The Diaemus Project

[Mailliw73 he/him]

And there's people's beliefs leaking into their creation. That was actually kinda neat to notice.

Bard, no mountains, just that narrow neck of light green and a small coastal area on the desert across from it.

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

You aren't alone, Winter. I'm leaving most of the science stuff to those who know what they're doing. I'm more interested in the culture things. To weigh in on the magic, I really don't care either way, I'm game for whatever you guys decide on. I would like humans to at least have some type of way to use the magic though.

Ditto.

[Adamir he/him]

 

I'm also in favor of some concrete guidelines as to what the magic actually does, but this is Brandon Sanderson's fansite, so I think we're probably all in agreement there.

 

I put a few ideas together in a mindmap; click the paperclips to actually get information on them, if you are willing to drag yourself through it (I may have gone a bit overboard). I put it together to tie together both the spirit and krill routes into two distinct methods. I couldn't edit the mindmap after putting it together, so just to clarify; Conduits occur in one person out of ten thousand. Going by Sanderson's laws of magic, this is about 60% soft, 40% hard magic. I'll leave it to anyone willing to go through it to pick out what actually works in this system.

 

https://atlas.mindmup.com/2015/09/6240930040e30133ef5b4161d8ff9f50/_/index.html#

 

Clarification No. II: What I refer to as Higher Manifestation Entities are normal people made spirits by over-exposure to krill.

 

EDIT II: Good point, Edgedancer. I'll take whichever patch no one else has claimed by the end.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Adamir

[Edgedancer he/him]

Wasn't the idea for this to give everyone a region of the world to go wild with? Maybe it's just me but it seems that only settling on the barest of guidelines up-front and then everyone can set their own rules for the actual manifestations seems more in spirit to that then giving everyone one a detaied rule book they have to follow.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Edgedancer

[Esaias he/him]

For the magic, it would be cool to have it work something like Elantris. Where each region is different while still having the same basic rules.

 

Also, if I'm allowed to claim a region, the middle of the eastern desert (the part nearby the orange) looks nice to me.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

And there's people's beliefs leaking into their creation. That was actually kinda neat to notice.

Bard, no mountains, just that narrow neck of light green and a small coastal area on the desert across from it.

 

Nah. Whenever I start thinking about worldbuilding or xenobiology or whatever, I always assume life arose naturally and followed paths of evolution. Then again, that's because I usually don't take magic into account. It's not really plausible for dragons (or whatever) to have have evolved the ability to breathe fire, for the same reason it's not really plausible for macroorganisms to have evolved organic versions of the wheel. Evolution is about proximate factors, "the build-up" to the end result, rather than the end result itself (though, then again, I suppose the "breathing fire" thing could work if an organism mutated an organ for storing the ethanol from alcoholic fermentation, then mutated again to expel that alcohol, then... wait, no, it's still ridiculous.) The whole "magic-as-energy-source-thing" came from my musings on alternate sources of energy life forms could use way back in AP biology, but believe me, I did realize that it made life as we know it on Diaemus sort of redundant, not to mention that there's no way the things would naturally have developed bioluminescence if it made them such easy targets for predation.

 

Wasn't the idea for this to give everyone a region of the world to go wild with? Maybe it's just me but it seems that only settling on the barest of guidelines up-front and then everyone can set their own rules for the actual manifestations seems more in spirit to that then giving everyone one a detaied rule book they have to follow.

For the magic, it would be cool to have it work something like Elantris. Where each region is different while still having the same basic rules.

 

Also, if I'm allowed to claim a region, the middle of the eastern desert (the part nearby the orange) looks nice to me.

 

Right. Again, Jerric brought up a good point when he said that we should be able to do what we want. I'm pretty sure that what was written already is vague enough that people have near-absolute freedom, including being able to have the mineral-based magic system. Granted, I haven't read Adimir's thing as of yet...

[Edgedancer he/him]

Nah. Whenever I start thinking about worldbuilding or xenobiology or whatever, I always assume life arose naturally and followed paths of evolution. Then again, that's because I usually don't take magic into account. It's not really plausible for dragons (or whatever) to have have evolved the ability to breathe fire, for the same reason it's not really plausible for macroorganisms to have evolved organic versions of the wheel. Evolution is about proximate factors, "the build-up" to the end result, rather than the end result itself (though, then again, I suppose the "breathing fire" thing could work if an organism mutated an organ for storing the ethanol from alcoholic fermentation, then mutated again to expel that alcohol, then... wait, no, it's still ridiculous.) The whole "magic-as-energy-source-thing" came from my musings on alternate sources of energy life forms could use way back in AP biology, but believe me, I did realize that it made life as we know it on Diaemus sort of redundant, not to mention that there's no way the things would naturally have developed bioluminescence if it made them such easy targets for predation.

 

 

Right. Again, Jerric brought up a good point when he said that we should be able to do what we want. I'm pretty sure that what was written already is vague enough that people have near-absolute freedom, including being able to have the mineral-based magic system. Granted, I haven't read Adimir's thing as of yet...

Pretty much the same for me... I actually don't even see how real world belives would play into this, unless someone belifes evolution didn't happen at all. Still, it would pay of to raise the question if we have some kind of creational force that set the planet up.

 

And seeing how I just spoke out for freedom, I'll take the my mineral idea and make it a subset. Be aware that I will go completely nuts with it now and only show very little restraint. MUHAHAHAHAHA! Anyway, undeground caverns are already taken, so is there still a mountain range free on the map?

[Seonid he/him]

Not all of the underground caverns are taken, I think.

 

I've been assuming that life arose naturally on this world as well, but that the magical microorganisms are not natural. Either created (insert gods/spirits/mystic power/whatever here) or engineered (insert ancient alien race/progenitors/ancestors of modern humans/whatever here). I lean towards the engineered - some ancient alien race found a planet with life on it and added something. Maybe that interference that produced the "Lumuoles" also is why there are so many sapient races, maybe the "Lumuoles" are engineered to produce conditions that favor sapience arising. I'd like to keep the amount of

 

Similarly, I've been assuming that the humans/near-humans that we have living here are non-native for similar reasons. Humans are not going to arise naturally on this world. Not even close to it. Not in competition with other sapient races, not without primates, not without the specialized set of conditions that led to their arising here. On an entirely new planet, if we want recognizable humans, importing is the most plausible option.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Not all of the underground caverns are taken, I think.

 

I've been assuming that life arose naturally on this world as well, but that the magical microorganisms are not natural. Either created (insert gods/spirits/mystic power/whatever here) or engineered (insert ancient alien race/progenitors/ancestors of modern humans/whatever here). I lean towards the engineered - some ancient alien race found a planet with life on it and added something. Maybe that interference that produced the "Lumuoles" also is why there are so many sapient races, maybe the "Lumuoles" are engineered to produce conditions that favor sapience arising. I'd like to keep the amount of

 

Similarly, I've been assuming that the humans/near-humans that we have living here are non-native for similar reasons. Humans are not going to arise naturally on this world. Not even close to it. Not in competition with other sapient races, not without primates, not without the specialized set of conditions that led to their arising here. On an entirely new planet, if we want recognizable humans, importing is the most plausible option.

You'd like to keep the amount of what?

 

The grey H areas are mountains, right? Can I take some of those?

[Lindel he/him]

I've been assuming that there's a concrete reason the lumuoles are different from all other life on Diaemus, along the lines of what Mckeedee and Seonid have said.

I also like the idea of having some fundamental guidelines as to what the magic is capable of, so there's some cohesion. I'm in favor of allowing plenty of room for creativity, but it still needs to feel like part of the same magic system.

I think we discussed earlier that internally accessing lumuole energy through specially evolved organs is something few of the sapient races are capable of. This would fit with the idea that Diaemus has been cultivated by some external force: most of the sapient races are not native to the planet.

This would mean that they'd have to get more creative. The question, then, is what sort of abilities do lumuoles grant to the flora and fauna of Diaemus? I like the idea of it primarily powering biological processes, but more supernatural effects would work as well. Lumuole energy might allow some species to change their physiology in certain ways, allowing them to thrive in nearly any environment and adapt as needed in any given situation.

As far as the more supernatural effects, I say we come up with a basic idea of what the magic can effect. Is it an elements thing? This seems extremely arbitrary to me, but I'm throwing it in because it's been brought up. Does it manipulate fundamental forces and energies? We need at least a basic understanding of what the magic actually does, or there will be no cohesion.

EDIT:

I did realize that it made life as we know it on Diaemus sort of redundant, not to mention that there's no way the things would naturally have developed bioluminescence if it made them such easy targets for predation

There are two possible answers here. If they're symbiotes, then they might actually want to be found and ingested. Perhaps living inside larger lifeforms is an essential part of their life cycle. Not sure what the benefit would be for them, but it might have some connection to how they reproduce. The other possibility, of course, is that if they were engineered, they might have simply been built to glow so other lifeforms could actually find them. Edited September 19, 2015 by Lindel

[Kobold King he/him]

Maybe lumuoles allow for the internal manipulation and infusion of matter on a fine scale? The spiders could make ultra-tough silks with it, far stronger than mere biology would allow. The raptors could use their lumuole colonies to become stronger and faster--maybe they owe even their sapience to a symbiotic relationship with brain lumuoles. Meanwhile, humans create machines that somehow "trick" the lumuoles into behaving like they're in a living thing, creating steampunk-esque mechanisms of astonishing variety and capability.

[Edgedancer he/him]

I've been assuming that there's a concrete reason the lumuoles are different from all other life on Diaemus, along the lines of what Mckeedee and Seonid have said.

I also like the idea of having some fundamental guidelines as to what the magic is capable of, so there's some cohesion. I'm in favor of allowing plenty of room for creativity, but it still needs to feel like part of the same magic system.

I think we discussed earlier that internally accessing lumuole energy through specially evolved organs is something few of the sapient races are capable of. This would fit with the idea that Diaemus has been cultivated by some external force: most of the sapient races are not native to the planet.

This would mean that they'd have to get more creative. The question, then, is what sort of abilities do lumuoles grant to the flora and fauna of Diaemus? I like the idea of it primarily powering biological processes, but more supernatural effects would work as well. Lumuole energy might allow some species to change their physiology in certain ways, allowing them to thrive in nearly any environment and adapt as needed in any given situation.

As far as the more supernatural effects, I say we come up with a basic idea of what the magic can effect. Is it an elements thing? This seems extremely arbitrary to me, but I'm throwing it in because it's been brought up. Does it manipulate fundamental forces and energies? We need at least a basic understanding of what the magic actually does, or there will be no cohesion.

I don't think that magic that gives creatures more adaptability is very well suited for something that's supposed to be split into different sections.

 

anyway... Kobold pretty much ninja my idea. Make the magic internal, it allows for more range in what a type of creature can be/do and follows a theme. Although what we should limit is how strong a not "god" creature can be. (What did we settle on with those anyway? So do we stick with the, they used to be normal members of their species until they got further "uplifted" idea?)

[Seonid he/him]

Whoops. Only wrote half of my thought. What I meant to write is that I'd like to keep the amount of alien/divine intervention to a minimum.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Whoops. Only wrote half of my thought. What I meant to write is that I'd like to keep the amount of alien/divine intervention to a minimum.

Ah yes, this I agree with.

[Kobold King he/him]

anyway... Kobold pretty much ninja my idea. Make the magic internal, it allows for more range in what a type of creature can be/do and follows a theme. Although what we should limit is how strong a not "god" creature can be. (What did we settle on with those anyway? So do we stick with the, they used to be normal members of their species until they got further "uplifted" idea?)

 

Potential rule of thumb: no "prime invincibilities." No individual creature should be so powerful that a small squad of men with steel weapons wouldn't be able to dispatch it.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Potential rule of thumb: no "prime invincibilities." No individual creature should be so powerful that a small squad of men with steel weapons wouldn't be able to dispatch it.

Are we talking men with magical swords? Given that just about everything in this world will have acces to magic in some kind the balance would be diffenrent afterall.

 

While talking about the power levels, what about the god creatures? I don't think we want anything on a reality warper level but they'd have to do something to earn the title.

[Grey Knight]

I'm coming in late, and I really don't feel like reading through 8 pages of ideas, so forgive me if this has already been resolved, but I have an idea for what powers the magic of this world.

 

The two governing forces in this planet are Growth and Entropy. They are the energy of life, flowing through all things and affecting all things. Growth is the power of creation (using unused resources) and Entropy is the power of destruction, reverting things into their basic states.

 

I put the parentheses in because, unlike the names suggest, neither power is good nor bad. In areas where either is out of balance, nature stops working correctly. With an over-abundance of Growth, plants and animals will go through natural resources so fast that they burn out the land, leaving a barren wasteland. Areas with an over-abundance of Entropy turn into violent battlefields, with life fighting so hard to destroy other life it doesn't have time to create new life. Wizards (special people) can channel these powers.

[Kobold King he/him]

Are we talking men with magical swords? Given that just about everything in this world will have acces to magic in some kind the balance would be diffenrent afterall.

 

While talking about the power levels, what about the god creatures? I don't think we want anything on a reality warper level but they'd have to do something to earn the title.

 

True. And it would be fun to have a few dangerous megafauna wandering around--sea monsters that can bring down ships, a few aerial predators that make travel over the plains dangerous, that sort of thing.

 

Maybe reality warpers that can affect everything except entities with high quantities of lumuoles? That would make the gods terrifying to humans and extremely dangerous to most races, but with limits that allow them to be confronted and fought.

 

Alternatively, the gods are reality warpers that can only affect entities with high concentrations of lumuoles. That would make them nigh-omnipotent against magical creatures, but in a rare twist humans would be the most effective warriors against them.

[Edgedancer he/him]

True. And it would be fun to have a few dangerous megafauna wandering around--sea monsters that can bring down ships, a few aerial predators that make travel over the plains dangerous, that sort of thing.

 

Maybe reality warpers that can affect everything except entities with high quantities of lumuoles? That would make the gods terrifying to humans and extremely dangerous to most races, but with limits that allow them to be confronted and fought.

 

Alternatively, the gods are reality warpers that can only affect entities with high concentrations of lumuoles. That would make them nigh-omnipotent against magical creatures, but in a rare twist humans would be the most effective warriors against them.

I'd personally like the idea of the god creatures being rather individualized as well, so one may have become an night immortal being however apart from that only has powers that help him to care for his people but only little to "fight" another might have gained highly aggresive powers but is still rather close to mortal and yet another could have split the power under multiple members of its race, maybe even to the point where it is almost hereditary in a small portion of the population.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

And seeing how I just spoke out for freedom, I'll take the my mineral idea and make it a subset. Be aware that I will go completely nuts with it now and only show very little restraint. MUHAHAHAHAHA! Anyway, undeground caverns are already taken, so is there still a mountain range free on the map?

 

And I'm excited to see it in action.

 

EDIT: There are two possible answers here. If they're symbiotes, then they might actually want to be found and ingested. Perhaps living inside larger lifeforms is an essential part of their life cycle. Not sure what the benefit would be for them, but it might have some connection to how they reproduce. The other possibility, of course, is that if they were engineered, they might have simply been built to glow so other lifeforms could actually find them.

 

Good idea. If we can agree on this, then it makes it plausible for them to be organic life forms again. Perhaps they're like midi-chloreans that survive for a few weeks when provided with a host.

 

anyway... Kobold pretty much ninja my idea. Make the magic internal, it allows for more range in what a type of creature can be/do and follows a theme. Although what we should limit is how strong a not "god" creature can be. (What did we settle on with those anyway? So do we stick with the, they used to be normal members of their species until they got further "uplifted" idea?)

 

I guess the only problem with this (uh oh. I'm being passive-aggressive again) is that it prevents us from having, say, illusatory powers, which seem to me like they'd be pretty cool if used in nature.

 

Gods are left intentionally vague in "my" model. They're kind of there just to fill in the cracks. If you want something unique in the world, you just say that some spirit lives there, or some spirit did this, or continues to do this. They mostly affect the world in extremely vague ways, besides the fact that their descendants in life are demigods. It seemed like the most freeform way to do it. Anyway, I'd prefer to stick with the "uplifted" thing. So that's my two cents.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Seonid he/him]

The magic organisms (genetically engineered, as it seems to have been decided...) are a source of energy. What the magical megafauna can do with that energy can vary wildly. Illusion is certainly in the realm of possibility. If a spider can make super-strong silk, then a (insert creature here) could manipulate light or sound to mess with a predator's perception.

[Edgedancer he/him]

The magic organisms (genetically engineered, as it seems to have been decided...) are a source of energy. What the magical megafauna can do with that energy can vary wildly. Illusion is certainly in the realm of possibility. If a spider can make super-strong silk, then a (insert creature here) could manipulate light or sound to mess with a predator's perception.

Or have a build in hologram projector.

[Lindel he/him]

As far as which chunk of the world I want to claim, depends on which race I'm using.

We need to fully work out the main, continent-spanning races before everyone dives into their own corners of the world, as we'll want these to be consistent.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

As far as which chunk of the world I want to claim, depends on which race I'm using.

We need to fully work out the main, continent-spanning races before everyone dives into their own corners of the world, as we'll want these to be consistent.

 

I think we can adjust as we go. We need to account for eachothers' civilizations when we do histories anyway, right?

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[The Honey Badger he/him]

Sorry, I'm trying to figure out all the map's regions climates. I'm trying to use the Koppler "letter" system to figure it out, but some of the regions placed next to each other wouldn't work, as well as the colors being visually confusing. The Red region one, would guess to be a desert but according to the system found on wikipedia, it's really a more temperate subtropical region. I'm just really confused about the map, and wonder if the colors could be fixed for a more intuitive fit, or for an explanation to be given.

Edited September 20, 2015 by The Honey Badger