of time, and you risk damage, but also trying to use less energy but sustaining it over longer periods risks the same. To know your exact limits, I'd have to know what powers you anticipate him having developed, and what uses he'd be putting them to. But this is the basic idea of the mental capacity limit. How much you can handle increases as you get better (and 19 years is quite a bit of increasing), but there are basic limitations of how much energy the mortal form can transfer.

 

Hey Seonid can I get some info on the Svalding? I would like to know if they are tribal or not. I would also like to know if maybe they worshiped something similar to the Nordic pantheon so I can use some of their oaths as a habit that Bran never shook (I know Bran is a Gaelic name but I wanted to use it ((It's the root of my real name which translate to Little Raven from what I gathered.))) Also, tattoos, do they usually have any and what do they look like if they do? Some of you may know I love ink. 

 

Maybe you could just post that here since Cloud is also using a Svalding.

 

I will definitely give a cultural profile for the Svaldings, but your intuition about the Norse similarity is spot on. Not exactly the same, but related to the Norse to about the same degree as the Nessei are to the Mongols. It's a little late for me to do that tonight (I have to get up again in about 4 hours), so I'll do it after I get home tomorrow. Probably around noon, MST.

 

Murk Lurker will have at best an apathetic view of human life--being a spirit with knowledge of the afterlife, she doesn't see human fatalities as a particularly serious issue. Having died a thousand times herself, she sees it as only a temporary inconvenience in the life cycle of a soul. So she wouldn't be much of a moral leash to Samuel Carthen.

 

I imagine she'll spend much of her time lounging on riverbanks until Samuel needs her. She'll be less active and definitely not as meekly subservient as Muni the wolf.

 

 

EDIT: Seonid, how much awareness of past lives do familiar spirits possess? And are they all limited to an animal-like intellect, like Muni the wolf?

 

Just a note, the wolf is Fen, not Muni.

 

All spirits have full awareness of their past lives. It's only when they are actually living them that the memories are veiled. And the class of spirits from which familiars are drawn are all of human or near-human intelligence. However, their thought patterns are generally not human, and run in the manner of their favored/most identified with/most repeated form. In addition, the physical manifestation of a form (even if it's not a full physical body) does have an influence on the thought patterns. The familiar chooses a form to which it already has an attachment, and when manifesting, its thoughts follow the patterns that are native to the form. So Fen thinks like a wolf, just a wolf if it had human-level intelligence. So a wolf+, rather than a human in a wolf's body.

 

 

[EDIT:] This weekend or so, I plan on moving all of the worldbuilding info to a new thread in the Creator's Corner. This thread will be more focused on the RP itself (and any worldbuilding necessary to inform it), but all of the background magic info and culture/history stuff will move to the worldbuilding thread. There, I'll be able to explore other facets of Edassa without distracting from the RP. Sound like a good idea?

Edited December 20, 2014 by Seonid