The Diaemus Project

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

This is in a tundra, so any land animals would need at least some fur to keep them warm, even if they had a blubber layer. You could eliminate two birds with one stone by having the humans hunt certain animals for their fur and their meat. You could also let them use the bones for their tools and stuff, like the plains native americans did.

I'm already basing them somewhat on northern Native tribes, so they'd definitely use every bit of every animal they hunted. Part of it is simple pragmatism; part of it would be their connection to the seals lending them a more animist perspective regarding non-sapient creatures.

[Seonid he/him]

Excellent thoughts, Curiosity!

 

And I love the format too. The in-universe explanation is one of my favorite modes of exposition.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

So, with the shapeshiftint powers, do you guys think that'd be related to the green lumuole for life or what?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

So, with the shapeshiftint powers, do you guys think that'd be related to the green lumuole for life or what?

 

A combination of green and purple, maybe. Green for life, since the shapeshifter is essentially taking on the life of another being for a short time; and purple for allowing the change in appearance that makes it possible. Though I did just spend two hours marching around in the hot sun, so I may not be thinking very clearly right now.  

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

So, with the shapeshiftint powers, do you guys think that'd be related to the green lumuole for life or what?

 

That's what I'd guess. Theoretically, this tribe would be demigods descended from some person way back a thousand years ago, and the percent of people who can do this depends on how valuable the magic is considered by the society and how long ago the apotheosis happened. Changing an organism's actual physical attributes would most likely fall under "life," which would mean the great lumuole this person was consumed by would be green, but this doesn't mean green lumuoles would be the only possible fuel. The fuel can be anything you want.

 

By the way (I'm going to confuse the issue a bit  ) I'm pretty sure that a deity created by a red, yellow, or orange great lumuole could also conceivably grant shapeshifting ability. Fertility (including beauty and passion) is associated with reds, and sovereignty and power are associated with yellows. Both of those have to do with standards of beauty and appearance. Orange includes resolve, which could tie into the adaptability associated with shapeshifting. All of these colors, green, red, yellow, and orange, have their own elements associated with them, so you might want to think about which one would be the coolest for your lutrine pastoralists.

 

My demigods all have different levels of power appearing randomly in their population. All matriarchal descendants can influence the spread of fire, slowing it down or speeding it up. Most can breathe fire. Some can manipulate matter into becoming flammable, a few can control flame with intense precision, and a handful can directly summon it. The first level can be powered by any lumuole type, but the rest require red lumuoles. That's an example of a working system.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[DanTheSeamonster he/him]

I realize it would be very unlikely, but why can't someone be the descendant of two demigods who had ingested different kinds of lumuoles? Then they would be able to access the abilities of both types of lumoule, say green and purple to enhance their shapeshifting ability.  

Edited September 21, 2015 by The Crooked Warden

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Oh, got it, that makes sense. Do you think people using yellow to power it would be slightly different from people using green? I'm thinking of maybe a culture descended from the same God, who split into two groups, one in the forest and one in the steppes who use different lumuoles to power their shapeshiftint, and as a result, have somewhat different cultures and effects.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I realize it would be very unlikely, but why can't someone be the descendant of two demigods who had ingested different kinds of lumuoles? Then they would be able to access the abilities of both types of lumoule, say green and purple to enhance their shapeshifting ability.  

 

I think it's preferable for demigodism to only be passed on through the matriarchal bloodline to prevent stuff like this, but... maybe?  Depends on what people want.

 

Oh, got it, that makes sense. Do you think people using yellow to power it would be slightly different from people using green? I'm thinking of maybe a culture descended from the same God, who split into two groups, one in the forest and one in the steppes who use different lumuoles to power their shapeshiftint, and as a result, have somewhat different cultures and effects.

 

That one is definitely workable.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Sweet! I'll get to work on that then.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

So with the human population, I was considering giving all of them minor control over fire--namely, the ability to remain warm far longer than would be normally possible, allowing them to swim in the icy waters for periods of time (haven't figured out exactly how long). Others would have more direct control. Would that work?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

So with the human population, I was considering giving all of them minor control over fire--namely, the ability to remain warm far longer than would be normally possible, allowing them to swim in the icy waters for periods of time (haven't figured out exactly how long). Others would have more direct control. Would that work?

 

Pretty much anything can work.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Pretty much anything can work.

Except the steel-formed radioactive dead-raising pugs....unless I work them into tundra mythology somehow.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Except the steel-formed radioactive dead-raising pugs....unless I work them into tundra mythology somehow.

 

True... true... we need other kinds of pugs. Powls or Pawks or whatever the heck was in that (totally real) photograph that was posted on the Questions thread yesterday.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Since otters feed on fish, I'm thinking of having two different animals be herded by my people, one(otters) that are water-based, and another that would graze on land. Any ideas for what those land ones should be?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Since otters feed on fish, I'm thinking of having two different animals be herded by my people, one(otters) that are water-based, and another that would graze on land. Any ideas for what those land ones should be?

 

Snifflers! They're like tapirs, but they're covered in shaggy fur, stand about a foot tall, and lay eggs! My people domesticated them over on the western end of the continent and it's been about 11,000 years since then. Plenty of time for them to spread east-side.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Perfect! And they eat grass and leaves?

Edit: And, Kobold, if it isn't too much work, would you mind hyper linking the important posts(eg. Jerric's map/climate post, Bard's most recent map, Mek's Magic system ones, etc.) in your OP?

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mailliw73

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Perfect! And they eat grass and leaves?

 

Yep.

 

EDIT: And, Kobold, how big did you envision the raptor species when you wrote the description?

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Perfect! And would there have been time for them to have evolved differently if they were in the steppes as opposed to the forest?

Edit: Jerric, you call the light green tropical forests, but Wikipedia calls it a tropical savanna. What's the difference?

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mailliw73

[Kobold King he/him]

Perfect! And they eat grass and leaves?

Edit: And, Kobold, if it isn't too much work, would you mind hyper linking the important posts(eg. Jerric's map/climate post, Bard's most recent map, Mek's Magic system ones, etc.) in your OP?

 

I can do that.

 

 

EDIT: And, Kobold, how big did you envision the raptor species when you wrote the description?

 

I imagine a Dromean's snout coming up to a grown man's chest, about four to five feet high. Larger than Deinonychus, but quite a bit smaller than Utahraptor.

 

 

 

Anyway, a lot of great ideas here! I especially love that mini-essay, Curiosity.

 

 

 

The main fauna I wanted for the tundra region involved prey animals for humans and prey ocean creatures for the seals. Some land creatures that the humans could hunt so they wouldn't be in direct competition with the seals on that front. The humans would also need skin animals that could be used for parkas and dwellings, though if some sort of plant provided equal or superior covering I could work with that.

I'm considering having the twin sisters be the goddesses of that particular region and fashioning the religion accordingly. Tentatively, the human-seal society will be matriarchal.

 

I think dinosaurs could work for that... tell me what you think of these. That goes for all of you, since I'm not sure how flamboyant lumuole-infused animals are allowed to be.

 

 

Spaksnout (Pyrorhinosaurus)

 

Medium-sized dinosaurs the size of muskoxen, these iguanadonts wander the tundra in small herds, grazing the moss and lichens that grow in the cold soil. They are warm-blooded animals with thick umber coats, usually walking on two legs as they migrate across the plains in search of food.

 

The spaksnout's most notable attribute is its nose. Within the skull is a hollow cavity just above the nostrils, filled with warm air. This can be used to produce a loud trumpeting sound for communicating with other members of the herd, but that's only one use. More important are the colonies of red lumuoles that inhabit the cavity, absorbed into the body during times of the year when red lumuole-infused flowers bloom in the frosted soil that ordinarily could never support them.

 

The red lumuoles warm the leaves and roots of the flowers, and are used for a similar purpose in the spaksnout. The microorganisms produce supernatural heat within the animal's nostrils and respiratory system, warming the dinosaur from the inside out even in the coldest blizzards and the darkest winters.

 

Of course, such power isn't limited solely to homeotherm regulation. In the long springtime males will voraciously seek out and eat any plants which will provide them with new lumuoles, and their bodies work overtime producing the hormones necessary for upkeeping the ones they already have. The magical red microbes fully fuse with the bulls' bodies, producing immense amounts of heat while simultaneously granting the animal some immunity to it.

 

The magically derived heat has to go somewhere, and bull spaksnouts know how to put it to good use. In elaborate displays to attract females, spaksnout males will snort enchanted flames from their nostrils, causing spouts of fire a few feet long. (Though in one record case, a male was spotted producing a plume of red flame twenty feet tall.) It is an obscene expenditure of energy, especially for the woefully inefficient mechanisms within the spaksnout body. It quickly tires the bulls out, leaving them weak and drained. It's absurd and it's wasteful, but it's extremely attractive to spaksnout cows. 

 

Once the excess lumuoles are burned out of their systems, the spaksnouts mate and produce offspring, which will remain huddled close to their mothers until their own lumuole colonies begin to populate their nasal cavities.

 

 

From an anthropological perspective, spaksnouts would be extremely useful to a human population on the southern coast. While the fire-spouting abilities of the bulls would be difficult to harness, they could be hunted for their meat and hides without much difficulties. They are not dangerous game, and it is not in their nature to use their precious flames for defense. The animals are flighty and are prone to fleeing at the first sign of danger, but clever hunters could sneak their way close enough to strike a killing blow.

 

 

Crimsobeest (Thermosaurus)

 

A less dramatic animal than the spaksnout, crimsobeests are members of the nodosaur family. Stocky, heavily armored dinosaurs with curved spikes along their shoulders, these mammoth-sized creatures live in small, loose herds on the few areas on the tundra capable of sustaining them.

 

Unlike spaksnouts or the mammalian inhabitants of the tundra, crimsobeests have no shaggy coats or thick blubber reserves to keep them from the brink of freezing. Instead, the plates on the animal's back are matched with hot scutes on the underbelly of the beast, which are hollow and used for insulating colonies of the red lumuoles. In an example of a species becoming evolutionarily lazy as a result of magic, crimsobeests rely entirely on the lumuoles for their continued existence. The animals essentially wander the frozen tundra with heating units attached to their undersides, warming their bodies and putting a warm red glow into the air around them. In the darkness of the long tundra winter, herds of these animals can be made out by the light they produce, and a freezing traveler would do well to follow them and sap whatever warmth he can from their proximity.

 

 

From the perspective of a tribe, crimsobeests would be a rare but valuable resource. These animals are slow, heavily armored, and adorned with menacing spikes, which renders them all but impervious to non-sapient predators. They have little to no fear of humans or Dromeans, but such clever creatures can make use of well-aimed arrows or pit traps to bypass the natural armor.

 

In addition, any animals or humanoids that rely on their diets to supply them with living red lumuoles would do well to target the crimsobeest, as this animal has extremely high concentrations of the valuable hot microbes.

 

Skitterhair (Thoosaura)

 

While some dinosaurs rely heavily on lumuoles for survival, the skitterhair scarcely has need of them at all. These two-legged herbivores are covered in woolly grey coats broken up by the faint glow of blue lumuole stripes, and bound across the tundra eating whatever small plants they can scrounge up. In freezing weather they will huddle with others of their kind, sharing natural body warmth and waiting out the frigid wind.

 

 

These are one of the more mundane inhabitants of the tundra--a rarity, in a world where animals can tap into the pores of reality for unlimited free energy. Skitterhairs are hard to catch, but would be valuable for their hides and flesh. They are also pretty fast, and might be used to pull sleds or or carry bags.

 

 

Snowsaber (Cryokopisaurus)

 

 

Apex predator? Still working on this one. I can only be expected to throw so much together on short notice.

 

Blueroot Pine (Pagopinus)

 

In a conventional tundra, there are no trees. There is too little precipitation, and a thick layer of permafrost prevents deep roots from penetrating into the earth. However, the standard rules of nature work differently on Diaemus. Blueroot pines are evergreen trees mostly unremarkable save for their sophisticated root structure, which attracts and utilizes blue lumuoles to tap into the hard permafrost. The lumuoles possess a strong affinity for water in all of its forms, and in the case of the blueroot, can be used to change water from one of its states to another.

 

The roots convert the unusable ice in the soil into damp, valuable water, which is greedily extracted from the soil by the blueroot and plants that are adapted to grow near them. The blueroot sprinkles the landscape with dense foliage in between the desolate plains, and provides valuable habitats for small tundra-dwellers with meager needs. The local Dromean culture will travel deep into the tundra to gather blueroot sap, which when distilled is extremely useful in efficiently controlling blue lumuoles.

 

 

I doubt they'd grow very close to the coast, so it's unlikely that Twi's humans or seals would run into it very often.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on these organisms. Whether or not they're fine, or whether or not I need to go back to the drawing board with them.

 

This is fun.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Thanks, Kobold! And those species are awesome!

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

And, Kobold, if it isn't too much work, would you mind hyper linking the important posts(eg. Jerric's map/climate post, Bard's most recent map, Mek's Magic system ones, etc.) in your OP?

 

We might want to add the fact that lumuoles represent portals to the "other side" when we do this.

 

Perfect! And would there have been time for them to have evolved differently if they were in the steppes as opposed to the forest?

 

Eh. Think of them like chickens spreading from Southeast Asia to Europe. There's selective breeding going on, so people in your region would have been choosing to breed snifflers with traits they like better, such as taste of meat, milk, and eggs, faster walking speed, coloration, and growth rate, but probably not evolution per se.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I was thinking like longer snouts or necks for the ones that live near more trees, not a huge difference, but enough to tell where they're from.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I was thinking like longer snouts or necks for the ones that live near more trees, not a huge difference, but enough to tell where they're from.

 

That's a thing. Yep. Like different breeds of dogs.

 

I can do that.

 

 

 

I imagine a Dromean's snout coming up to a grown man's chest, about four to five feet high. Larger than Deinonychus, but quite a bit smaller than Utahraptor.

 

 

 

Anyway, a lot of great ideas here! I especially love that mini-essay, Curiosity.

 

 

 

 

I think dinosaurs could work for that... tell me what you think of these. That goes for all of you, since I'm not sure how flamboyant lumuole-infused animals are allowed to be.

 

 

Spaksnout (Pyrorhinosaurus)

 

Medium-sized dinosaurs the size of muskoxen, these iguanadonts wander the tundra in small herds, grazing the moss and lichens that grow in the cold soil. They are warm-blooded animals with thick umber coats, usually walking on two legs as they migrate across the plains in search of food.

 

The spaksnout's most notable attribute is its nose. Within the skull is a hollow cavity just above the nostrils, filled with warm air. This can be used to produce a loud trumpeting sound for communicating with other members of the herd, but that's only one use. More important are the colonies of red lumuoles that inhabit the cavity, absorbed into the body during times of the year when red lumuole-infused flowers bloom in the frosted soil that ordinarily could never support them.

 

The red lumuoles warm the leaves and roots of the flowers, and are used for a similar purpose in the spaksnout. The microorganisms produce supernatural heat within the animal's nostrils and respiratory system, warming the dinosaur from the inside out even in the coldest blizzards and the darkest winters.

 

Of course, such power isn't limited solely to homeotherm regulation. In the long springtime males will voraciously seek out and eat any plants which will provide them with new lumuoles, and their bodies work overtime producing the hormones necessary for upkeeping the ones they already have. The magical red microbes fully fuse with the bulls' bodies, producing immense amounts of heat while simultaneously granting the animal some immunity to it.

 

The magically derived heat has to go somewhere, and bull spaksnouts know how to put it to good use. In elaborate displays to attract females, spaksnout males will snort enchanted flames from their nostrils, causing spouts of fire a few feet long. (Though in one record case, a male was spotted producing a plume of red flame twenty feet tall.) It is an obscene expenditure of energy, especially for the woefully inefficient mechanisms within the spaksnout body. It quickly tires the bulls out, leaving them weak and drained. It's absurd and it's wasteful, but it's extremely attractive to spaksnout cows. 

 

Once the excess lumuoles are burned out of their systems, the spaksnouts mate and produce offspring, which will remain huddled close to their mothers until their own lumuole colonies begin to populate their nasal cavities.

 

 

From an anthropological perspective, spaksnouts would be extremely useful to a human population on the southern coast. While the fire-spouting abilities of the bulls would be difficult to harness, they could be hunted for their meat and hides without much difficulties. They are not dangerous game, and it is not in their nature to use their precious flames for defense. The animals are flighty and are prone to fleeing at the first sign of danger, but clever hunters could sneak their way close enough to strike a killing blow.

 

 

Crimsobeest (Thermosaurus)

 

A less dramatic animal than the spaksnout, crimsobeests are members of the nodosaur family. Stocky, heavily armored dinosaurs with curved spikes along their shoulders, these mammoth-sized creatures live in small, loose herds on the few areas on the tundra capable of sustaining them.

 

Unlike spaksnouts or the mammalian inhabitants of the tundra, crimsobeests have no shaggy coats or thick blubber reserves to keep them from the brink of freezing. Instead, the plates on the animal's back are matched with hot scutes on the underbelly of the beast, which are hollow and used for insulating colonies of the red lumuoles. In an example of a species becoming evolutionarily lazy as a result of magic, crimsobeests rely entirely on the lumuoles for their continued existence. The animals essentially wander the frozen tundra with heating units attached to their undersides, warming their bodies and putting a warm red glow into the air around them. In the darkness of the long tundra winter, herds of these animals can be made out by the light they produce, and a freezing traveler would do well to follow them and sap whatever warmth he can from their proximity.

 

 

From the perspective of a tribe, crimsobeests would be a rare but valuable resource. These animals are slow, heavily armored, and adorned with menacing spikes, which renders them all but impervious to non-sapient predators. They have little to no fear of humans or Dromeans, but such clever creatures can make use of well-aimed arrows or pit traps to bypass the natural armor.

 

In addition, any animals or humanoids that rely on their diets to supply them with living red lumuoles would do well to target the crimsobeest, as this animal has extremely high concentrations of the valuable hot microbes.

 

Skitterhair (Thoosaura)

 

While some dinosaurs rely heavily on lumuoles for survival, the skitterhair scarcely has need of them at all. These two-legged herbivores are covered in woolly grey coats broken up by the faint glow of blue lumuole stripes, and bound across the tundra eating whatever small plants they can scrounge up. In freezing weather they will huddle with others of their kind, sharing natural body warmth and waiting out the frigid wind.

 

 

These are one of the more mundane inhabitants of the tundra--a rarity, in a world where animals can tap into the pores of reality for unlimited free energy. Skitterhairs are hard to catch, but would be valuable for their hides and flesh. They are also pretty fast, and might be used to pull sleds or or carry bags.

 

 

Snowsaber (Cryokopisaurus)

 

 

Apex predator? Still working on this one. I can only be expected to throw so much together on short notice.

 

Blueroot Pine (Pagopinus)

 

In a conventional tundra, there are no trees. There is too little precipitation, and a thick layer of permafrost prevents deep roots from penetrating into the earth. However, the standard rules of nature work differently on Diaemus. Blueroot pines are evergreen trees mostly unremarkable save for their sophisticated root structure, which attracts and utilizes blue lumuoles to tap into the hard permafrost. The lumuoles possess a strong affinity for water in all of its forms, and in the case of the blueroot, can be used to change water from one of its states to another.

 

The roots convert the unusable ice in the soil into damp, valuable water, which is greedily extracted from the soil by the blueroot and plants that are adapted to grow near them. The blueroot sprinkles the landscape with dense foliage in between the desolate plains, and provides valuable habitats for small tundra-dwellers with meager needs. The local Dromean culture will travel deep into the tundra to gather blueroot sap, which when distilled is extremely useful in efficiently controlling blue lumuoles.

 

 

I doubt they'd grow very close to the coast, so it's unlikely that Twi's humans or seals would run into it very often.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on these organisms. Whether or not they're fine, or whether or not I need to go back to the drawing board with them.

 

This is fun.

 

 

Impressive magibiology skills. I'm inspired. Truly I am. I just added an entirely new document to my folder for "environment."

 

Although I just realized that we've never explicitly stated how exactly organisms use magic.  I always imagined that there had to be a sort of intent behind it to shape what the lumuole does, but I'm not sure what everybody else got out of that discussion. Obviously, the demigods require intent. Whether or not demigods use up lumuoles in the process of doing magic is up for debate.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Would animals like the "snifflers" or the otters use magic in some way?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Would animals like the "snifflers" or the otters use magic in some way?

 

I didn't originally think of them as magical creatures, but if you have any ideas, I'd be absolutely psyched to hear them.