Mckeedee123

Well, you would have to have wizards exist, which was what I was getting at earlier. There aren't generic "wizards" or "warlocks" or whatever in this world, just gods and bloodlines of demigods. The exception is Rachnyx, which are weird and can have unique magical abilities based on race. Dromeans have natural magic too, but to a lesser extent. Any humanoid races would presumably have appeared recently enough that they wouldn't have natural magical ability, unless a god gave it to them. I guess yellow bloodlines could manifest wizard-y stuff, but you'd have to make sure that that magic, and the effects of that magic, were regionally contained, since having the ability to export gear that's "enchanted" would be pretty influential and world-affecting, and... well anyway, I think it'd be easier just to have some spirit make the whole air thing work, but giving bloodline the ability to, or having a god grant the ability to a race to "enchant" stuff to do certain stuff is possible, though I strongly suggest making the gear only function in that particular region, if that's how it's going to work.

"Well, see, I was thinking about leaving your dimension, but even among other eldritch abominations, I'm known as a sucker for my sweet-tooth, and when I found out how advanced your dimension's fast food scene was, I was like, 'forget the ethereal void, my place is here!'"

Cenni Lodgehouses

I was mostly referring to the "enchanted emeralds", or whatever, that were helping the humans to survive on the floating island. That could be a thing, certainly, but we don't necessarily need magical objects to have magic. It was sort of an unnecessary clarification. I don't know... I'm sort of afraid that part of the reason the threads haven't been getting much love lately is that people felt disenfranchised after we decided on the ground rules for the world. That's really probably not the case, though, is it? It's just more like there wasn't much left to discuss, so the actual worldbuilding moved to the wiki (which was removed enough from the scene that it's easy to procrastinate putting stuff on it.)

Apparently. I thought that 1500-ish would be a good place to stop, technologically, both because that's where East Asia stalled for a few centuries, and because it allows for greater communication between regions without having any of the things that fantasy settings think are yucky, like massed gunpowder units or solid nation-states. I want to default to Kobold, though. After reading about him worldbuilding with his siblings, I sort of see Diaemus as his "thing," and I don't want to usurp it. If he thinks 1200's or 1300's European-level technology is best, I'll go with that. EDIT: There aren't "enchantments," per se. It's not like Tamriel or Middle Earth or Alegaesia or whatever. It's usually more like "a god decided to make it like this, so now it's like this."

By 1000 CE, what we'll use as our functional present, technology has reached about the premodern era (although it's not a 1/1 correlation, and there's regional variation.) Gunpowder hasn't been discovered (or, at least, isn't in common use,) but there are large, sailing ships, perhaps the printing press, stuff like that. You get the impression that Diaemus is just on the cusp of a technological renaissance, but isn't quite there. If we were to let people take their regions' histories into the future, I suggest that we go steampunk instead of full modern, but that's just me. By the way, what's the mechanic that makes your island float? I'm sort of interested.

No one's really "in charge" here, so it's not as if one of us can just give the idea a thumbs-up and let you go ahead. The only real responses that can be given are "neat, that's cool" and "I have an objection." Provided no one objects, it's fine. Speaking of which, first of all: And second, did you say something about these Skyrim-amulet people having superhuman strength and speed? Oh wait... Wow. I mean, there's nothing wrong with mixing things up a bit when you're making new races, and we never bothered making restrictions on what people could do with it, but... holy cow. I think that creates a few problems, don't you? Wouldn't these people have outcompeted the rest of the sentient races during the preagricultural period? Maybe you could tone that down a bit... or not have it at all.

Assume that it's earth-equivalent. We don't need to lower the gravity to allow for large, flying creatures like other fantasy settings since we have flexible magic to compensate.

Ba-dum-ksh. Neat. Where did you have in mind? Do you have any thoughts about the land underneath?

That's conceivable. You can define a bloodline's powerset and inheritance however you want.

Good question. We've only outlined it vaguely. First off, the inhabitants of Diaemus don't know what "The Beyond" really is, and for that matter, neither do we. It leaks out bits of magical energy semi-randomly, and there's lots of regional variation in the way it does this. In the current canon, Great Lumuoles are just normal lumuoles that are several thousand times as large (ping pong ball sized?) They appear rarely and randomly, and upon ingestion, they fuse the subject's soul to The Beyond. After the subject dies, they become a "god," able to reach through the fabric that separates Diaemus from the beyond. The power, consciousness, and vigilance of these gods varies wildly, but can usually only manipulate a single region. Why does this exist? Basically, we (or maybe it was just me ) wanted to make a magic system that was consistent, but also allowed for regional variation. "Great lumuoles" are sort of a dumb idea, but they allow people to fill in the cracks. If you want a region to have some sort of unique magical element, all you have to do is write that sometime in history some being ascended to godhood and did that (usually a human. It doesn't always work on Diaemus' natural inhabitants, since they're more naturally receptive to The Beyond and so the ingestion isn't as much of a shock to them.) It's not just for big changes though. There are opportunities for more mundane worldbuilding. A god in one of my regions altered the light that reflects off of a certain mountain so that it doesn't fade into blue as you get farther away. Anything you want. And finally, there are demigods. I don't think we ever 100% decided what these are, so we'll just leave it at regional variation. Basically, Diaemus' "natural" magic consists of organisms using biological stimuli to manipulate the bioluminescent bacteria that congregate around lumuoles to do certain things. Depending on what conditions cause lumuoles to appear in the region in question, the magic is basically renewable. Demigods, on the other hand, whether Human, Dromean, Rachnyx, or animal, actively consume lumuoles to perform magic, and it's usually a bit more spectacular. Pyromancy, telepathic water-freezing, animal control, etc. Entire tribes and races can be descended from a single god, and this allows for interesting possibilities. I'm fairly certain what we decided was that only children born of the god after they had ingested the lumuole were demigods, and that they didn't manifest their powers until after the god had died. The manner in which the powers are inherited can vary. We actually never did decide what would happen if bloodlines mixed, so let me posit that mixed bloodlines do contain the bloodlines of all of the gods, but that each person only manifests one powerset. I trust no one had problems with this explanation? If so, speak up.

Seems like the simplest solution besides handwaving

Amber's post didn't really contain anything. It basically just stated the Epic's name, and then said that he had 12 or 13 powers that were totally broken. Everything Voidus brought up there was valid (including the fact that the guy could supposedly mind-control other Epics and stuff.) It was sort of comical, in a we-need-to-contact-this-person-ASAP kind of way.

Well have you, er... directed him to the Questions Thread yet? Because I think he might need to read a few of Voidus' objections.

Has he responded yet?

"Pfft! I don't want it! I'm not a toddler, pal. I'm just a little... fussy, that's all." "Uh... You seemed pretty emphatic about these cookies earlier." "I was just trying to be nice! Jeez! Could you just not take everything literally? You're a jerk! I just... she just... do you even know anything about bananas? It's like we don't even take them seriously here in the States! They're important, and she was so dismissive! Get offa me!" "I'm not getting off of you until you take this cookie." "Jeez! Personal space, okay? Respect my personal space! That's something else you don't take seriously. I mean... I mean you don't take it seriously, wherever the spark I am... Dallers, Oregon or whatever. I'm tired! You guys didn't let me get any sleep in that cell! And you didn't give me any food either! It's... it's Human rights abuse! You guys are committing a sparking Human rights abuse on me! How dare you! How dare you do this to an Epic!" Autumn stared at him, one eyebrow cocked. Crush got the impression that he'd just lost whatever respect she'd been according him up to this point. Sparks. Had he gone too far? She opened her mouth to speak, but Crush cut her off. "Wait, wait, wait. Did I say 'Epic?' I meant, um... Eric." Crush consciously relaxed his face, trying for the first time in this conversation to be absolutely serious. "In my family, um... back in Texas, people named Eric are held in high esteem. Named after my grandfather. My name's not actually Eric, but... I didn't mean to say Epic, okay? I'm not like that." Alright. That was just plain stupid. I probably shouldn't have backed down in the first place. He glanced up at Autumn, who had been giving him a flat expression throughout the entire botched recovery. After a few moments she just sighed and started scribbling on her little sheet of paper again. Sparks. I wish I knew what she was writing. She finished with a little flourish of her pencil, then turned her attention back to him. "Alright." Crush got the impression that his interview was almost over. He cleared his throat and tried for a verdict. "So... Autumn. On a heroic scale of Chesly Sullenburger to Superman, how good did I do?"

Speaking of which, maybe we can just move on to night in Salem? And move to the next stage of the bus chase?

I may also have to do this

Eh... Alright. Here. this might help. Oveyn, Dyaeva, Kazira, Baylay, Tryougol? More nonsense words, of German-y origin this time: Hwetay, Betsit, Gustig, Mehrer, Vertze? It's hard to go wrong with fantasy names, since they all sound ridiculous anyway. Just pick a language group that matches the kind of culture you're thinking of and go with it.

X-men, obviously.

Well, don't edit anyone else's stuff without asking them, but you're free to make whatever you want. Just go the the "Diaemus- Maps" thread, claim a region, and get worldbuilding.

Do you mean where do we store our info? Here: http://diaemus.wikia.com/wiki/Diaemus_Wikia

Alright, Autumn. Sheesh. What more do you want from me? "No, no, please. I'm not a hero. I have many amazing, heroic qualities, but I also have... um, the humility to not recognize them in myself. Humility is the most heroic of the heroic qualities, and I have just a huge amount of that quality. So I can't really say that I'm a hero, even if it's okay for you to... well yes, fine. I am a hero. And I am heroic. And great." "It's so humble of you to admit you have so much humility." "Alright. Yeah, yeah. Actually, can I steer the conversation away from this topic? It's embarrassing. It really is. I'm blushing, see?" Autumn scribbled something down. "Tell me about your arrival. We already have the report, but I'd like to hear it from you." "Um... okay. So there was this guy. I met him downtown last night when I first came in. He was this absolute... sack of crem. Who just outright tried to kill me while I was walking around minding my own business. His name was... Deathwish?" She lifted a brow, scribbling again. Here goes nothing. "Well, anyway, I was wondering what happened to him. Cause I heard he got 'processed'... and stuff like that. Did you kill him? Because..." He leaned in and nodded helpfully. "... I think you need to kill him. That guy... is just not a team player. I just can't play on that guy's team, you know? And if you haven't killed him yet could you... torture him to death or something? Or just kill him really painfully? Actually, could I kill him painfully. I mean, I'm not... lobbying for his painful death or anything. Sparks, everyone knows that's not heroic. I'm just curious." Autumn scribbled again, then leaned back. "Tell me, Crush: How can you be sure Deathwish isn't a team player, when you've barely met him and have no idea how this city is run?" "Because... because I can just tell. I have a way with people. Stop drilling me for info, okay? Sheesh. I know I already passed your test or whatever. You've been scribbling about how I'm a Calamity-sparkin' godsend for, like, 5 hours already. I'm amazing. We've established that. Can you just point me in a direction and tell me who I need to kill? I'm losin' my mind here, lady." Oh, wait. That sounded testy. He chuckled nervously. Okay. Good, good. You're good.

Seems legit.

"When I get out? Uh, let's see..." Crush stopped smirking and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "First, I will travel to a nursing home." He nodded emphatically, waiting for a response. Autumn cocked an eyebrow. "A nursing home. When you find one that's still standing, you mean." "Yes. I will help the old people across the street. And buy them groceries." "Uh-huh. And what will you do with all of that free time on your hands?" "I will donate blood. And I will go the highway and pick up litter. And teach motivational seminars. And, um... community service. Just a lot of community service. Man, I just love... communities. And the serving of them. Yep." Nailed it.