The Other Side of the World

[+Ark1002]

That sounds great, and yes, that was what I was reffering to.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Ok.

Now the question is, should it be a physical place? Or a place where a character ascends into a higher realm in order to communicate?

[+Ark1002]

A physical place, which you can walk into, than get to the cognitive realm, then ascend to the spiritual realm. There you meet guards, and if they admit you, you ascend to the secret fourth realm. Code.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

I like it.

Here's what I'm picturing for imagery. 

There's an impossibly steep mountain that rises miles above the, smaller jagged mountains that surround it. The top is a beacon of light, but is wreathed in clouds. the clouds spiral outwards like a hurricane, or rings of a planet. The easiest way to ascend the mountain is through magical means, either by surges, or steel pushing or pulling. There is a lot of metal in the mountain to enable that method of climbing. You can climb it, but it will take a while. There isn't an easy trail that takes you to the top, but it is possibly to make the climb.

What should be near it to signal that we are getting closer to divinity?

[+Ark1002]

It starts as stone, but then as you climb you get to cognitive realm, and the sky changes, and the place is made of the weird black rock, then you keep going and you reach the top, which is gold in a bright white sky. Also, if you get higher in the cognitive part, the rock starts having more and more gold veins, and if you get high on the physical part, it starts getting more and more veins of the weird black rock.

Does that work?

[MacThorstenson he/him]

That's cool, I like that.

Because the SR doesn't really have location, is there even going to be a top? Or will people just kind of disappear into the light.

Also, despite the fact that the SR doesn't have location, this is still the only spot where you can access the 4th realm.

[+Ark1002]

Say that it is sealed of from the rest. Also, I want Hellbent to discover this if he survives, because I have a really dramatic post I can do.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Would it be alright if Mac and Mack both know about it but don’t interact with it?

It ties into their backstories and their origins in a loose way. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

I imagined there being 6 poles of the planet. North, South, East, West, Front and Back. The worldspike would be at the Front pole. The Mountain is on the back pole. The floating islands are at the North pole. I like the idea that the worldspike pokes out the back, though. I always wondered about that.

(As a side note, the fact that the sharders exist in the fourth realm correlates nicely to the fact that it lies beyond the fourth wall.)

If there is a gateway, it would have to be in the Physical or Cognitive. Unless, maybe, it was like Dalinar's visions, which are the Spiritual projected into the Cognitive.

Edited November 6, 2018 by xinoehp512

[+Ark1002]

Yes, the fourth wall is the wall to the code realm!

[xinoehp512 he/him]

 

More information on the North sea.

 

Spoiler

 

Solid islands

Not all of the islands float; a few are grounded into the sea floor. Whether or not these islands are sapient is a question that, as of yet, remains unanswered. The island with the North pole is one of these.

 

Flying rocks

Around the North pole is a specific variety of flying island. These islands are small, rocky, and have little to no life on them and are not sapient. They do not use the same spren to float as the sapient islands, instead using mandras (colloquially known as “luckspren”). The islands rarely leave the North pole, for reasons unknown.

 

Shadow birds

These shadow-black birds are, perhaps, the only predators of the islands. They gather in large flights, and feed on the spren of the islands*. The flights have a hive mind, centered on a single “queen” bird. It is suspected that they are Aviar mutated by the Alleystorm, but this remains unconfirmed.

 

*They also feed on the spren of alleycanes, suggesting that they are, in fact, one and the same.

 

My take on the mountain is that the sharders that dwell there are the avatars that appear on the site. They are controlled by the IRL people who are posting stuff here.

Edited November 6, 2018 by xinoehp512

[Karnatheon he/him]

A man stepped into the thread, and quickly read the contents, then disappeared back into the code from which he had emerged.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Okay. This thread is now the official discussion thread for the Exploring the Other Side of the World plot. The basic idea, (at least to start) is to stop a certain individual from killing the islands. 

[Karnatheon he/him]

Alright. So, the Shadowbirds are mutated Aviar(confirmed by @Ookla the Phoenix for me). The person I am currently RPing in the Exploring thread is, me. But I intend him to be the mortal version of me, who depending on how "God" discussions go may very well cease to exist or die or who knows what, I'll stick by whatever the group decides on I suppose. What I hope for is for him to bond the Shadowbirds. In order for this to happen the Queen Shadowbird, the one controlling the hive-mind, would need to die. Then I could step in, and bond one of them, and due to the bond it could become the new queen. This would effectively give him control of the flock. The Shadowbirds feed off of the spren of the islands, and Connection, and stuff. So my proposal is that when the queen is killed, I step in, gain control. In the process however the birds don't immediately surrender control, and they devour my "Author Spark" let's say. Thus, I am left with them, but am in every other way a mortal human being with absolutely no Investiture or anything. Figured I would bring this up so everyone can chime in and say what they think, as an attempt to begin planning any developments in a public space for feedback ahead of time.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

I don't know if you should get the whole flock at once. Maybe try, but fail (the birds break Connection, so this actually makes perfect sense) and stick with learning how to use one bird for a while. Having a whole flock straight from the outset would be both 1.extremely trying for your character, 2.OP. The birds can do a lot more than they actually do on their own. Learning how to use the bird and then capturing more could be part of your characters' arc.

As for the whole Author/Avatar/character thing, I think it was agreed upon that the Avatar is a personification of the 17th shard account, controlled by the Author, who is a real live person (presumably) in the Real World. With that in mind, your character should probably be Avatar powered- that is, he has a direct connection to the Avatar, and some of their powers, but is not actually the Avatar.

@Ookla the Ring

Edited November 30, 2018 by Ookla the Phoenix