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Showing posts with label lore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lore. Show all posts

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Languages in Runehack, and Mental Load in Worldbuilding

This article is not written just because the articles made under the tag myRPGs have almost overtaken Runehack. It is part of the reason for this, but I'm writing this because it's a thing I've pondered for a while.


On one occasion in the past, I've talked about the mental load of a media consumer. Sure this is something I spoke about only regarding a D&D homebrew, but it extends beyond this. People love detailed worldbuilding, but detailed worldbuilding isn't for everyone. This is why I feel so many writers talk about the worldbuilding icebergs, an illusion of detailed worldbuilding by merely alluding to some matters in the world, or developing the fictional cultures only in a couple of areas that interest the author the most. And there's some truth to it all. In an ideal scenario, an author who wishes to make a highly realistic world would have a worldbuilding project on their hands that would take them a lifetime to finish. It would take others a lifetime to absorb because such a project would be just as complex as our reality.

One area that fascinates me and intrigues me a lot is the culture around languages. The way we speak influences the way we label things, think, and act. Its influences leak into the way we speak in other languages - our accents, our interactions, the way we express ourselves in other languages, and so much more. Tolkien has put a lot of effort into his Elvish languages. And honestly, I struggle with that. No matter how I put the letters together, they rarely sound good, and I can only imagine writing a dictionary 100 words long for this purpose. There are tools for this online; one person even made a game out of conlang development. No matter what, though, the made-up words feel off to me most of the time. Then again, this is the same thing I've said about my attempts to compose music, and I overcame that hurdle earlier this year, so I'll be able to overcome this mental block in a couple of years too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in an ideal scenario, I'd create a world with a myriad of in-depth languages that influenced each other, and use them to at least label everything in the world. However, not only would I see such an endeavor as time-consuming, but due to the mental load it would require I see it as fruitless. Some would enjoy such details, but seeing just how much time it's taking me, I figured I'd take an easy way out. I began worldbuilding for Runehack and writing my novel that takes place in it by coming up with placeholder names, and I feel like they're sticking to me. The city names are mostly English words that express something about the place. People's names, meanwhile, are just jumbled-up English names, regardless of their real-world origin. So what if Samwell originates from Samuel, which is Hebrew in origin. I could reverse-engineer a meaning for the names if it was that important, for now, I'll just let it slide.

That being said, there are some fun linguistic things I came up with for Runehack. I doubt I'll develop them into full languages, they're just neat tidbits of information I wanted to share for a while.


Yes, at one point I thought I'd make the explanation for a shared language something like a 2001: Space Odyssey-style obelisk of knowledge. But that would raise more questions than solve problems.
Daily speedpaint 027 - Ancient language, by DaiSanVisART


Franqa

Let's begin with the most important idea that took me the longest to develop. See, Runehack is a world in which sharing the culture would be difficult. The bubbles of civilization are separated by the wilderness full of dangerous shapeshifters. Therefore, all the cultures would be developing to be radically different. And language, too, is a thing that changes and shifts over time. Due to this separation, they would drift to the point where they'd have a hard time understanding each other. But what if it wasn't this way?

Franqa is a plant that grows special tea leaves. According to the latest Mindlore research of Runehack's scientists, its effects are psychedelic in nature, kind of like being high. Several minutes after drinking it, one can speak, read, write, and understand spoken language called the same as this plant - Franqa. Nobody can tell what the exact origin of this language is, but it's consistent. The effects of Franqa tea last for roughly 4 hours.

The plant was native to the south-eastern regions of the New World, not too far from Moorwell. Its use was discovered even before the Era of Monsters, and it has spread all over the world thanks to its usefulness. It started off as a tool for use by travelers, diplomats, and translators, but it made its way into other areas of life too. Once its use became widespread, some people started to learn Franqa even when not under its influence. The tea leaves of Franqa are viewed as a symbol of community and cooperation. The plant even made its way into the everyday language. When someone wants to be honest and straightforward without trying to deceive the listener, they say they'll be "frank".

This is how all the cities of my world can talk to each other without issues, by using their lingua franqa.


The Unnamed Languages

The last two languages are why I haven't posted this article earlier - both are raw, underdeveloped ideas. The first is a language developed by some elves living in a humid jungle. This language is based on the premise of uninterrupted flow, which is why it contains no stopping sounds. Its vowels would be the typical a, e, i, o, and u sounds, and its consonants would be as follows: f, h, l, r, s, v, z, ʃ (labeled š), ʒ (labeled ž), and θ (labeled đ). The kh sound could in theory fit in too, but I found it too harsh to be used by the elves. As for going beyond that, other than phonotactics I don't have much worked out. I tried making a dictionary several times, but it always sounded bizarre, so I never did it completely. Fun fact, though, one of the earliest iterations of this language is the origin of Avurai University's name. Avurai was meant to mean "flying island" in this language.

The second language I wanted to make, and the newest one among all these, is a goblin code that has evolved into an artform. It's actually quite the opposite of the elvish language, inspired by the Hush language of the Limberwisk Isle. Both of these languages lack vowels. The phonotactics and phonetic dictionary of this goblin code is simple: every "syllable" (if it can be even considered that since it lacks a vowel) is made up of a consonant p, t, or k, followed by an optional letter r, s, ʃ, x, or f. There are no forbidden combinations, and the words can be quite long. The result might sound a bit like beatboxing, which is why this code became an artform of its own.


Tip Tap

Tip tap is a code known by some of the dwarves of Runehack. It utilizes their sensitive touch perception, which lets them sense the micro-vibrations of anything they touch with bare skin. Since most dwarves walk to most places barefoot, some have developed a secret minimal language for communicating with each other that utilizes lifting up the tips of their feet rhythmically to communicate.

Those who communicate using this code are referred to as tappers. It is one of the few ways of communicating that doesn't require the communicators to see or hear each other.

Tip Tap was developed originally by the dwarves who worked in the mines and forges, to inform each other of important things in their surroundings. Eventually, this language became widespread and generalized to be used in other loud work environments, such as forges and factories. It was and is also sometimes used in works or places where staying silent is crucial, such as animal hunting, prison inmate contact, special military forces, burglary, and spying.

Tip Tap is a simple oligosynthetic language with 45 morphemes, primarily focused on the domain of working. The word order in a sentence is Subject-Verb-Object. Adjectives follow after the Nouns they describe, e.g. "document (that is) old".

Due to its simple nature, the language lacks tenses other than present, and a large variety of terms that are not present in it. For example, since there is no term for water, most would refer to it as "Drink", even when it's not clean water or a large pool of water.

Since this is a written medium, we will utilize the Taixuanjing to codify this language. Each symbol represents the sequence, in which the tips of dwarves' feet (called "toes" from now) are touching the ground. Disruptions in the lines are the moments when the left (upper line) or right (bottom line) toes do not touch the ground. Please, assume the toes are touching the ground between the symbols.

⚍ ⚌ ⚎

𝌁 𝌅 𝌂

𝌃 ⚏ 𝌄 

The only restriction for tap sequences is that none of the ideas communicated can begin nor end with ⚌, seeing how that's the natural state for feet to be at.

Important messages can be communicated with both tips of feet and heels, by lifting an entire foot and softly stomping it against the ground or the floor. In this notation, the top two lines stand for a left foot, and the right foot is represented by the bottom two lines. While the line is doubled, it could in theory let the writer represent the heels and tips of the feet separately. However, this isn't utilized in Tip Tap for reasons forgotten by history.

𝌪 𝌊

𝍎 𝌎

The 𝌆 symbol isn't used, since its meaning is identical to ⚌. Symbols 𝌮 and 𝍖 are not listed, because these would require the tapper to jump in the air if standing.

These messages could in theory be tapped using the hands and fingers too. If a wall isn't part of the same material and surface as the ground, the tapper will have to bring the hand to the ground. Tapping the message using two fingers can be enough to convey the message to others.


Quick Messages

Since these are messages of vital importance, they are all symmetric – they can be communicated in an identical manner with either the left or the right foot. Furthermore, they are the only messages that require you to lift a heel. Chances are, if a tapper needs to communicate this message, they aren't concerned with being heard, so it's usually done by stomping the same foot twice or thrice.

Taps 
Meaning
𝌪⚌𝌪
or
𝌊⚌𝌊
"Go away!" "Save yourself!" "Leave!"
The message implies immediate danger to anyone who's receiving the message.
𝍎⚌𝌪
or
𝌎⚌𝌊
"Come here!" "Help me!" "I'm in danger!"
The message implies immediate danger to the tapper, and a request for help or assistance.


Negation

Most messages are made so that they do not require the user to negate things. But in case it's necessary, 𝌃 and 𝌄 tend to be used. These taps are reserved for negation because they were too complex when used along with other terms.


People

Messages that involve people usually begin with the ⚏ taps.

Taps 
Meaning
⚏⚏ I
⚏⚍ Guard, protector, security
⚏⚎ Civilian (someone not related to the work)
⚏𝌅 My colleague
⚏𝌁 My boss
⚏𝌂 My subordinate
⚏ followed by a Place Someone in the Place (used only when it's clear from the context)

 

Items

Taps 
Meaning
⚍⚏ Valuable
⚍⚍ Lock
⚍⚎ Junk
⚍𝌅 Consumable
⚍𝌅⚎ Food
⚍𝌅𝌂  Drink
⚍𝌁 Document
⚍𝌂 Tool


Places

Taps 
Meaning
⚎⚏ In front of me
⚎⚍ To my left
⚎⚎ To my right
⚎𝌅 Behind me
⚎𝌁 Safety / Relaxing Place
⚎𝌂 Workplace
⚎⚏⚎  Home


Adjectives

Depending on the context, these can stand for a color, or another attribute of an item.

Taps 
Meaning
𝌁⚏ Bright (color), New, Young
𝌁⚍ Yellow, Sticky, Sharp
𝌁⚎ Red, Hot, Burning
𝌁𝌅 Dark (color), Old
𝌁𝌁 Green, Slippery, Flat
𝌁𝌂 Cold, Wet


Actions

Taps 
Meaning
𝌂⚏ Take, Keep, Want
𝌂⚍ Store, Drop, Don't Want
𝌂⚎ Throw (if followed by something that can be thrown)
Go (if followed by place)
𝌂𝌅⚎ Eat
𝌂𝌅𝌂 Drink
𝌂𝌁 Relax
𝌂𝌂 Work


Numbers

The numeric system that dwarves use somewhat resembles the Roman numerals. One communicates a number by starting with a 0 and then listing all the numbers that add up to the desired number. For example, the number 11 would be communicated as 𝌅𝌂⚎⚍. Tip Tap uses Many for the numbers greater than 15, and Few for fractions, as well as negative numbers, since it never really needed these.

Taps 
Meaning
𝌅 0
1
2
𝌁 4
𝌂 8
𝌅⚏ Few*
𝌅𝌅 Many*

* When the criminals use Tip Tap to discuss money, Many (followed by a number without a 0) stands for 10.000× the number of credits, and Few stands for 1× the number of credits. If neither Many nor Few are mentioned, the value equals 100× the number of credits.


Sorry that languages other than Tip Tap aren't as developed. I just wanted to share these ideas instead of having them lying around in my archives, waiting to do something cool with them. At least I'm happy that Tip Tap is quite defined.

But that's about it for now. Thank you for reading, and have a great day!

Friday, July 14, 2023

Cryptosynonyms

This is a little idea I actually came up with more than 6 years ago. I coined the term back then and never returned to it, so I figured I'd share it with the world by archiving it here, seeing how "well" Reddit has been doing lately.



Cryptosynonyms are pairs of words that would normally mean opposite things, but they can have a synonymous meaning in some contexts. Examples I came up with in English are mostly this way because of slang:

  • hot and cool mean opposite things when it comes to temperature, but when it comes to trends they can be synonymous.
  • "This sucks!" and "This blows!" are phrases that can mean the same thing ("This is bad!"), despite the fact that suck and blow are antonyms.


I do want to have some cryptosynonyms in my conlangs, but for now this is it. I have some ideas for conlangs that I'm toying around in my head with, but so far most of them are too raw to really share here. Just as a teaser, they are languages for dwarven workers, some goblins, and for elves from some region I have yet to figure out.

Until then, though, I would like to wish you all a great day!

Friday, April 14, 2023

Inventing Musical Instruments in Worldbuilding

I've pondered for years about inventions within worldbuilding. Whenever I saw a piano in a fantasy world, I thought to myself "What are the odds that theirs would look exactly like ours?" Well, I've set out on this journey and found out. But first, I would like to outline the reason why I thought about this.


Different Worlds, Different Histories

Our world has a specific sequence of inventions and discoveries in its history. Language, fire, farming, wheel, written language, printing press, firearms, the industrial revolution, radio wave-transmitting devices, computers, the internet, and many things in between, as well as before and after. Some of these would be difficult to swap the order of, for example, inventing computers before inventing written language is something I'd personally consider highly unlikely. But some other things we could swap around to make for something quite interesting. This is what the Alternate Techline trope refers to.

So the question I pose is this: What are the chances that the history of a fictional world would follow the exact same sequence as ours? Some inventions are quite complicated in their nature, requiring many previous inventions before. Others, such as the flute, for example, are so simple that it would be strange if they weren't invented.

Let's take a look at a piano to see what I mean.


Look at how otherworldly that piano appears. Different material, different layout of keys, ... do the keys even play the same notes as our pianos?
Piano, by WLOP.

Regarding the Piano

I'm not a historian, and I am hardly a musician, so I'll try to keep this simple. I've done some surface-level research, and while I can't guarantee everything I'll write here is correct, at least it will illustrate my point.

The history of the piano begins in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, with the invention of the water organ. This is a wind musical instrument that uses a tank of water to push air out through the pipes. The water is first pumped out of the smaller tank into a bigger one, compressing the air inside. The air will then flow out of the pipes that are opened by the musician using an array of keys. So think of it as a couple of whistles that will play their tones when open. According to my short research on this topic, after pumping the water out of the tank, the water organ could be played for roughly 30 minutes before you'd have to pump the water out again. I could go on with how this turns into a pipe organ with bellows etc., but we're inventing a piano, and that's a string instrument. What this invention gave us though is something we'd take for granted: the idea that you could play music by pressing down keys.

Source

So what's next? Well, clavichord and harpsichord. Clavichord is a string instrument played with keys that strike its strings with tiny blades. Meanwhile, a harpsichord is a string instrument played with keys that are used to move a plectrum, plucking the strings (sort of like when one plays the guitar). In their designs, they already resemble a piano, but you might be wondering... why are the key colors reversed? Well, I'll let this fellow explain it to you, and instead move on to the question of the keys' arrangement.

Clavichord (left) and harpsichord (right)

Why are the keys on the clavichord, harpsichord, and piano arranged the way they are? I'm sure you know what I mean, it's one of the most iconic aspects of a piano: an array of 7 repeating white keys, with black keys in between the first two pairs and the last three pairs of keys. Let's begin with the fact that each note is a soundwave, with its pitch being determined by the frequency of the wave (measured in Hertz). The notes with frequencies that are halves or doubles of each other sound similar, which is why we tend to label them as the same note, like C for example. This is wonderfully displayed on this website's table, and it's also interactive so you can hear what I mean.

Why did we choose these 12 notes specifically? This video explains it nicely, I'd sum it up as a set of cultural preferences combined with a need for some regularity between the sounds used, and some strong tone combinations that we really wanted in our music: perfect fourth, perfect fifth, minor third, major third, and then some. Of course, that's not the only way to lay out the tones used. There are scales with 5 tones, and there are scales with 43 tones, or perhaps even more. As for why they are laid out the way they are, ... I can only guess it's because arranged as they are, the white notes can flawlessly play C major and A minor scales. Or because the black keys cover the pentatonic scale. Or because it lets the pianist do a tone slide called glissando. And maybe the black keys are higher than the others to let you do a pentatonic glissando.

Let's get back to the piano. How do we get from harpsichord and clavichord to piano? Well, all of them are string instruments, but they move their strings in different ways. The clavichord strikes them with tiny blades, harpsichord plucks them. Piano uses small hammers to strike the notes. I'd imagine it's similar to what Cimbalom does, but a professional will probably explain to me how those are very different in a way I couldn't figure out during my minor research into the topic.

I'm gonna omit the pedals for now, because I don't feel like researching those.


To Invent an Instrument

So to summarize, in order to explain the existence of a piano in a fictional world, we needed an explanation for the invention of:

  • The keys (water organ),
  • The strings in a box played with small hammers (cimbalom, or harpsichord and clavichord if we count other methods of striking the strings),
  • The preference for composing in a 12-tone scale,
  • The need to distinguish the major/minor scale keys from each other (results in lightly colored piano keys)
  • The need to play these in quick succession for a glissando,
  • The need to play the pentatonic scale as well, and the possibility of playing it as a glissando (sets the black keys apart by making them shorter than the white keys, and placing them higher than the white keys for easier glissando).

There could be more factors, but now you probably see what I mean. Meanwhile, here's what you need to invent a drum:

  • A surface that can be hit to produce a distinct sound,
  • And something to strike this surface with, such as a stick, a metal rod, a grainy material like sand, or even a hand. 

I feel like I'm overtly reductive here, but what I wanted to say with this final statement is that a piano is harder to invent than a drum. There could be a fictional world where a piano is invented before drums are, of course, but it's highly unlikely.

I'm gonna choose to believe that what we've seen in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's trailer #3 is Zelda sitting in front of a magical piano. It's unclear, but the pose suggests that's the fact to me, and I liked this shot.


The reason why I am writing this article is to sort of summarize my attempt at reinventing a piano for my worldbuilding. While it is possible to change some parameters, making a piano that's "my own" feels like it's not worth the hassle.That's about it for today. Thank you for reading my somewhat disorganized and under-researched notes, and I wish you all a wonderful day!

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Sparktech

Initially, I wanted to write an article about why I'm leaving D&D for good, showcasing my goodbye homebrew. But I realized that I already did talk about why I'm done with it in my 2022 Review blog post. So with my final creation, I wanted to publish finally being out, it's time for me to move back to my favorite stuff to do: Runehack, and other worlds in my magitech multiverse.

I didn't have too much time to think through this one, so... uh, you'll have to deal with surface-level thought-through magitech here. Also please forgive my limited explanations of physics here, it's a fantasy world after all.


Sparktech

The lightnings are chaotic. The lightnings are unpredictable. The lightnings are powerful. In the darkest of storms, bolts of lightning can surprise and startle us by striking something really tall. But... lightnings do seem to like metal. What if there was a way to trap it in a prison of metal? Let's just assume that there is a device for that, called "captor" for now. Now if we connect the captor to some very thin lines of metal (think like wires), we could perhaps find a use for them!

If you're lucky enough to see a metal struck by lightning, you'll probably notice that it's got hot. That's something we might want to limit if we want our wires to last very long. What if there was a magical device, one that we could attach the wire to restrict how much spark (lightning in wire, I'm getting tired of writing lightning over and over) gets to course through a wire at a given moment. Let's call it "limiter".

If we have a wire loop with a captor and maybe a limiter on it, we'll notice that in time, the spark does escape. We want to avoid that. Perhaps this process could be slowed down if we make it so bits of wire can be detached or attached with a manual human-activated motion. Like a button or something similar. Let's call it "flip".

What if there was a way to make it so that a wire works as a limiter only in one direction? And like a very effective limiter at that. I'm not sure what this could be useful for just yet, but it could perhaps force the spark to travel in a deterministic direction within the wires. Let's call such a limiter "director" because it directs which way the spark flows.

There's one more important part of this puzzle that should be discussed. You can create a magical device out of silicon that has two inputs and one output (don't feel like figuring out how). One of the inputs is a source, and the other input is a control. The spark travels from the source to the output wire only if the control doesn't have a spark. I'm imagining it sort of like a portcullis, which is held down if there's someone who can pull it down at its lever or whatever those used to be controlled with. That's why I'm gonna call it "gate".

Now, let's say that I connect three wires together, attaching directors to two of them arranged so that the spark would flow towards the meeting point. If either of the directed wires has a spark in it, the one without a director gets it too. Maybe attach a limiter to it too just to make sure the wire will be fine. We got ourselves a way to detect the presence of a spark on any of multiple inputs!

How about this. If you attach a captor to the gate's source input, and attach some wire that can but doesn't have to have a spark in it to the controller, the gate will let a spark through to the other side only if the control is off. And that's how we got ourselves a way to negate the spark!

Since we can negate signals, as well as combine them, we could work out support for the rest of the logic from there. I'm pretty sure that the gates could somehow also be built so that information can be stored in them, probably through a complicated combination of gates. But I think this can go further.

The legends speak of an arcane ritual that involves weaving a wire around a rod into a spiral. When you let spark into such wire, it will magically draw closer objects made out of metal. I'm gonna call this "spool", and its applications are obvious. You could use this to move metal objects around, thus letting us convert spark into mechanical movement!

I believe I could keep on making more and more technology for this purely hypothetical world in the future. Perhaps the heat from the wires could be useful for something, like heating devices. Maybe I could even find a way to redirect the heat somewhere else involving special liquids and making cooling devices. Heated metals glow, so they could be used for producing light. There could of course be other ways to make light as well. Maybe there could even be a way to communicate between two wires without them being connected through some sort of spark-related invisible energy. And if I were to learn more about lightnings, maybe I could come up with further applications for this new kind of technology. But I'll cut it here for now.

The countryside is lined with crosses that carry the sparks to those who need them.
... what? No one ever said that these sparks can move about outside of wires.
... well, maybe for short distances. But that's beside the point.
Imagine how bizarre it would be to see these things everywhere. What kinds of shapes they could have depending on the nations, and how these massive wires could become parts of buildings, perhaps even integrated into them. Wouldn't that be wild?
Utility Poles, by RegusMartin


But for now, I think I'm gonna stick to runes because they require less explaining. Besides, I do believe many authors have already utilized sparktech in their own creations, though they tend to label it "electronics" for some reason beyond me. Etymology tells me that that word is derived from amber, and frankly I don't know what that has to do with any of this.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my article. It's nice to get into writing again, and I hope I'll be able to post more good things to the blog soon. Thank you for reading, and have a nice April Fools!

Monday, November 28, 2022

Runehack Holidays

When I started to write this article, I had been feeling creatively stuck on NaNoWriMo for two weeks. I doubt I will catch up at this point, and I've come to terms with that. But while I'm giving up on the writing goal of finishing the novel within the month of November, I am not gonna give up on the goal of finishing the novel overall. Maybe what I need for jumpstarting my creativity is to just... focus on something else for a bit.

The end of the year in our world tends to be a season of many holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and likely many more. I'd love to take this opportunity to make up a couple holidays celebrated locally or globally in Runehack, one for each of Moon's cycles in a year. Not all of these are old or official holidays, some are just events that happen yearly and are broadly recognized. Expect six more next time around!

I hope you'll enjoy this article, and I wish you a great day!


It's rather difficult to find art for holidays that I'm making up, so... just imagine this is roughly what a Wildenfeast can look for in a fairy family. Or perhaps they have graduated from some sort of rune-related school. As for the background, maybe they're holding this celebration in a city park... in a city very close to the equator. That happens to not be a jungle, somehow.
... or maybe the art just has some wholesome vibes I wanted to share.

Artwork by Ivy Dolamore

Wildenfeast

Date: 1st day of spring

The cruel weather is on its leave and nature is still too drowsy to be dangerous. The early spring is a time when everyone brings out tasty treats and celebrates the moment of truce between the wilderness and the civilization.

Decoration. To show nature's presence, people decorate the area in which the feast is to take place with wreaths or festoons made up of leaves and branches. Nature isn't present only in people's surroundings, it makes up their bodies too. Thus, people who want to show their holiday spirit usually wear either a garland of flowers on their head, or one or two articles of clothing with natural motifs such as leaves, vines, or flowers.

A small group of elves and fairies fell in love with this kind of clothing, and over time their outfits became more natural. Over the years, they began to wear them earlier and later around the Wildenfeast time, until it became a daily outfit style for them. Some people didn't like this due to the general apprehension people feel towards the wilderness beyond the walls, so this small group grew more rebellious in their ideals. This marked the beginning of the Wilderpunk subculture. 

Family. Usually, it's celebrated in the privacy of homes by the parents and the children who aren't married yet. The presence at Wildenfeast represents being part of a family, so exceptions aren't uncommon: parents who wish to show their child's partner that they are willing to accept them, a single parent's romantic interest, an orphaned child who is very close to the family, and many other exceptions are considered normal in real life as well as in the fiction that showcases Wildenfeast.

Meals. The feast eaten on this day consists mostly of fruits, vegetables, and grains left over after the winter. Eating meat is believed to bring nature's wrath upon the household, which is why the Wildenfeast meals contain meat. Traditional meals eaten during the Wildenfeast include salad rolls wrapped in paperbread; oiled pasta noodles mixed with spinach, garlic, and chopped tomatoes; and egg-fried rice.


Heartcall

Date: 42nd day of spring

All people are social animals who desire companions. Most people desire to have one companion who is much closer to them than others. Following the naming pattern of northcall, everyone is invited to follow the call of their heart shortly before the spring equinox, either to have a lovely time with their romantic partner or to confess their feelings.

Confession. While couples can form on any day during the year, this is a chance for those who have strong unexpressed feelings for another person to show them without judgment. Those who are not brave enough record their confession, either as a voice message or on a paper, and personally deliver it to their romantic interest.

Date. Those who already have a romantic interest traditionally share a meal in the privacy of either partner's home and afterward show the partner one's love through their love language. It's polite to give one's partner at least a small gift on this day, whether it's a flower or a dessert. The usual ingredients for desserts gifted on Heartcall are honey, strawberries, and chocolate.

Loneliness. Not everyone has a romantic partner or seeks one. On the day of Heartcall, it's normal for groups of single friends to go out together to one or more establishments such as restaurants, bars, and clubs. To incentivize their customers, these businesses tend to give discounts on their drinks on the Heartcall's evening.


Trickstorm

Date: 70th day of spring

Toward the end of the spring, the Silver Dame tends to act a little ridiculous. Sometimes she waters the world beneath her, but only for a minute. Sometimes, she stomps her feet upon her misty dress, while the shine of her radiant smile blinds people's eyes. And on some occasions, she gathers the ice from the Caldfort and throws it down upon people. With the unpredictable weather, some decided to play tricks on each other too.

Common Comedy. Some pranks repeat year after year because they are easy to pull off. These include but are not limited to spoken lies that are soon revealed to be lies, runic illusions that startle people, paper slips that insult their reader, or putting something inedible into someone's meal or drink.

Fashion. Not everyone can appreciate a good prank, of course. Those who do not wish to participate in pranks on this day of the year show it by making most of their outfit for the day black, gray, or brown. It's generally frowned upon when a person dressed this way plays a prank on the day of the Trickstorm.

Reward. People who enjoy and embrace pranks tend to reward the ones they find to be the most impressive by gifting the prankster something small, such as a piece of candy, a glass ring, or a bandanna. Some see this as an opportunity to get back at the prankster, for example by gifting them a candy wrap full of glitter, or a bandanna with something embarrassing on it.


Runic Revolution Anniversary

Date: 25th day of summer

The monstrous paramorphs beyond the walls have kept the civilization divided for a long time. However, it is thanks to the cunning of those knowledgeable of the runes that the society could be reunited and begin cooperating yet again. Runetech allows people to communicate with each other instantaneously, travel great distances to see new places, and so much more. This is why there's a year dedicated to celebrating the development of the first rune-powered computing mechanism.

Parade. A couple of major cities have a parade with vehicles that display gigantic illusions of the most iconic pieces of prominent runic technology. These include runebooks, runecards, water pumps, hovering vehicles, runebots, and abstract representations of Mistweb.

Science Fairs. The Runic Revolution Anniversary is the most common day for science fairs to happen. It is an opportunity for the students to make a scientific model of something they've learned at school to impress others, or to invent something completely new. Most of the time, it's the former rather than the latter though.

Truce. On this day, the two megacorporations that rule most city-states of the world do not try to compete or outdo each other. Lifestock and Nexuspace put their differences aside on this day, as their leaders travel to the Grand Republic, the most neutral ground, to host a polite ball there. Royals of the independent kingdoms are also invited.


Lingershine

Date: 45th day of summer (Summer Solstice)

Dreams are visions of the unreal that come to people as they sleep. Some would say that the dreams are origins of many myths and legends. Dreams can also stand for hopes or goals that people have. All three of these are celebrated on the longest day of the year. When a tale or a piece of fiction within the world of Runehack talks about the ordinary world and the world of myths crossing or merging, it usually happens on the day of Lingershine.

Dances. While drinking and eating are prominent parts of the Lingershine celebrations, the most important part of it is dancing. Generally, these dances are split into three types, based on how many people it takes to perform the dance. The Whirlin is a formal dance for two that has a strong accent on the first beat, and alternates between quadruple time and double time, both taking roughly the same time. The Tetric Dance is a dance performed by exactly four people, standing with their backs to each other. Its music alternates between triple time and double time, making it feel like every other bar misses one beat. Finally, the Stride is an informal dance performed by any number of people, though fewer than four make it look awkward. It uses a common time signature.

Masks. Most of the Old World believed that on the day of Lingershine people and creatures of legends enter this world to join in on the party, which is why one should wear a mask for any kind of Lingershine party—to blend in with the weird creatures. While such beliefs are ridiculed in the New World, Old World sees it more as a sentimental remembrance of the old times before the era of monsters, when people actually believes such myths to be real. The only requirements for the masks are to represent some legend and to cover the area around one's eyes, with or without covering the eyes. Anything else, including covering the rest of one's face, is considered optional.

Resolutions. Setting goals for the next year, and sharing what you've managed to accomplish within the last year, both make up part of the Lingershine celebrations. One is encouraged to share both of these with their close friends so that they could be proud and support each other. It's not frowned upon for one to fail in fulfilling their resolutions, usually with a phrase: "Perhaps some of them are meant to stay dreams."


Swimming Week

Date: 60th-66th days of summer

People's habits can become a widely recognized holiday when they are repeated by people often enough. During the first week of the last moon of summer, many people tend to go to the beaches or pools for a refreshing swim due to temperatures being fairly high. This is how over time, it became a part of the global culture.

Fashion Shows. On the first day of Swimming Week, fashion shows tend to be held, describing the current trends in swimwear, hoping to get those who care too much about trends to invest in a new set of swimwear.

Games. Since it's a time of fun and joy, those who partake in Swimming Week come up with various games to play in the water, or on the beach. One of the most common ones is Aquatic Catch, a game of tag played in the water. Another fairly common game to play is Spraywar. It's played with toy weapons that shoot water and has a huge variety of rules that are or aren't followed by its players. Only one rule is consistent: when someone is hit by the water, they are eliminated from the game for a short duration of time, roughly a minute. Other games exist too, of course, with plenty of them being locally known but not widespread across the globe. One such game is Pearlhunt, played in the city of New Prista on the last day of Swimming Week.

Relaxation. Certain pools, such as the ones commonly found in Ashington, heat their water up and possibly add some minerals into the water to boost the swimmers' health. Such pools aren't a center point of fun times and focus instead on relaxation and peace. Surely these kinds of pools operate all year long, but during Swimming Week they give great discounts to lure in new customers, in hopes of getting them used to it.


Sunday, September 11, 2022

Consciousness in Runehack

Sometime recently, I turned 10.000 days old. I really wanted to publish an article on such an opportunity, but I didn’t have anything ready. I’m still working on the Moorwell article, having a hard time getting to it because of the hardships I’m currently experiencing. Perhaps a short article on an obscure topic of consciousness will do for this occasion.


Didn't want this article to not have any art in it, but it's difficult to find a picture for a topic like "consciousness", so... let's pretend this is a digital ghost as described later in this article.
The picture comes from the Daily Renders June 2021 collection by Josh Pierce.


Consciousness

One of the core concepts of the world of Runehack is consciousness. It’s different from something being merely alive or animated, consciousness means awareness of yourself and your surroundings. What are some oddities about the consciousness present in the world?

For one, people of this world have a concept of submemory, which is a part of one's memory that persists even if it's not in one's memory. So a fairly popular but unverifiable theory suggests, that consciousness is somewhere not in one's body, perhaps not even in the physical world. The following aspects of consciousness would suggest that this theory might hold true.


Dreams and Elves

When someone falls asleep, their consciousness enters a dream. It's not known whether there is an actual place where the dreams happen, or if it is just a mind's illusion. Strangely, the elves of Runehack possess a mysterious ability of dream-walking, which lets them enter other people's dreams while sleeping. The dream-walking is largely forgotten for several reasons: the impracticality of setting it up, the moral quandaries of using it, and the ease of instant communication thanks to the runetech connected to the Mistweb.

Each elf retains a supernatural link to its blood, even once it leaves the elf's body. When an elf falls asleep, they can sense the presence of people who are very close to their blood (a couple of inches or centimeters at best). This distance is unlimited when the ring moon's light shines upon the elf. The most reliable way for an elf to dream-walk would be to touch the sleeping person whose dream they wish to enter, but some elves create pendants that hold a small amount of their blood to give to people. An elf in another person's dream is largely ignored by the dreamer and their dream characters. If the dream-walker attempts to shape another person's dream in a way lucid dreamers would, the dream characters will turn aggressive towards the intruder until they are removed from the dream. This aggression can be overcome in two ways - either if the elf is trusted by the dreamer whose dream they have entered, or if the elf does so during the Blood Moon (lunar eclipse).

The practice of entering the dreams of someone who an elf hates, only to haunt the dreamer with an uncontrollable nightmare has led to the elves being judged in many societies. Thus, this practice has become a taboo, something that parents don't even teach their elven children is a possibility anymore. When an elf in the present day finds out, it is either through an old scripture, experimentation or from someone else who has found out already.


Consciousness Duplication

Thanks in part to Nixly’s genius, the technology that allows for one’s mind to be copied is real in this world. It’s a lengthy process that takes roughly an hour or so to complete, during which one’s head has to wear a scanning helmet made for this purpose. Using this technology, plenty of people have been backed up and turned into runebots and/or ghosts. The difference between a ghost and a runebot is a presence of a physical body characteristic for the runebots, as opposed to a hologram-like illusory visage of the ghosts. A ghost can enter a runebot body, and a runebot might be able to produce a ghost.

After Nixly has been retrieved from the Wineholm, her creation has been integrated with the potential to interact with the Mistweb, allowing the people whose brains have been scanned to interact with the technology. This marked the invention of the first truly conscious Artificial Intelligence... in a way. While its existence is based entirely on the runes, it is not actually artificial - it has existed before being scanned and emulated.

The first experiments were to restrict these minds to the runebot bodies, which turned out to be quite successful. Afterward, Nixly suggested the creation of a utopia at the bottom of the sea to test out the potential of her ghosts (illusory projections of these emulated minds), creating an afterlife of sorts for those who can afford it. The city was called Everling, and anyone who's wealthy enough can send their mind scan there to live on forever, as long as the city's server keeps running. Slowly and cautiously, the ghosts are nowadays getting integrated into the common society, limited by a plethora of restrictions.

Rumors claim that memories between a person and the emulation of their mind scan can "leak" over long periods of time when one of them ceases to be, whether it's due to the emulation stopping irreversibly, or because of the person dying. There are no actual records of this sort of thing happening, which is why it's treated as a mere myth by normal people. And yet, there are still people who would consider this to be yet another proof that one's consciousness exists outside of this world.



That's about it for this topic. I wanted to write, and it seems I finally succeeded in motivating myself into doing so. Thank you for reading, I hope you've enjoyed it, and have a nice day!

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Leytech

I always thought ley lines are a cool fantasy idea that could make for a lovely source of magic. These days, I've been pondering how to make a world, in which people could make technology using some sort of magic, but also utilize this magic on their own. Divtech and orbtech are both bound to their items, a human couldn't use their magic without them. Runes can be drawn on any surface, and all it takes is amber, but it's impossible to draw them without it.

Seeing how last time I changed my mind a lot right after publishing the article, take things written here with a grain of salt (pun intended). It’s a proof of concept, not written in stone just yet.

I wish you a good time while reading this article!


X marks the spot! Except the lines would be hovering high up in the sky, and way wider.
The art is drawn for the Magic: The Gathering card Leyline of Singularity, by Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai.

Azureley

  • Magitech System: ley lines that rush the saltwater along their direction
  • Input: ley energy, flowing saltwater, mechanical valves, and metal rings
  • Output: water that's colored or vibrated in different ways using metal rings
  • Motion: water turbines, cogs, and pistons
  • Fuel: ley energy

The world of Azureley is a planet enveloped in a multitude of ley lines. A ley line in this world is a stream of energy visible high up in the sky that resembles an aurora borealis, continually flowing in a singular direction at all times. Each ley line is a circle, going around the sphere exactly once without crossing itself. The ley lines radiate ley energy, which compels saltwater within a certain range of the ley line to flow in the same direction when the water absorbs the energy. This can lead to sights uncommon to our world, such as saltwater rivers flowing out of the ocean uphill, digging canals into the earth and rock, permanent whirlpools if three or more ley lines form a small enough shape, causing the water to flow in a circular motion within them, and more. So far, there are no known means of creating, destroying or redirecting ley lines, and it is uncertain whether the ley lines will last forever.

Humanoids and animals of this world are capable of absorbing the ley energy while staying within the range of one or more ley lines. When a living creature focuses on releasing some of its ley energy, it can shape saltwater, or direct it to flow somewhere. Running out of ley energy runs the same risks as dehydration, which is why most of the major settlements are built underneath ley lines, especially at the ley crossings where the exposure to ley energy is greater.

When humanity discovered that hollow metal rings can change the properties of ley-infused water that flows through them or telekinetically prevent it from passing, it was only inevitable before they could create ley-powered machinery. This technology—leytech—is built out of stainless steel and glass pipes, too small for even a pinky finger of most people to fit in. The rings have the following properties on the ley-infused water that flows through the central hole, even if the water is not in contact with the metal:


Aluminium: Cooling

Water that passes through a ring made out of aluminum will become colder.

Cobalt: Heat

Water that passes through the magnesium ring will become warmer.

Copper: Information Relay

These rings only operate if there is at least one sending copper ring and at least one receiving ring with matching identification. The receiver rings will only let water through if at least one of the sending rings has water flowing through it. What exactly lets these copper rings be identified as pairs, as senders or receivers, and what constitutes the contents of water is yet to be determined by me.

Its opposite can be achieved through the use of Tin: a receiver ring made out of tin will only let water through if none of the sender rings made out of tin with a matching identification has water flowing through it.

Gold: Color

Fill this ring with one or more dyes, and the water that comes through it will be colored appropriately. If the ring is empty, any gold-induced coloring of the water is removed. The dyes are made out of specific materials, but for the purposes of this article they are not so important that they’d need to be listed. Picture them as a powder of a single color.

Nickel: Sound

When water passes through the tin ring, it produces a sound. … please don’t ask me how, I don’t have an explanation for this yet. After trying to somehow mix nonelectric hydraulophones with talking piano illusions for hours, I'm resorting to just saying magic and leaving it at that.

Silver: Filter

This ring will let through it only material that the inside of the ring is filled with. For example, if the inside of the ring is filled with fresh water, all of the salt will gather on the inside, while fresh water comes out. These are used commonly in households to make sure the used water is fresh, but they need to be cleaned a lot. If the ring is filled with a water that’s been colored using a gold ring, it will only let through water colored using the appropriate dye.


With all of the above as well as the natural properties of water, people were capable of creating various machines such as vehicles, plumbing, computers, and even their own equivalent of the internet. Besides these, they also possess their own weapons powered by leytech: frostguns and hofficers. Their operation is simple—a human uses their ley energy to fire a deeply frozen projectile at the target. In the case of a frostgun, it is a bullet roughly as big as a single digit of a finger or smaller. In the case of a hofficer, it’s a cannonball a little smaller than a human head. Due to its temperature, the projectile won't melt after being shot, and in the hottest weather, it takes less than an hour to melt inside of a wound.

Azureley is a world that consists of one stretched mega continent that passes through a pole and one ocean filled with a myriad of islands. Sailing along the ley lines is popular, though a ship must avoid leyline crossings on the open sea for the chaotic currents and the risk of getting caught in an eternal whirlpool. At the same time, the continent has its desert recently populated by people looking after the riches hidden within it. The formerly unpopulated desert is seen as an opportunity for a new life, which is why some folk have taken it into their own hands to bring justice to this land.

So in a nutshell, this is a world of water-bender cowboys and pirates possessing water-powered smartphones and the internet, as well as railguns that shoot ice bullets/cannonballs, while northern lights are all around the place. Not exactly cyberpunk, but silly enough to sound like fun to me.


Happy anniversary for the first article of a Runehack city, New Prista! I'm so happy about how much the world has changed. From a runic system that could do basically anything, all the way to a fleshed-out unique world with such a huge potential for stories. What's more, it has siblings now. While the siblings might not all be as cyberpunk and universal as Runehack, each of them feels like it has its own aesthetic, which I find cool. I only hope I'll be able to make up more of these magitech worlds that I could later find a nice use for and possibly flesh out.

Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!


Saturday, December 25, 2021

Magitech Multiverse

Everyone has a multiverse. Brandon Sanderson has it, Spiderman has it, D&D has multiple. I want one of my own too. Not for D&D, for my stories, as well as my games.

I like magic-powered technology that isn't just "re-branded electricity". I also like minimalistic hard magic systems. The number of things they can do could be counted on one, maybe two hands, but it's low either way. Plenty of thoughts have gone into how technology works, and I think I got some details narrowed down. I'd say there are four important elements when it comes to technology that I like (at least, at the moment of writing this article):

  • Input: Detecting inputs and activating magic based on that, to provide autonomous machinery.
  • Output: Giving sensory outputs (sights, sounds, etc.), to provide easily read data.
  • Motion: Giving motoric outputs (moving objects), to provide outputs that affect the physical world.
  • Fuel: What the device requires in order to operate, to limit the time for which a device can function.

(I know that Output can be done by Motion, I just like the convenience.)

Coming up with "hard magitech systems" isn't easy for me, but I want to get better at it, maybe to grow my multiverse some more. But I have three worlds that I could work on now. Each of them is built with a magitech system at its heart, and they are all connected in a way I'll keep to myself for now. Of course, the magitech system doesn't need to be the only form of magic that's present in that world. Needless to say, one can't just travel from one of these worlds to another as they wish - none of my worlds will just have a spell, like plane shift in it. That would require an extraordinary amount of effort, and some magic that I already have in one of these worlds.

Let's have a brief rundown of the magitech worlds I've made so far and their technology. I'll use this opportunity to write up updates on the original concepts I wrote before for each of these.

I've spent too much time looking for artwork to use here. I've seen too many artworks that are just grids or random assortments of ball-shaped universes, D&D-styled cosmology charts, or abstract trippy nonsense on my search. I wanted to go with something that feels fresher, and... while it's not a multiverse per se, I liked The Game Bakers' portrayal of the universe that Haven takes place in. I couldn't track down the artist right now, but the art seems to be their property.


Runehack

  • Magitech System: runes
  • Input: detection runes
  • Output: illusion runes, encryption runes
  • Motion: telekinesis runes
  • Fuel: amber or tree sap

I'm not sure what more is there to say about Runehack. I don't want to update it in any major way, and if you want to know more about it, there are so many articles about it on my blog that I made a reading guide included in the sidebar.


Ælfheim

  • Magitech System: truncated octahedrons that produce light based on one's belief (divtech)
  • Input: thought, and personal identity
  • Output: light displays
  • Motion: piston cubes, rotor cubes
  • Fuel: light
  • The world as we know it has become inhospitable. Those who wanted to survive have been converted into a mechanical form.

    For the sake of simplicity, I'll refer to the truncated octahedrons as cubes. I chose this shape because it can infinitely tile a 3D space, and it has plenty of sides.

    Just like in the original article about divtech, these shapes can produce light that goes through logical gates which operate based on one's belief. You'll get a result out of technology based on what you believe to get. If you have a calculator, and you believe that by inputting 1+1 you'll get 99, you will. Thus, people of this world are trained to have no expectations when using technology.

    The first important change I'll make is this: Perhaps I could change how the interior works. While I could say "quantum physics" and it could make some sense, I think I'll just boil it down to one item in particular. A gemstone that can shine light if it's receiving light and if someone believes it should shine. Each cube can be suited for usage by someone specific or left for anyone at all to influence it, perhaps by denoting their name in the crystal somehow. The cheapest solution is to have one of the cubes produce light when a specific person believes in it. The best solution would be for all of the cubes to let their light through only when a specific person believes in them.

    Another thing that's different is the energy source. Long story short, the powering cube will require the reception of some form of light in order to power the rest. The most reliable form is the sunlight, but fire works too. Moonlight works only on a full moon, and only when it's fully visible. Starlight is too weak. Light from other cubes explicitly doesn't work.

    Now, these mechanical remnants of sapient species are beings that require light in order to operate. When the light is not present, they go into sleep mode - their operation resumes only once they get enough light. Sleep is not something these machines require, so going to sleep is pretty much optional. You could stay up all night working, provided you have light all night long. This could have several interesting implications. For example, at night some of them could try to commit crimes while others "sleep". They can't get too close to others though, because they could accidentally wake them up. This could cause these communities to develop patrols, guards who walk around the town with torches. But that in return could cause these criminals to extinguish torches, pausing the guard in their tracks harmlessly. The other guard passes by, sees a deactivated guard, activates it just by proximity to the torch, and relights their torch, and now they know something's wrong.

    What if the displays that the cubes possess are somehow filtering the light of the gems to make it safer again, thus disallowing it from triggering other cubes? What if the light that these gems produce is very destructive? Maybe you could attach them to some weirdly-shaped sticks, point them at people or objects, and do harm that way. In other words, ...

    Wizard guns.

    Another interesting realization - maybe the cubes could be arranged in any way of sensors and outputs. Maybe they could have outputs that produce sound instead of light if it can somehow be converted. And thus, maybe a majority of the surface of these beings could be made up of inputs, thus allowing for "skin that can feel". The world has enough to be worked on. But I'll have to get working on it. Who knows when possibly when I get tired of Runehack and I'll need a quick distraction.

    Part of the inspiration here is Bionicle, surprisingly - a world populated completely by mechanical beings sounds dope to me. Though I'd imagine they used to be not mechanical. Whether there are any non-mechanicals left I have yet to figure out. Perhaps trees, maybe insects. Who knows.


    Globus (name WIP)

  • Magitech System: quartz orbs, with a dream world on the inside made up of semi-tangible strings (orbtech)
  • Input: orb's surface sensing
  • Output: orb's surface illusions
  • Motion: orb's movement
  • Fuel: mare's blood
  • Let's be honest here - the main reason why I'm writing this article is that I wanted to make some changes to the orbtech, but when I realized I can't come up with a good title, I figured I may as well unveil my larger dream project while doing so instead of hiding it forever and ever.

    First of all, fuel. I figured quartz itself being fuel is kind of silly, especially with orbs getting smaller as they get used. They could get smaller if they roll around too much, as most physical things would. But instead of quartz getting consumed, I think I'll go with something else. The dragon blood was just a spontaneous idea I went with while writing the original article, and looking back at it hardly has anything to do with dreams. Instead, I'll go with a mare. Not a horse, mare as in a legendary creature of nightmares. How exactly will it look I can't quite tell, maybe something canine or feline. It will definitely have the ability to paralyze people who are unconscious through touch. The orb is hollow on the inside, and for the sake of keeping the movements predictable, the liquid inside of it hovers, not interacting with the orb's movements.

    The dream within the orb is made up of "strings", but they're not actual strings. It's just something people grew to call it because the string is the closest thing they could approximate it to. One can pass through them or touch them whenever they wish to.

    The orb can record anything that it could see, and it can record audio it could hear if it was a human ear. However, this audio is only stored inside of the orb, since quartz lacks a way to produce a multitude of sounds. It could technically only produce a ringing sound that sounds like someone striking the orb. If you get multiple orbs of different sizes, and all of them play the recorded audio all at once, they could reproduce the message, but it's much easier to just enter its dream and hear for yourself.

    Orbs only allow you to enter their dreams when they are filled with mare blood. If they run out of blood while someone is inside, the person is awakened immediately.

    Furthermore, there's a curious race in this world. I'm not sure what I'll call them yet, I'll refer to them as kitsunes for now. Chances are if I keep this name, they could have fox-like traits, although a more feline demeanor, and they would come with a special ability - to enter a dreamscape at will. Whether it's a sleeping person or an orb, they can simply touch it, will themselves to enter, and they immediately appear in this space. What makes them even more unique is that their physical form completely ceases to exist whenever they do this, including objects they are wearing or carrying, except for orbs. Due to the danger that these people present, it is best to ponder your orbs in private spaces, otherwise, you're inviting kitsunes to invade your dreams.

    Fun thought: If you make a car that has orbs for wheels, you could have the car move even sideways without really turning its wheel. It could move in any direction, as long as you could somehow transmit that information to all of the wheels. Maybe an orb could work as a steering wheel too. I would however consider reimagining the shape of such cars, and maybe adding more wheels so that if one runs out of fuel, you still have five more.

    Have you ever seen the musical marvel called Marble Machine? Imagine if each of those marbles was an orb. Imagine if they could determine what paths they roll up or down in. Imagine if the crank was turned by another orb, perhaps a much bigger one. Or maybe there's a big orb covered in small boxes for the marbles to travel in. And the orbs determine on their own where they roll and when. All of them entangled, working in harmony. Bonus points if they light up in various colors, possibly even changing colors as they travel around the machine.

    Right now, I have no clue otherwise about anything else within this world. I just like the fact that I figured out a way to make spherical magical computers.

    Soulfire Stone, by JoshEiten

    No clue if this will be useful for me, it's just cool art I found along the way.
    Ancient Titan, by Deiv Calviz

    It's not a cube, nor a "cube" (that being: truncated octahedron). But hey let's imagine it is. This looks neato!
    3D steampunk magic thingy, by dchan

    This was fun. I want more. Some on my to-do list are clothtech, aquatech, and maybe somehow turning language into technology without it seeming like a copy of runes.

    Tuesday, December 14, 2021

    Orbtech

    This started off as a thought experiment about a technology programmed in the dream world. Once a need for a physical focus came though, I recalled a meme that's currently trending, and… my mind couldn't help but ponder. Don’t take things written here as gospel, it’s just me making up wild ideas as I go. If I ever write again about Orbtech, I could change any of these details.


    Yes, this meme inspired the article partially. Cover art of Middle-Earth Quest: A Spy In Isengard, illustrated by Angus Mcbride.

    Take some quartz and start polishing it until it's nice and round. Keep going until you can practically see through it. Once that's the case, dip the creation in the dragon blood for 24 hours. It must be the only orb dipped in the dragon blood, if there are multiple this process won’t work. The less blood you use the better, because after using it this way the blood is drained of its magic. If you've done all the steps correctly, you should have a dream orb. Though since any other orbs are way less important, by now it is simply called orb.

    Orbs are special devices because at a glance they lack any visible signs of internal logic, and yet they can change their appearance and roll around, even reacting to outside inputs. In actuality, there's a complex code written inside of the orb, accessible through a highly unusual method - dreaming. If one falls asleep while touching the orb, they'll enter the orb's dreamscape. It's a world of dreams, shaped by the person who dreamed in it first after the orb's dragon blood bath. The simplest way to use orbs is for message delivery. Although impractical, since these messages can only be delivered in one’s sleep, the messages require no programming and they can target any of the senses. You can completely overhaul the dreamscape of an orb by dipping it in dragon blood for 24 hours.

    Those who dream within the orb and search for the code will find it. It takes the form of a large lattice of strings with vertices that can be knotted at the crossings, or not. One can walk through this lattice only interacting with it when they want to. Depending on these knots, the orb gets its programming, which then manifests outside. I don’t feel like coming up with the exact logic behind these is all that important, so that’s where my specifics of the programming language itself will end.

    If you wish to take inputs from the outside world, you must cut one of the strings, create the input within the orb’s dreamscape, and tie the thing to it. Since it’s rather difficult to imagine smells or temperatures, the vast majority of orbs take visual inputs. Maybe in the future, I’ll even figure out a way for the orbs to record and produce sounds. There are two more inputs: the last direction in which it has rolled, and the current direction it would fall in (in one word each, “front” and “down”).

    The orbs have two major outputs: Images, and rolling. Through complicated knot schemes, you can project any image that you can code or that the orb can record on its surface. The image is projected onto the orb always the same way front and down. As for rolling, the orb can move on its own, and as it does it changes which way its “front” is. Maybe there could be a way to make the orbs fly, but right now the idea is too raw for me to figure out how exactly.

    I don't know where is this from, but it's a lovely animation.

    If you search long enough, you’ll find the orb itself within the dreamscape. If you tie a knot around it and attach it to some configuration of knots, it will record its surroundings. It’s a standard to program these orbs to reveal their recordings by waving your hands over them for a couple of seconds, though you could also watch them in the dreamscape.

    The more an orb is used, the smaller it gets. When it becomes as small as a marble, it becomes incapable of giving outputs. It can still receive inputs, which is why these orbs can be useful as security camera replacements - tiny enough to be unnoticeable, and useless for most other things. At some point after that, the orb becomes too tiny to even record, or let anyone into its dreamscape. Due to this shrinkage, many people work on maximizing the work time they get out of a single block of quartz. Is it better to create a myriad of small orbs, or one big orb and then sculpt orbs out of the remainders?

    If you fall asleep touching multiple orbs at the same time, you’ll enter a random one. However, through doing this you will entangle the orbs - each of these orbs will contain within its dreamscape copies of other orbs, through which they can exchange information. Changes made to one orb will manifest in the copies inside of all other orbs entangled with it.

    A cracked orb brings bad luck. It has a harder time rolling, its image is disrupted, maybe even its function goes wrong. Maybe something worse happens if an orb cracks while you’re in its dreamscape. Handling the orbs without cracking them is an art form.

    For now, the system is way too simple to be useful for actually evolving a fantasy setting into a true cyberpunk one. But who knows, maybe in time I’ll figure out ways to add more things into it.


    David Bowie, from The Dark Crystal


    Friday, October 15, 2021

    Minimalistic D&D Setting

    D&D is a neat system with too many things to keep in mind. Spells, legacies (also known as races), capabilities of people, monsters and their abilities... and that's just the rules. On top of all this, there's stuff like geography, history, and so much more. If you think all of this is easy to manage, bear in mind that you're probably still thinking only about the Material Plane, and not about all the other planes of existence. While I'd love to be a DM someday, I know that I would much rather work on Runehack than on whatever world I run my D&D campaign in. Running a game of D&D in Runehack would require me to drop the vast majority of classes, my own system for games in Runehack is being worked on (with heavy quotation marks, since I keep getting distracted), … Wouldn't it be nice to have a low maintenance world to run D&D games in?

    I felt creatively drained when I started to write this, but it's a subject I've been thinking about for a long time. It only makes sense for me to post it here, hopefully I get some sort of response to see what I could improve on it.


    The land of million possibilities. Except it's lands actually.
    Storm Wars, by Elena Konstantinova


    Minimalistic D&D Setting

    During the war of gods, all of the planes of existence have crashed into one another, leaving only two: Material Plane, now made up of planar remnants shaped like flying islands, and the Ethereal Plane, which was untouched since it overlaps all of the planes according to its lore. Personal name for this world is "Vestigial Itonia", but that's just for the ease of personal use.

    Each island is a closed system, unless it has a way of traveling to other flying islands. Islands flying in parallel trajectories are rare, but not unheard of. Each island is a microcosm of its own, taking on characteristics of a plane of your choice, or a combination of planes. All of this in mind, chances are this island hadn't been visited by anyone, or it was, or it was visited and colonized too. In order to navigate to a specific island, you need a compass made out of special rocks inside of the island the compass points to. Cardinal directions are determined solely by celestial things, like the Sun and stars.

    People need to traverse the islands somehow, so there could be three broad ways of achieving that (plus combinations), consider which of these is the most commonly used one. Not all islands are guaranteed to have access to any of these. Listed in an order in which I would expect them to appear in the world history-wise, these are:

    1. domesticated flying creatures,
    2. magic,
    3. technology.

    I like for all the islands to have the same gravitational orientation (same "down"), and for the "bottom of the world" to be filled with a dark Void that the Sun goes beneath to create a day-night cycle. Since rich get richer, I'd assume there would be 1-3 big countries that are spread over many islands and try to colonize more at all times, so that could be a simple way to bring player characters together.

    What do we achieve with a world like this? The lowest maintenance world I could think up.

    • It's not necessary to figure out a big picture geography of the world, which makes it easier for the DM to draw maps of individual islands. No need to make the land fit a bigger environment.
    • Each island can have its own history, and if it's a closed system, its history could reasonably be unaffected (and unaffecting) the world outside of the island.
    • When the DM and players feel like it, they can visit all sorts of planes of existence, including nonexistent ones. Want a candy island? An island populated only by the bears? How about a mixture of Elemental plane of fire, Carceri, and Feywild? Whatever that would be like, you can just decide to have an island like that fly by, and give your players an offer to fly there. If they don't want to, you can also just... have the island never appear in the game again.
    • This kind of world can support pretty much any player option that the player could want to pick. On one hand, plenty of uncommon species could be unfamiliar to the wider world, which could make general population suspicious of players who choose unusual races. On the other hand, with such a huge variety of races, they might also all be accepted equally. Both can work well, whether applied to the whole world or to the individual exceptions.
    • Tying it to the previous two bullet points, does your player want to make up a corner of the world to call their own? Be it their birthplace, the island they wanted to visit all their life, or the isle where their mortal enemy sits upon their iron throne? All of this is very much doable!


    … wait, is this all just One Piece but without water and with D&D's magic replacing all of the magics that are in the original story? Wait no, this world doesn't have a famous pirate announcing a race for the biggest treasure of the world that's located on an island which hasn't been finished by anyone but him and his crew for centuries. So of course this isn't One Piece!

    Thank you for reading, and have a great day!