World Creation Superdraft 4: May 2020

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Humans are my sentient race as per my previous post. 

[Cancer]

On 5/5/2020 at 9:27 AM, L. Marcus said:

Shape Of The World: Liminus set out to shape the world and set its boundaries. He formed it thusly: a helix within a well, open in the middle. The span of the helix he set at a thousand miles, while the breadth of the well was ten thousand miles. Each turn of the helix was separated from the others by three hundred miles. No-one has seen the top of the well, nor the bottom; or, no-one who has seen them has returned to tell.

 

Nogrom points out ...

 

If you model the world as a helical spring of wire (the wire is assumed to be circular in cross-section, which is a simplifying assumption here) then as a spring the world has a natural resonant vibrational frequency.  That frequency f is

f = d /(9 D² N) * sqrt( G / rho )

where d is the diameter of the wire, D is the diameter of the helix, N is the total number of turns in the coil, G is the shear modulus of the wire material, and rho is the density of the wire material.

 

If we take the dimensions above, choose 78 GPa for the shear modulus (this is the value for steel; concrete is 21 GPa, tungsten is 161 GPa, and plywood is 6.2 GPa) and 8000 kg/m³ for the density of the wire, then the resonant frequency is 2.2 millihertz divided by the number of turns in the coil. 

 

If we pick 666 turns in the helix, then the walking distance along the helix is 20 million miles (which seems adequately long), then in this order-of-magnitude estimate, the world's resonant vibrational frequency is 3.3 microhertz, or a period of about 3.5 days.  Much too short.  I think this would have to be longer than the lifetime of any mortal, so they wouldn't notice.  If there's ten million turns in the helix, not the vibrational period is of order 150 years.  Still too short.  So that tells you that the world helix has to have rather more than ten million turns in it.  Big place.

 

[Old Man]

59 minutes ago, Logan.1179 said:

the Undead. (Flora or Fauna pick if that qualifies) 

I like the idea of Undead as flora, like if you plant a body and water it eventually a zombie will sprout. 

[Cancer]

In the Torg game-universe, those are called gospogs, and they are evil. 

[Old Man]

Never played Torg. There’s a god of evil around here somewhere though. Not sure exactly where, he’s pretty quiet. 

[death tribble]

46 minutes ago, Logan.1179 said:

Humans are my sentient race as per my previous post. 

Silly me.

Carry on.

 

Undead are Fauna unless you choose a Second Domain/Option pick to have them as another race or Interference to create Undead from the living.

If you come up with another pick you want to use instead of Undead for Flora/Fauna let me know.

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, Old Man said:

I like the idea of Undead as flora, like if you plant a body and water it eventually a zombie will sprout. 

 

But aren't plants the enemies of zombies?

 

[Lucius]

19 hours ago, Sociotard said:

Yay! Lucius is here! I was afraid he wouldn't join in if he couldn't do "death and rebirth" again.

 

Says who I can't do Death and Rebirth" again?

 

On 4/24/2020 at 7:41 AM, death tribble said:

Oh gawds, it's the World Creation SuperDraft 4!

 

 

You may not pick the same primary domain as you did last year IF you took part last year.

 

Rules say I can't pick the same PRIMARY domain.

 

I choose Death and Rebirth as my SECONDARY domain.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Riding my palindromedary proudly through the loophole

 

[Hermit]

11 minutes ago, Lucius said:

 

Says who I can't do Death and Rebirth" again?

 

 

Rules say I can't pick the same PRIMARY domain.

 

I choose Death and Rebirth as my SECONDARY domain.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Riding my palindromedary proudly through the loophole

 

 

Ah.. Logan already took Death

 

 

[Sociotard]

You could take Afterlives and Rebirths, perhaps?

[Old Man]

 

 

 

With growing fascination, Inscissivus discovered that cutting not only created new things, it taught him more about the things he cut.  

 

He cut a mountain, and beheld the grain of the living rock.

 

He cut an ocean, and saw clearly into its depths.  

 

If he cut an elf this way, it would die, but if he cut it like that, it might not.  

 

With practice, Inscissivus learned that he could defeat any problem or mystery with the right cut.  Thus, cutting begat wisdom.  And wisdom begat better cutting.

 

Secondary Domain: Insight

[Old Man]

7 hours ago, Sociotard said:

You could take Afterlives and Rebirths, perhaps?

 

Afterbirths and reliefs?

[death tribble]

14 hours ago, Lucius said:

I choose Death and Rebirth as my SECONDARY domain.

As Logan has Death, you cannot have Death and Rebirth as a secondary domain.

Because you have dreams as a primary domain I can see where you were going with this.

 

I won't list rebirth as your secondary domain as you may want to rethink. If you go ahead with a form of rebirth please bear this in mind. Resurrection or reincarnation are different so I need you to be clear on what kind of rebirth you want as It does directly impact Death so it puts you at odds with Logan. I would say that reincarnation is less problematic as you are not the same person but could end up as a different species. The God of Dreams would still be clashing with the God of Death but it is your choice.

 

Logan can also chime in with his thoughts.

[L. Marcus]

Gift To Civilization: The Nation State!

[Psybolt]

Final Secondary domain:  Augur 

 

Tasha changes into goddess named Divine

[Sociotard]

Not gonna lie, my first thought was "God of screw-based conveyors and drills?"

 

Me and my spelling.

[csyphrett]

I'm going to take oceans as my second secondary domain

CES

[L. Marcus]

They should slope nicely!

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

That which lived is remembered, that which is remembered lives on past death. The worshipers of Eternus are many things, including morticians, judges, and artists. One of their most sacred duties is to memorialize the dead, be it through words or art. They are excellent biographers and librarians as well as artists and sculptors.

 

Secondary domain: Memory. 

[Lucius]

8 hours ago, death tribble said:

As Logan has Death, you cannot have Death and Rebirth as a secondary domain.

Because you have dreams as a primary domain I can see where you were going with this.

 

I won't list rebirth as your secondary domain as you may want to rethink. If you go ahead with a form of rebirth please bear this in mind. Resurrection or reincarnation are different so I need you to be clear on what kind of rebirth you want as It does directly impact Death so it puts you at odds with Logan. I would say that reincarnation is less problematic as you are not the same person but could end up as a different species. The God of Dreams would still be clashing with the God of Death but it is your choice.

 

Logan can also chime with his thoughts.

 

I withdraw my secondary domain choice

 

New choice: Interference.

 

The Dream Precedes.

Nothing lasting or important comes to pass but it is first dreamed of. If a mortal could but recall all his dreams, he would find all that befalls him to be foreshadowed. But mortals seldom recall their dreams past waking, and what they do recall is usually couched in obscure symbolism. Thus the Augers of the Goddess Divine are kept busy at dream interpretation, one of their main duties.

 

Gods have both better recall of dreams, and better insight into them, but they too often forget or even sometimes misunderstand the portents that come to them in dreams.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Dreaming of a palindromedary

 

 

 

 

[death tribble]

I am trying to get my head around this.

Basically the dream happens first, then it can happen in reality.

I am just trying to understand it.

 

Is that right ?

[Old Man]

 

Before many aeons had passed, Inscissivus had made uncounted cuts, and created uncounted new forms from the once homogeneous void.

 

But soon He realized there was a new problem: given the infinite number of unique things He had made, how could He keep track of them?  Had all His work led only to chaos?

 

For an age He dwelt in thought.  But once again, the solution came with a new cut: one that marked a thing, rather than creating new things from it.  All things, He knew, could bear their own mark, and could thus be defined.

 

Gift to Civilization: Names

[Pariah]

The less said about this one, the better.

 

Secondary Domain #3: Silence.

[Sociotard]

On 5/5/2020 at 2:11 PM, csyphrett said:

I would like to grab Volcanis, the God of Nature (filling in the Demeter slot on the roster)

CES 

 

As the god of the land I am going to add a tree in the center of the world that binds everything together. I think that will be my interference this draft. An integral tree.

CES

 

Fauna: Daoine Beaga (The Wee Folk)

 

Captain Salathon didn't mind Mercenary work. It was aboveground, certainly, but it was still more pleasant than banditry. And as mercenary work went, "provide security" was very nice; most of the time there wasn't even a threat to secure against. So near as he could tell, these university types just needed a little reassurance out of their offices. And, hey, he'd never had occasion to visit the Integral Tree before. That was worthwhile.

 

Even so, he just didn't get these men were after. "So you're just here for wee folk?"

 

"Well yes. The university is an outgrowth of the temple of Volcanis, you know. We exult him by studying all of nature. And today that is the Daoine Beaga."

 

Ugh, what was with academics and stupid formal names for things. Nobody called them Daoine Beaga. Little people? Wee Folk? He'd heard peaceable neighbors once. Nobody used the formal name. Except these guys.

 

"So? They're pests. I'm pretty sure I've seen 'em in every city I've been to. Every environment. They even got a little bit into the caves back home, just in the entrance. Why come all  the way out here?"

 

"Oh, precisely because we have studied the ones in cities! Those are close and easy. No, we're here because there are number of outstanding questions about the populations here. We'll start off with some population counts by species, and go on from there. Myself, I'm curious about what fungi they use to incubate their young on the tree itself. What laymen call 'fairy circles'."

 

Salathon's whiskers picked up the beats of a passing Wee folk. It came close enough he could feel the electrical hum of it's flight muscles. He'd heard sighted folk say they wings were 'beautiful, so delicate and diaphanous, and such iridescent spectacles.' He'd have to take their word for it. Ah well, it was easy work.

 

It is a common misconception that elves, including high elves, descended from the Wee Folk. It is more accurate to say that both elves and the Wee Folk descended from a common ancestor. As the name suggests, these creatures have roughly the same variety in body mass as the common housecat. I say 'creatures' because the Wee Folk are not a sentient species. They do have a high intelligence as beasts go, comparable to a kea, and have been observed using basic tools. Their "antlers" are much more flexible, and they use them mainly for camouflage (attaching masses of whatever plants are local). Their wide eyes and chubby cheeks give them a neotenous appearance, possibly selected for because hunters are less likely to shoot at wee that looks like a cute baby. 

 

They do not have the gyroscope in their back, but rather have a pair of diaphanous wings sprouting from the same spot. These have an iridescent coloration that varies by species.

 

The wee folk are excellent vocalization mimics. ("Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.") More disconcertingly, they have some ability to get the sounds they make from the memories of creatures they see. So, if they are trying to get rid of a predator, they might replicate the sound of something the predator is afraid of. The same attempt on a sophont might lead the wee folk to make words in the voice of a drunk father the person had painful memories of. There is no indication they actually understand what they are saying.

 

Their mimicry is helped by their long tongues, which they also use to both retrieve nectar from flowers and insects from holes. The Wee Folk are omnivores, and have a diverse diet, and as such have adapted to a variety of climates all over the world. They even thrive in cities! Some people think they are cute and leave out little feeders with cream, honey, and bread crust, then brag to their weefolkwatcher club they saw a rare northern yellowthroat. Some people think they are nuisances that raid their gardens, garbage cans, and keys. (Like many insectivorous animals, the wee folk are fond of shiny things. Sometimes they hoard them.)

 

The wee folk use a sound based magic attack for defense. The target hears a sort of irresistible music and perceives themselves to be dancing forever with no sense for the passage of time. In reality, it just paralyzes the target. (Usually this is only a temporary condition. Coma is a very rare side effect.) Most sentient species can easily resist the effect, unless they have an issue that might limit their willpower (young children, the senescent, the inebriated, people suffering extreme emotional episodes, and so forth). The wee folk sometimes use this to tranquilize dairy animals to steal their milk. (Again, sometimes a nuisance.) Some alchemists channel this attack and concentrate it into a powder called "fairy dust" that stupid young people use to go on a trip.

 

Wee folk also create harmless glowing lights in the air (called fairy fire), to distract predators or to interact with each other. (Again, sometimes cute.)

 

A group of the wee folk is called a court.
 

The Wee folk have a symbiotic relationship with some kinds of fungi. Their eggs are protected and fed by mycelium underground, while the wee folk deposit nutrients around the "fairy circle".

 

As a nonsentient animal, people can tame one for a pet or familiar. You can even hunt them and eat them and it doesn't count as murder.

 

The Fair Star is fond of these creatures, but he respects that not everyone agrees. He placed an instinct deep in them, so they are repelled by reciting scripture to any other god.

[Lucius]

1 hour ago, death tribble said:

I am trying to get my head around this.

Basically the dream happens first, then it can happen in reality.

I am just trying to understand it.

 

Is that right ?

 

You have it.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Before the palindromedary, came the dream of a palindromedary