Creation Daily

[Mestiv he/him]

That's really up to a person it's not like they have a strict guideline they enforce. In some social circles they're OK, in others not. 

[Lindel he/him]

I've been working on a method of categorization for my recent alternate realities world-building project. The categories are based around how much impact the divergences between realities have had on the present day up to this point. It's like a branching tree, where a combination of the distance and significance of the divergences together determine the level of similarity between two realities, and groupings of sufficiently similar realities are given specific designations based on their level of divergence.   

Analogs are realities that are virtually identical to each other in every way. They're only distinguished by minor, inconsequential differences, and aren't distinct in the grand scheme of things. An analog of our world today could be a reality in which I wore a different color of shirt on Tuesday, or missed the bus, or any number of insignificant differences. Divergences exist, but for all intents and purposes, they have had little to no effect on the world. Parallel realities are realities that are mostly the same as ours, with the exception of key differences in the recent past that have had a fairly significant impact on history. Divergent analogs are somewhere between analogs and parallel realities. It's a specific designation given to analogs that have divergences that are minor, but considered notable enough to warrant a unique designation. The exact definition of a divergent analog is somewhat subjective. It's a relative term, often given because the divergence is closer to home. Divergent analogs can eventually evolve into parallel realities, though the time it takes for those ripples to spread varies. Sets of parallel realities are grouped into Cosms, vast collections of realities which all share a history that's roughly the same. Cosms typically diverge from one another in the more distant, historical past, and are vastly different from each other in huge, world-altering ways. Cosms are further grouped into Metacosms, which are clusters of Cosms that are tangentially similar, but diverged in untraceable ways millennia ago. The Metaverse is the entire expanse of Cosms, Metacosms, parallel realities, and analogs, and it encompasses the complete scope of every possible outcome of every choice that could ever have been made, and every instance of random chance that might ever have occurred.

EDIT: To clarify, I think I meant to be saying that bordering Metacosms might be tangentially similar, but they diverged from each other millennia ago in untraceable ways. Cosms in the same Metacosm will typically have clear divergences dating to specific points in recorded history, whereas separate Metacosms have histories that are almost entirely unique from one another.     

Edited June 27, 2016 by Lindel
Clarification

[Oversleep]

Sometimes inspiration is drawn from weird sources. Mine was a physics lesson few years ago.

I assume you know what tuning fork is. There is a certain trait I was not aware until that lesson (and I played with tuning forks quite a lot): it is almost too faint to be hearable unless you press it against some resonator (like table or something) or move it very closely to your ear. The reason is that

Quote

the sound waves produced by each fork prong are 180° out of phase with the other, so at a distance from the fork they interfere and largely cancel each other out. If a sound absorbing sheet is slid in between the prongs of a vibrating fork, reducing the waves reaching the ear from one prong, the volume heard will actually increase, due to a reduction of this cancellation.

It's a thing that produces sound only in small area around itself!

So I imagined a scene when a tuning fork is struck and thrown at enemy in such a way that it passes just next to his ear... It's unhearable at distance, so it's dismissed as not dangerous, but when it goes near the ear suddenly the enemy hears the sound. How do you weaponize sound? Maybe a sound mage charged it with a spell so the sound is painful. Or maybe it paralyses with sound. Or something. The possibilities are endless.

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

On 25/06/2016 at 4:21 PM, Lindel said:

Is that in reference to something specific, or just a cool sounding name? 

Oh, I was thinking of the Shattering of Adonalsium at the time, and thought Why not? 17 States

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

1 hour ago, Lindel said:

I've been working on a method of categorization for my recent alternate realities world-building project. The categories are based around how much impact the divergences between realities have had on the present day up to this point. It's like a branching tree, where a combination of the distance and significance of the divergences together determine the level of similarity between two realities, and groupings of sufficiently similar realities are given specific designations based on their level of divergence.   

Analogs are realities that are virtually identical to each other in every way. They're only distinguished by minor, inconsequential differences, and aren't distinct in the grand scheme of things. An analog of our world today could be a reality in which I wore a different color of shirt on Tuesday, or missed the bus, or any number of insignificant differences. Divergences exist, but for all intents and purposes, they have had little to no effect on the world. Parallel realities are realities that are mostly the same as ours, with the exception of key differences in the recent past that have had a fairly significant impact on history. Divergent analogs are somewhere between analogs and parallel realities. It's a specific designation given to analogs that have divergences that are minor, but considered notable enough to warrant a unique designation. The exact definition of a divergent analog is somewhat subjective. It's a relative term, often given because the divergence is closer to home. Divergent analogs can eventually evolve into parallel realities, though the time it takes for those ripples to spread varies. Sets of parallel realities are grouped into Cosms, vast collections of realities which all share a history that's roughly the same. Cosms typically diverge from one another in the more distant, historical past, and are vastly different from each other in huge, world-altering ways. Cosms are further grouped into Metacosms, which are clusters of Cosms that are tangentially similar, but diverged in untraceable ways millennia ago. The Metaverse is the entire expanse of Cosms, Metacosms, parallel realities, and analogs, and it encompasses the complete scope of every possible outcome of every choice that could ever have been made, and every instance of random chance that might ever have occurred.  

This is confusing.

1 hour ago, Oversleep said:

Sometimes inspiration is drawn from weird sources. Mine was a physics lesson few years ago.

I assume you know what tuning fork is. There is a certain trait I was not aware until that lesson (and I played with tuning forks quite a lot): it is almost too faint to be hearable unless you press it against some resonator (like table or something) or move it very closely to your ear. The reason is that

It's a thing that produces sound only in small area around itself!

So I imagined a scene when a tuning fork is struck and thrown at enemy in such a way that it passes just next to his ear... It's unhearable at distance, so it's dismissed as not dangerous, but when it goes near the ear suddenly the enemy hears the sound. How do you weaponize sound? Maybe a sound mage charged it with a spell so the sound is painful. Or maybe it paralyses with sound. Or something. The possibilities are endless.

Just play Justin Bieber.

[Quiver he/him]

Damnation.

I love this thread. You guys have so many great ideas.

I hate this thread. You guys have so many great ideas.

It's inspiring, and envy inducing, all at the same time. Keep up the good work, please!

Edited June 27, 2016 by Quiver

[Lindel he/him]

16 hours ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

This is confusing.

In a good way, or just a boring way? 

17 hours ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

Oh, I was thinking of the Shattering of Adonalsium at the time, and thought Why not? 17 States

Haha, fair enough. Shattered States actually does sound pretty cool!

 

EDIT: Storm it, I used up all my reputation-giving last night, and it's still counting it for today. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by Lindel
Additional stuff to say

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

5 hours ago, Lindel said:

In a good way, or just a boring way? 

A good way, if you explain this in an easier way when incorporating the system into a book or something I have a feeling it will be like a scifi Laws of Magic

[Quiver he/him]

Hmm.

So, I had an idea I thought would be fun; an all female regiment of Knights, riding war unicorns. Thought it would be a fun way to subvert the idea hat unicorns are "girly", and I kind of had an idea for a culture based around antlers and horns as cultural symbols; nature's crowns, so to speak...

Turns out, female reindeer are the only kind of deer that cam grow antlers. So now I'm wondering if they'd fit the setting better.

Alternatively, since I'm thinking of playing with the idea of competition and factions...Maybe having both as separate regional orders? 

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

23 hours ago, Quiver said:

Hmm.

So, I had an idea I thought would be fun; an all female regiment of Knights, riding war unicorns. Thought it would be a fun way to subvert the idea hat unicorns are "girly", and I kind of had an idea for a culture based around antlers and horns as cultural symbols; nature's crowns, so to speak...

Turns out, female reindeer are the only kind of deer that cam grow antlers. So now I'm wondering if they'd fit the setting better.

Alternatively, since I'm thinking of playing with the idea of competition and factions...Maybe having both as separate regional orders? 

Amazons plus Robot Unicorn attack  

[Quiver he/him]

1 hour ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

Amazons plus Robot Unicorn attack  

You know, everyone makes that connection. I'd thought maybe more French, or Celtic, but maybe I should just go straight up Grecian with the premise...

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

1 hour ago, Quiver said:

You know, everyone makes that connection. I'd thought maybe more French, or Celtic, but maybe I should just go straight up Grecian with the premise...

They do??Huh. 

Make them Scottish, it will be funnier

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Okay, so I'm going to need some help here. 

I've run into a bit of a timeline snarl. For the uninitiated, my story is set in an alternate version of WWII where a scientist, working for the US, successfully created three strains of a virus that grants superpowers through gene-hacking. Now, the way I had my WIP set up originally, the work on this virus began before the US even thought about entering WWII, done alongside other experiments with radiation to give the US an edge in future conflicts; however, the virus wasn't finished until late in 1942. It was released in early 1943, though the scientist in charge also ensured it was released in other regions of the world with the goal of toppling corrupt power structures from within. (She knew that people in those power structures—Nazis, for example—would gain powers as well, viruses being very impartial things, but with how widespread the virus would wind up being, figured those oppressed would be able to overwhelm the powerful by numbers at least.) 

So. My problem is that I'd like to have the viruses reach Nazi-occupied territory—specifically, Poland—before the Warsaw ghetto is emptied. Deportations to Treblinka began in July 1942, meaning the viruses would have to have been released sometime in early 1942, meaning they would've had to have been ready—viable, complete, and tested for safety—mere months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 

Does this strain credulity? If so, I could have the viruses reach and spread through the concentration camps, which would then be toppled from within.  

Naturally, all of this will cause a major divergence from our timeline, but depending on the route I take, the POD will look very different. I have vague ideas of how this will happen, but I don't know if I can explain them well before I do additional research. However, I need to know which route I'm going to take before I research further, so I can direct that research and ensure it's thorough. 

 

[Mestiv he/him]

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles I don't see anything wrong with the timeline. You didn't specify when did the scientists begun to work on this virus, so they may have been working on it for years already, before the Pearl Harbor happened. The timing would be lucky, but that's part of the genre I think, that superheroes appear, when they are most needed

I wonder, how are you going to move said virus from USA to Poland? 

If you need any help, I live in Warsaw and I'm willing to answer questions and help with research 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

@Mestiv: That's actually one question I've been trying to answer. How does she get the virus from the United States to other countries, specifically occupied nations like Poland? I think the most plausible idea I had was that she has collaborators in other nations. Maybe she has one who works closely with the Polish government-in-exile, or is part of said government-in-exile. She could also have collaborators in other European countries, France specifically. I'm currently thinking that the US would share the viruses with the UK for sure; probably not the Soviet Union, but probably the UK, so she wouldn't have to worry about spreading it there. 

Again, it's all pretty vague right now, so I'd appreciate any input anyone has. 

[Mestiv he/him]

Throughout the WWII and especially before the Warsaw Uprising, there were always strong and very active resistance groups in Poland. In every city, there were hundreds of people working against the occupant, printing illegal newspapers and organizing bigger and smaller attacks against the Nazis. If your scientists wanted to get something somewhere in Poland, doing so through this underground networks would be their best option.

[Edgedancer he/him]

7 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

@Mestiv: That's actually one question I've been trying to answer. How does she get the virus from the United States to other countries, specifically occupied nations like Poland? I think the most plausible idea I had was that she has collaborators in other nations. Maybe she has one who works closely with the Polish government-in-exile, or is part of said government-in-exile. She could also have collaborators in other European countries, France specifically. I'm currently thinking that the US would share the viruses with the UK for sure; probably not the Soviet Union, but probably the UK, so she wouldn't have to worry about spreading it there. 

Again, it's all pretty vague right now, so I'd appreciate any input anyone has. 

One question here is how resistant the virus would be. Transporting something that can survive in the open air no matter the temperature would be much easier than something that needs to stay in its test tube.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

1 minute ago, Mestiv said:

Throughout the WWII and especially before the Warsaw Uprising, there were always strong and very active resistance groups in Poland. In every city, there were hundreds of people working against the occupant, printing illegal newspapers and organizing bigger and smaller attacks against the Nazis. If your scientists wanted to get something somewhere in Poland, doing so through this underground networks would be their best option.

My thinking was that the government-in-exile got the virus to the mainland through collaboration with the resistance. I admittedly haven't done much research on how that could work, but if that happened, then the resistance could feasibly spread the virus far and wide while the Nazis were still wondering what the crap it was. (Yes, some Nazis would catch the virus—that's inevitable. But the resistance movements would have the advantage of knowing what it did and what to expect.) My reasoning for starting with the government-in-exile is that at the time the virus would've been released, it would've been based in London; and since the US and UK were on good terms at that point (not to say they aren't now), it'd be much easier for an American to move freely about the UK than it would be for them to move freely about much of Europe. 

Just now, Edgedancer said:

One question here is how resistant the virus would be. Transporting something that can survive in the open air no matter the temperature would be much easier than something that needs to stay in its test tube.

The resistance is strong with this one. It was designed to be spread through open air and other readily available channels, so it'll be a hardy little virus. 

[Young Bard he/him]

...I think I've made my language too perfect.

This might sound like boasting, but it's not. The thing is, languages are messy, senseless, and lack any kind of logic or order. The thing is, I started making a language on the basis that each phenomes has a specific meaning, and that you combine these phenomes to get a word which means something specific. In this way, even someone who's never heard the word before will know the rough meaning of what they're trying to say.

But, the problem is, that it means my language can't grow and develop. The modern letter for 'a', if you go back far enough, came from the Egyptian hieroglyphic for the 'a' sound, which was a resemblance of an open human mouth (which makes an 'a' sound if you voice something in that position). With this system, it's just... simple, yet efficient. I can't think how this language came to be. Was there a revolution for the lower classes to better be able to understand the language (which is what happened in Korea in the 13/14th Century, making it one of the easiest to understand.) Is this a language that has somehow remained unchanged throughout the years? If so, why? Is it some sort of holy language? Was it invented by humans, or the gods?

The thing is, this hypothetical language would be easier to speak than English, unless I'm missing any major flaws. The fact that I did a better job of creating a language in a single afternoon then humanity did in 5000 years is kind of bizarre (and now I sound like I'm boasting again. That's not the point of this... I can't get the words to speak out right. Maybe I should try Bard's language... )

Of course, I'm also yet to create sentence structure, dialects, and any other fine details besides the words themselves, but... it's weird.

Also, I really should be focusing on a bunch of other things, both in-universe and in real life as well... But this is fun, and I don't want to... #whoneedsadulting

Edited July 4, 2016 by The Young Bard

[Mestiv he/him]

Soooo, you make words using phenomes. Where did the phenomes come from? Are there any new phenomes appearing throughout the years? If you have a basic set of phenomes, then with time, your words will twist the meaning of those phenomes as the technology progresses. Phenome with one meaning might start to have a different meaning. Only dead languages are not changing. 

How many phenomes does this language has? 

[Zathoth]

It could be a constructed language (I know it is a constructed language, but it could be one in universe as well). Like how esperanto was made to be a world language, but is way too euro-centric to actually work as such (I wouldnt mind if Europe had such a language though, but now I am getting off track), or how how Lojban was made to be as logical and unambigious as possible (Possibly while sacrificing brevity) or how Ithkuil is unambigious, logical and brief, while being absolutely impossible to learn.

The thing with natural languages is that they suck. They were never made to make sense, they were invented on the spot to help people communicate and then evolved. It isnt that hard to come up with something that makes more sense than english in an afternoon XD

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

Hate to nitpick, but it's actually phonemes.

In addition to @Mestiv's remark about technology, there's also the matter of ease of use. If you have a reasonable complex (or even not so complex) concept or object that gets used often the natural consequence will be to contract the word into fewer phonemes. And there you have an evolving language which eventually would be just as messy and senseless-seeming as any other.

How do you determine the sequence of phonemes? Does /c//a//t/ mean something different in your language than /a//c//t/

 

The following is mostly a joke.

If you have a sentence like the following (contents of brackets to be replaced by their relative Phonemes)
[possibility]+[verb]+[interrogatory] [second person singular] [action]+[verb]+[movement]+[direction]+[first person singular] [food]+[grain]+[product of division]+[water]+[heat] [polite]+[request]
it's a lot easier to just say "Could you pass the bread please?" (and I even left out salt and yeast from the bread description, can you imagine how hard it might be to describe yeast?)

 

Edit: the concept reminds me of Newspeak from 1984. Doubleplusgood, anyone?

Edited July 5, 2016 by Eagle of the Forest Path

[Quiver he/him]

I think I might have run into a bit of a problem. 

See, there's an idea I've been batting around for a couple of days. I thought maybe it would be kind of fun to do a story based around the wife of a king or would-be Emperor. I was actually picturing him as being in the vein on Alexnder the Great, or Gavilar; someone who embarked on a large, and super successful, war of conquest, seizing control of a heretofore unprecedented amount of territory, and all united beneath his banner...

At which point he dies.

Obviously, in the Stormlight Archive, Dalinar is -barely- able to hold Alethekar together. Historically, Alexander's death led to the Wars of the Diadochi, where his generals and family members basically carved up the Empire amongst themselves.

What I was thinking was, spinning that off in a slightly different direction. After fantasy!Alexander's death, his army and successors start debating what to do amongst themselves... at which point his wife basically steps in and says "No, I'm carrying his child, so I'm not letting everything we worked for fall apart. I'm in charge."

Problem: I can barely make ONE interesting culture. Part of the hallmarks of Alexander the Great's conquest was the fact that he conquered so many different cultures and beliefs into his empire... and I'm not quite sure how to build that many decent societies, in a realistic fashion. Any advice? I'm sort of worried I'm going to end up drawing too much on historical precedent...

[Young Bard he/him]

16 hours ago, Mestiv said:

Soooo, you make words using phenomes. Where did the phenomes come from? Are there any new phenomes appearing throughout the years? If you have a basic set of phenomes, then with time, your words will twist the meaning of those phenomes as the technology progresses. Phenome with one meaning might start to have a different meaning. Only dead languages are not changing. 

How many phenomes does this language has? 

Right now, there are about the same number of phonemes as in the english language (so roughly about 45 or so, though I'm still searching up a few others that don't appear in the English language - I'm aiming for an even 50). There might be new phonemes that appear, yes. I'll have to think about how I manage that though, as it would have to be a popular idea that came into existence in the not-too-distant-past. I'll have to make a new field of study in technology just so I can place this in now...  Thanks!

15 hours ago, Morzathoth said:

It could be a constructed language (I know it is a constructed language, but it could be one in universe as well). Like how esperanto was made to be a world language, but is way too euro-centric to actually work as such (I wouldnt mind if Europe had such a language though, but now I am getting off track), or how how Lojban was made to be as logical and unambigious as possible (Possibly while sacrificing brevity) or how Ithkuil is unambigious, logical and brief, while being absolutely impossible to learn.

The thing with natural languages is that they suck. They were never made to make sense, they were invented on the spot to help people communicate and then evolved. It isnt that hard to come up with something that makes more sense than english in an afternoon XD

Thanks! I'm not sure I want to head in exactly in that direction (part of the world has wars going on mostly due to vastly different cultural beliefs, so I don't think unifying traits like languages really mix with what I've got), but it's a good idea if I ever recycle the language in a future worldbuilding project.

9 minutes ago, Eagle of the Forest Path said:

1. Hate to nitpick, but it's actually phonemes.

2. In addition to @Mestiv's remark about technology, there's also the matter of ease of use. If you have a reasonable complex (or even not so complex) concept or object that gets used often the natural consequence will be to contract the word into fewer phonemes. And there you have an evolving language which eventually would be just as messy and senseless-seeming as any other.

3. How do you determine the sequence of phonemes? Does /c//a//t/ mean something different in your language than /a//c//t/

The following is mostly a joke.

4. If you have a sentence like the following (contents of brackets to be replaced by their relative Phonemes)
[possibility]+[verb]+[interrogatory] [second person singular] [action]+[verb]+[movement]+[direction]+[first person singular] [food]+[grain]+[product of division]+[water]+[heat] [polite]+[request]
it's a lot easier to just say "Could you pass the bread please?" (and I even left out salt and yeast from the bread description, can you imagine how hard it might be to describe yeast?)

1. Thanks! Silly 1am typing.  That's what I meant.

2. And that idea helps a lot. I'll make sure to do that. Also, I'll probably make a few words which don't make sense if you look at the meaning of the phonemes compared to the meaning of the word unless you know context (in the same way that 'break a leg' meant as encouragement would seem strange to someone who didn't know the phrase)

3. I hadn't set anything firmly, but I have a few rough ideas.

4. That sounds complex, but if each of them equals a single sound, then it shouldn't matter too much, particularly since most people will recognize most words right off, and it's only more unusual or technical words that people need to analyse in that depth for. So, in the end, it would sound something like (making up the phonemes as I go along, because I haven't firmly matched them all up yet, and I haven't used all the same ones as you have):

Das ir kalew jvump ko? Which, if you are familiar with the language (and I'm a bit cleverer about how I make the sentences so I don't get words like jvump), then it might sound quite simple.

10 minutes ago, Quiver said:

I think I might have run into a bit of a problem. 

See, there's an idea I've been batting around for a couple of days. I thought maybe it would be kind of fun to do a story based around the wife of a king or would-be Emperor. I was actually picturing him as being in the vein on Alexnder the Great, or Gavilar; someone who embarked on a large, and super successful, war of conquest, seizing control of a heretofore unprecedented amount of territory, and all united beneath his banner...

At which point he dies.

Obviously, in the Stormlight Archive, Dalinar is -barely- able to hold Alethekar together. Historically, Alexander's death led to the Wars of the Diadochi, where his generals and family members basically carved up the Empire amongst themselves.

What I was thinking was, spinning that off in a slightly different direction. After fantasy!Alexander's death, his army and successors start debating what to do amongst themselves... at which point his wife basically steps in and says "No, I'm carrying his child, so I'm not letting everything we worked for fall apart. I'm in charge."

Problem: I can barely make ONE interesting culture. Part of the hallmarks of Alexander the Great's conquest was the fact that he conquered so many different cultures and beliefs into his empire... and I'm not quite sure how to build that many decent societies, in a realistic fashion. Any advice? I'm sort of worried I'm going to end up drawing too much on historical precedent...

Think about one trait. Build from there. Your one trait can come from anywhere. News articles can help, as can taking a walk. From there, you think about how that trait would influence other aspects of society. Don't necessarily take the obvious approach.

Thinking about your world, one of the major questions that rises in my head is the role of women in this society. Either:

a) there's a less inequal society than there was in Alexander's time, in which case, there have probably been other theological, technological, or societal factors to influence that, or;

b ) their society is just as sexist or more so than Alexander's Greece, which makes the plot a lot more daring for the MC personally, but is aided by enough socially progressive people in the army that she's able to wrest control and those who don't like it have to put up with it. In which case, how did these people get there? Have they always been the black sheep of the army? How does the army, and society in general, treat people who don't fit in? Are they socially ostracised? Are they conscripted to the army because of their dangerous beliefs so that they'll hopefully get blown up there? What else would a society that wants to stick to the status quo at all cost do, and how would they react to this latest turn of events? How would the sudden shift of the society be felt after the wife has her first major victory (or defeat) in battle?

Once you're done with that society, move onto something else. I'll choose a slightly ludicrous example, and use it to explain my train of thought when developing my societies. You have a society where having warts is considered the height of beauty. The obvious effect is that 'wart cream' would have a whole new meaning. However, if you think deeper, then you might come up with other ways that society would change in more dramatic ways. As warts are often a result of lack of cleanliness, people would frequently be a less cleanly people in general. You can alter your original point here, and maybe broaden it to 'Cleanliness is considered undesirable' or some such. So, disease rates would be much higher, but that also means that their immune systems would be much improved, as those that do survive despite the lack of cleanliness would have developed resistance to most bacteria, etc. In which case, there would probably be a pride about those that survived many illnesses as strong. It might affect their political beliefs, or who's the most respected member of the community. Depending on how long the community has had this belief, it might even stretch to their physical appearance, as their noses would grow larger to have extra filters to cope with the smell, and possibly other things I can't think of at the moment.

Now, that took me... 15 minutes or so? I could probably go further, talk about how their hatred of cleanliness meant that they developed a pathological fear of water, meaning that they had no navy or only for the condemned and scum of society, but a large part of what my society looks like, the psyche of the society and how it influences there lives, is essentially broadly mapped out.

[Landis963 he/him]

So I'm cobbling together a retelling of the Ravenloft campaign, with an additional metaplot concerning the final days of Barovia.  In said metaplot, the Dark Powers have gotten supremely bored of Strahd and his interminable angst over his lost love Tatyana, so have decided to dissolve the Realm and move onto greener pastures.  However, Madame Eva has cajoled them into one last game of wits: the Powers must choose one last adventuring party to serve as catspaws, who will then be tasked with fulfilling three wishes for the darklord - Strahd.  (This is mainly a stalling tactic so Madame Eva can start evacuating people)

However, what should the boons be?  One of them, naturally, should be the Ireena subplot (Tatyana's reincarnation - souls are of limited supply in Barovia, and Strahd is cursed to recognize, then alienate each incarnation), but I'm having trouble with the other two.