The Diaemus Project

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

 

 

In order to provide maximum creative freedom while maintaining consistency, I'm thinking we should have a common source of magic that the ecology can draw on (although difficult to tap into without the biological adaptations that the creatures have), which should let us go wild with regard to magical creatures. As a proposal for the source, maybe an atmospheric microorganism similar to krill, but much lighter (or even a whole class or order, or even a full phylum of them, inhabiting air and sea and even underground) that, when ingested our harvested or inhaled or whatever, can have effects based on the biological adaptation of the creature consuming thehaving a universal source will help maintain consistency without limiting freedom to create.

 

That would be incredibly versatile, and would let us do practically anything with world design. It's a great idea.

 

I guess I should say that I do personally prefer having magic be something... intrinsic to certain people though. I dunno where other people stand. Are there any more suggestions for specific magic systems? We should get them all together and figure out the pros and cons of each, in terms of worldbuilding and storytelling and whatnot.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Zathoth]

I love the idea of taking inspiration from prehistoric times, Im definitely down with that, and now I have an excuse to make giant insects, so Im all kinds of happy.

 

Anyway what do we want the magic to do exactly? Before we start figuring out a system... at least that is how I usually approach making magic...

Edited September 17, 2015 by Morzathoth

[Lindel he/him]

My thoughts exactly.

This. All of this.

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments on the magic.

I say we collaborate on the main races, and then delve into our own regions, sticking to those races as the basis for all civilization. I'd like to see a reptilian race, which would fit well with climate based on the Jurrasic petriod. Possibility semi-aquatic, but I'm open to suggestions.

EDIT: Ooh, giant insects!

Edited September 17, 2015 by Lindel

[Seonid he/him]

Ninja'ed. I edited my post above with a more detailed model of sapient races. Comments on the updated model would be appreciated.

But basically, I agree with the collaboration on the major races pay. Minor sapient races should be left to the creativity of each of us

Edited September 17, 2015 by Seonid

[Kobold King he/him]

I love the magical krill idea.

 

I also like the idea of having two or three intercontinental races with a greater number of single-region, tribal creatures. Here would be my proposal for four primary races:

 

• Humans or a human-like species. The generic option, and probably most prevalent.
• A dinosaur species. Specifically, if we work in the magical krill idea, what would you guys think about a sapient raptor civilization with higher magical potential than humans? As apex predators, their bodies would historically have absorbed higher quantities of the krill, potentially allowing them to evolve a greater affinity to it.
• An underground species, potentially spider-like in nature. Someone mentioned caverns as a biome, and having sapient spiders (or other bugs) as subterranean imperialists could be pretty interesting. Brutal arachnid wars could be waged under the shell of the earth!
• An aquatic species. Maybe something like mermaids, but with a plesiosaur or dinosaur upper body? In any case, it might be neat to have at least one sapient species that calls the ocean's waters home.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I was thinking of designing a pastoral culture of a sapient race(probably the humans) who have herds of other, stranger creatures in the steppe lands somewhere. Not that this impacts much, just that I'll be designing a lower race of creatures that these folk have domesticated and herd. Possibly a lizard-type race.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I was thinking of designing a pastoral culture of a sapient race(probably the humans) who have herds of other, stranger creatures in the steppe lands somewhere. Not that this impacts much, just that I'll be designing a lower race of creatures that these folk have domesticated and herd. Possibly a lizard-type race.

I first read "other" as "otters."

[Seonid he/him]

Lots of amazing stuff.

Excellent. I'm in on the humans. Proposal: natural magical ability is completely absent among most of the humans, due to their being imported from off-world. Humans make magic devices instead, harnessing the microorganisms.

Raptors - Totally amazing! What of they had sentient colonies of magical organism that provide this magical potential? I could see them as pack hunters using their magical colonies.

Spiders - definitely a bug race of some sort. Maybe ants, though? With sapient sports as more lone predators than civilization builders?

The aquatic is excellent, and I think there should be one.

I'd like a second reptilian race, though, semi-aquatic (freshwater). And another, non-human mammalian race. That would give us 4 above ground races, one underground race, and at least one aquatic race

[Kobold King he/him]

* mind of a mad genius *

 

Humans - I like that. I like that a lot. Homo sapiens, always physically weaker than the rest of the animal kingdom, has to use its ingenuity to hold its own in this savage world. One question, you talk about humans being imported from elsewhere--who would be doing the importing? An extinct progenitor race? The gods? The humans themselves?

 

Raptors - Exactly! Packs could group together to form larger coalitions, and could even work their way up to the empire level if one of the land claimers has a mind to design dinosaur imperialists.

 

Spiders - Ants are the obvious choice, I think. And eusocial sapients have kind of been done to death--the buggers from Ender's Game, the Klendathu bugs from Starship Troopers, the cho-ja from The Riftwar Saga, etc. I think communal spiders with a cross between arachnid savagery and human civilization would be treading relatively new ground.

 

Mersaurs, or whatever they wind up being - We might consider giving the aquatics access to the best magic, given that their fluid medium would prohibit advanced technologies like fire or metal crafting.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I first read "other" as "otters."

Large otters? Those could be herded.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Large otters? Those could be herded.

They'd make a much cuter herd than sheep, too.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

They'd make a much cuter herd than sheep, too.

And them eating fish might add more protein to their milk for the humans to have, which would be good. Any biologists want to help me out if this is true? Do meat-eating animals have more protein in their milk/blood?

[Lindel he/him]

Sapient underground arachnid civilization sounds cool.

As far as insectoid races go, ants are interesting, but might be a bit overdone. In keeping with the prehistoric theme, what about something based around Meganeura/dragonflies? Could put a unique spin on "fairies".

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not talking about little people with dragonfly wings, I'm talking about a legit, flying race of sapient insects.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Lindel

[Zathoth]

Sapient underground arachnid civilization sounds cool.

As far as insectoid races go, ants are interesting, but might be a bit overdone. In keeping with the prehistoric theme, what about something based around Meganeura/dragonflies? Could put a unique spin on "fairies".

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not talking about little people with dragonfly wings, I'm talking about a legit, flying race of sapient insects.

Those could fit in the dark creepy forest.

 

How about sentient non-animals? Like plants or mushrooms? Or creatures that completely defy the animal/plant categorization?Just throwing ideas. 

 

So you could have huge, singing plants that use their song to communicate and attract prey.

[Seonid he/him]

The more I think of it, the more I like the underground arachnids. I also withdraw my request for a second mammalian civilization. Instead, the fourth above-ground major race could be avian. They could compete with Lindel's intelligent dragonflies.

Lindel, were you the one who originally asked for a semi-aquatic lizard race?

[Lindel he/him]

Yeah, I was. I was originally thinking along the lines of diving iguanas, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Lindel

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

So how do you visualize the krill thing working? I don't think I really understand the implications of it. I keep visualizing dragons swallowing clouds of hovering rotifers and then using them to fly somehow. Are they magical? Or scientific? Do they exist inside organisms like chloroplasts or mitochodria at birth? Or do they have to be ingested?

 

Uh... anyway, when are you planning to ask your pal for that map? Should we just go ahead and start getting into the details of the worldbuilding now?

[Kobold King he/him]

The more I think of it, the more I like the underground arachnids. I also withdraw my request for a second mammalian civilization. Instead, the fourth above-ground major race could be avian. They could compete with Lindel's intelligent dragonflies.

 

Avian could be neat. They could also be bats, or pterosaurs, or giant flying amphibians with wing membranes on their legs. The sky is literally the limit.

 

(I also went into this with the loose concept of a sapient spider civilization that dwells in small numbers aboard flying silk balloons, floating far above the landscape while they harvest aerial prey and trade with ground-based civilizations. Maybe they could be a subspecies of the subterranean spiders?)

[Lindel he/him]

I'm pretty sure we've moved past using dragons in the traditional fantasy sense. Perhaps something akin to a pterosaur?

As far as scientific versus magical, might I suggest it could be both?

[+Slowswift]

A couple questions:

1) Can we put all off this info in one post when we're done? For coherency purposes.

2) die-AY-muss?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I'm pretty sure we've moved past using dragons in the traditional fantasy sense. Perhaps something akin to a pterosaur?

 

Well, that's not the point. Animals shoving piles of bugs into their mouths to do magic is just sort of a weird image to me.   So I must be stuck somewhere.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Lindel he/him]

#1 is a good suggestion. Perhaps one of us should keep a running tally of our decisions thus far, and post updates periodically?

EDIT: To avoid double posting:

Well, that's not the point. Animals shoving piles of bugs into their mouths to do magic is just sort of a weird image to me. So I must be stuck somewhere.

It might be more of a matter of diet. Frequently feeding on the krill interacts with the specific biology of the organism, giving them their unique magical properties? Besides, the magic krill is just one suggestion. Edited September 17, 2015 by Lindel

[Kobold King he/him]

A couple questions:

1) Can we put all off this info in one post when we're done? For coherency purposes.

2) die-AY-muss?

 

1) Sure thing my friend.

 

2) Yes? I just picked a random animal's Latin name, like I get most of my non-English names.

[+Slowswift]

1) Sure thing my friend.

2) Yes? I just picked a random animal's Latin name, like I get most of my non-English names.

1) Cool!

2) Or dee-EYE-muss. any Latin majors here?

[Seonid he/him]

Well, that's not the point. Animals shoving piles of bugs into their mouths to do magic is just sort of a weird image to me. So I must be stuck somewhere.

Fair enough. The current iteration of my headcanon on this it's that it's not just krill, but a whole phylum of microorganisms in the air, the soil, and the water. (Possibly genetically engineered for this purpose). Non-sapient creatures normally ingest them (either directly or by eating something that's eaten them - herbivores might get them just by taking a bite of plants, carnivores could get some from their prey) or inhale them (there would have to be places where they would congregate for that to work).

Sapient races could, of course, cultivate them. There could be sentient cultivated colonies that work symbiotically with them (as I've brainstormed for the raptors), or a race could cultivate and make potions or magic food out of them, or whatever.

The frantically shoveling food in its one option among many.