Stabs' Pit of Nightmares (and ideas)

The Fiery Harnessed

Acknowledgements to Jaette_Troll, who came up first with the idea of harnessing elementals during the development of vapyres.

The spirit of an elemental, while resilient enough to rebuild its body from the elements, has some difficulties with the mind. The more an elemental experiences and learns, the harder it is to keep all of it together after each passing incarnation; a slain elemental may only retain inklings of its earlier incarnation, fragmented memories and feelings- most of them quickly learn not to worry too much about it, but they're always happy to know something they once forgot. The period of time that passes before an elemental's final death doesn't actually depend on its age, but on how long it takes for the elemental to just decide to start an incarnation completely unconcerned with dramatic flashbacks.

The speed at which elemental spirits can reconstruct their body also varies by elemental type. Air elementals are the slowest to recover their form, as their element may dispel their budding forms in its fickleness a number of times. Earth elementals are the second slowest, as the legendary immovability of their element plays against their ability to quickly reform, tremors and quakes present for months and maybe years before their form erupts from the ground. Water elementals are the fastest, the combination of viscosity and fluidity water itself is characterized by being one of the best possibilities.

Fire elementals are a special case. While fire dances frantically, it's still confined to its position, providing for an incredibly quick rebirth. However, fire does not exist naturally; a fire elemental remains anchored to the spot where it died for what may very well be aeons, waiting for an element they may breathe new life into. They always act rashly, reincarnating as soon as presented with any open flame: ideally, the elemental would be expecting a drought, a strong wind, and a lightning bolt to cause a freak fire- but as befits humanoid intervention, a fire elemental may very well be presented with a completely different situation, where it attempts to reincarnate into a torch, campfire... or in some specially unpleasant cases, even a candle or lighter.

Smaller flames are a problem for the elemental: its first instinct upon rushing to be reborn and finding out the flame doesn't provide enough material to rebuild itself completely is to rush towards any combustible materials in sight, out to find a medium where it can grow until its own heat production can support it. In most cases, this leads to little more than a distraction for the would-be camper or smoker (unless the elemental is successful in starting a pyre, in whose case they're basically screwed), but there are some shamans who can put their rash decision to good use.

Some tribes out there may send (ill-favored) members to patrol the forest with a torch, until the torch's fire suddenly blossoms in size and heat- which indicates a fire elemental has bitten the hook. By selectively feeding the diminished elemental's fiery apettite, it's possible to put the hungry creature in a state where it'll have to make a deal and allow a thaumaturgist to harness its power. There are tales of fiery arrows that burned far hotter than they could, simply by virtue of an elemental's blessing, or even fiery pires that rose for hundreds of feet suddenly animating to fight a shaman's enemies.

It should be noted, however, that an elemental's conscience is quite diminished during its earlier stages of development, where it can hardly even remember what it's supposed to look like, only that it needs fuel to grow. All that the elemental can really think of is that it can either serve, or quickly burn its fuel out and wait for a freak fire in the (new) area if things are too annoying there. This is exploited by crafty shamans, who may, for instance, take trapped fire elementals to the bottom of a dark, damp cave (or even out into the sea), to truly push the limits of the deal. However, the elementals themselves don't like such a situation one bit, and may very well betray a master who makes too harsh a deal as soon as they can find someone willing to make a large fire.

Predator Sense- A Perspective by a Madman

Acknowledgements to rcs619, responsible for all the current developments on predator sense. I know this isn't what you had in mind- otherwise, you'd have written it.

Predator sense itself is a poorly understood ability- often cause for a quiet terror that may very well be more detrimental than the sense itself. The tendency to overblow its properties has led more than one to purchase tokens that offer no actual protection, and the lack of understanding for its proper counters has led several to implement simply reprehensible tactics, which have been met with very limited success.

The first thing there is to understand is the actual clarity that predator sense offers. And, distasteful as it is to admit, it varies. In some predators this sense is almost as good as hearing in some species. In other predators, it's like trying to find a flame by feeling its warmth on their lips. The first case, however, is uncommon even in those species that are innately equipped with this sense.

Part of the reason why predator sense is so poorly understood is not because it's magical, but because it's a racial trait in some species and in some others it's present in some specific individuals as an epigenetic development. It's known that nagas and fairies (and maybe deerataurs) are born with it, and quickly hone it into a useful survival tool. However, seemingly at random, members of other species display this trait, which is difficult to qualify- obviously, you can't just ask them how they find their prey. Even if you could, they couldn't always give you a straight answer, as no one perceives their senses exactly the same.

So far, I've come up with two possible explanations as to the presence or absence of this sense.

The first is that the predator sense is not actually a genetic trait, but some form of symbiotic development- maybe some sort of microorganism that develops somewhere in the digestive tract of great predators. While all species have an innate intestinal flora, most others don't, until through some sort of accident they develop this "gut feeling". The lack of an appropriate intestinal medium (again, this is purely conjecture) would prevent them from developing this flora on their own: nagas' extended intestines, and fairies' continuous dimensional tampering with the contents of their digestive tract, may have something to do with it.

The other is that predator sense is only somehow... encouraged by the engineering of the fairy or naga body, for some reason, and that this sense is actually a strange reaction to the "vore effect" as it has been dubbed. It can't be discarded that this influence may have farther-reaching effects than we believed: consistent surrender to this influence may actually alter the senses of the recipient, leaving them somehow sensitive to the magical field that reacts to all living beings in Felarya. Were this hypothesis true, predator sense outside of the consistently armed species would be prevalent in its older (and more mindlessly ravenous) members, while newer arrivals to Felarya, even from the species of nagas and fairies, would have an underdeveloped sense despite it being a consistent racial trait.

Operatively, it's clear that larger predators have broader ranges; otherwise, small creatures with predator sense would basically be impossible to catch by any larger predators. Within this range, however, predator sense doesn't specifically target anything: it limits itself to reacting to magic or to life. Short of wizards or magical beasts (which register as magical), predator sense is only capable of discerning type of creature by experience with the kind of signature picked up. The increased range is a double-edged sword: the farther the signal can come from, the more creatures pinpointed- however, the noise ratio increases as well.

Now, to foil predator sense, one should first stay away from the predator's zenith and nadir- straight up and down are the directions where animals are the exception rather than the rule, so getting under or above is a surefire way to get sensed, even if for a brief moment. Second, one should match speed with the predator, so even if it manages to discern the signature, one seems to be farther than they actually are. A third method is to find a position a few feet above the ground- being out of touch with the life-giving soil can reduce the intensity of the signal, and as a side effect, it increases the total intensity that the predator can actually discern from their direction (as there is less distance before reaching the soil), thus adding noise to the signal. Though there are disciplines that may obfuscate the predator sense, they don't work by extinguishing the signature as much as by dispersing it: an obfuscated individual effectively highlights everything around them, which may be detrimental for a large group of people. Obviously, one should remain sneaky all around as well- being conspicuous will cause most creatures to shun the offender, thus reducing the noise around the individual and making them easier to pinpoint.


The Cookie Folk

Acknowledgements to the self-reference. I know it's there, I know it's not a good habit. Don't judge me. -.-

In the present [s]year 2068 war was beginning[/s] the construction of artificial humans is a reality in Felarya. Through the use of ancient magical recipes, a special preparation can be forced to adopt the detailed form and composition of a real human. The end result is biologically the same as any human- with a few exceptions.

Those artificial humans, adults from the moment they're made, are barren, widely display a very dulled sense of self-preservation- and are, almost always, completely loyal to their makers: their blank, unnatural minds are most often lax, incurious and dulled, with zero experience with the range of feelings and sensations most humans acquaint themselves with somehow, and limited opportunities to experiment emotions or learn. This makes them capable of pushing themselves really hard even if their bodies are not specially resilient, but can often render them ineffective if their experiences manage to divert their focus from their one-minded obedience to their bakers.

Depending on their specific making, and whether their ingredients include spinach, ginger, honey, onions, meat jerky or dragon's teeth, they may display unnatural physical or mental traits. Cookies with greater strength and resilience, or speed than a man of their make should have are known to exist, and some cookies are created being magical, resistant to cold, or even capable of sufficient apparent emotional depth to pass for a (disturbingly one-minded) human.

While more common outside of Negav, where they may serve makers that run the variety of races (and sizes), the sole mention of cookies is good cause for paranoia in Negav. The thought of them makes most Negavians uncomfortable, and some of them are quite paranoid about the possibility cookies may be walking the streets as they speak, twisted mockeries of humanity that fearlessly serve shady masters while masquerading as one of them. Because of this, Negavians are quite uncomfortable around anyone who doesn't have much of a sense of self-preservation, and as a matter of fact many encourage fools to go out into the jungle. The "cookie" idiom in Negav, meaning 'stubborn and clueless', was coined after those constructs- many suspect a good fraction of foolhardy adventurers to be actually cookies.

It should be noted that there is word of a cookie witch hiding somewhere in the underground of Negav, where she keeps baking one minion after another from ingredients they raid from nearby caravans and bakeries. This "cookie monster" as they have dubbed her has eluded both the Cult of Oth and the Investigators for years, or so folklore says, but she can't leave Negav- because she's too delicious to live outside for long.

...cookie folk.

So here I was, wondering what was it that dimensional magic was good for, other than teleporting and creating portals. There's got to be other things it can do, right? Well, given it's not been terribly developed, I figured that I might as well throw in a couple cents. If nothing else, they might be good for inspiring the next.

Dimensional magic: A Mostly Preventive Practice

Given Felarya is richer in magic than many other realms, one would expect its magicians to be capable of solving anything, given that even immortality, a long-sought goal of many, becomes a given in this realm. Well, the fact is, magic being stronger makes it easier to grasp- but it also makes it much harder to use, and much easier to hurt yourself with it. As a rule, the more direct the magic, the more likely a reckless practitioner of the art might implode. Magic related to plants, for instance, is relatively safe to pursue.

Magic related to the gateways in dimensions, on the other hand, is like sweaty dynamite. Felarya itself is already dimensionally unstable, and the safest pursuits are related more to dealing with the effects of existing disturbances than to creating new ones. So it is that the first skills dimensional magi learn aren't portal-making and teleportation- the first skills they actually learn, while boring in comparison, are the tools necessary for the prediction of portals, vanishing lands, straggler arrivals, and other manifestations of dimensional unstability. Some creative magicians also use this sort of power, in relatively stable areas, to send and receive signals. It's good practice for when they'll have to employ the same for greater feats.

The control over those phenomenae is a skill, but one that is learned gradually. Most dimensional mages can't simply raise a portal or summon a meadow from another dimension: at best, they can "hurry along" a tear in dimensions, or with some effort, earn themselves a minute of grace. In an extreme case, an average dimensional mage could actually take an existing rip that's short of just a little power to happen, and "push it over the edge", but even then, they'd be working with existing rips, rather than creating new ones.

There is an exercise some experienced practitioners perform when they feel confident enough to start practicing with portals. Looking for small rips, some wizards can actually turn them into "shortcuts" that shave off small distances- on the scale of half miles. However, the frequency of those tears in the fabric is not within the wizard's control; sometimes, these shortcuts can reduce a week's trip to half a day, and sometimes they can be absolutely improductive. Wild mages are the best at this particular practice- though obviously, consistent results are not to be expected.

Actually creating a portal would require one to craft a rip single-handedly, and then harness it into a gateway towards another. Unfortunately, manmade rips don't last as long as natural ones: the force of magic in Felarya is strongest where it is raw. Therefore, most portals aren't meant to last for longer than a few seconds, and don't go too far either. Creating a permanent portal would require a fair threshold of permanent dimensional unstability to work with, and similarly, long-range teleportation requires the same of its objective location. No one's to say it would be impossible to engineer a transitory arrival point, but that'd require some help on the other side.

Strangely enough, the creation of a portal isn't the ultimate limit of what dimensional magic can accomplish. There are feats beyond stationary portals: the construction of extradimensional spaces, which is a mystery even its practitioners haven't been able to fully explain- and the engineering of a vanishing land incident: some texts recovered from Ur-Sagol hint at the possibility Sagolians may have in fact summoned lands to Felarya. While this has not been confirmed in practice anytime recently, the possibility of such a thing cannot be discounted- such power may very well have been what brought ruin to the Sagolians.





On the same subject, I was wondering what the spirits were good for, other than seeing the future. I mean, what with the elementals and other stuff, the spirits themselves got to be good for something, right?

Spirit magic, or bats in the Belfry

In the face of all the marvels that magic can accomplish, many wonder what the spirits are good for. In a world where a few flicks of the wrist can set a tree alight, where is the wonder in a man talking to his dead ancestors? In his head? While chanting in a chicken suit and inhaling the happy grass?

While there is something of a point to spirits being relatively inoperant, they have a certain upside- they're literally EVERYWHERE. Without going in detail about what spirits are (all we'll say is that they're a very diverse bunch), the one thing that's certain is that they're almost everywhere, and the ability to summon and communicate with them can be quite the boon for the canny shaman. Knowing the right spirits can grant them insights into the most unpredictable subjects, from the coming and going of local wildlife (and not so wild life), through the knowledge of the recently deceased, to the coming weather, and in some strange cases, into the future. Some spirits can even perform services for the shaman: the most basic of them may work at sending messages, while the most advanced of them may have the power to, amongst other things, kill insects, grow tougher plants- or inflict mind-freezing terror upon a victim.

The nearly infinite variety of spirits that exist, and the utter improbability of some of them lead some to believe that spirits are not always present, but have actually been crafted by the shamans throughout history. For all anyone knows, it may be the case: some shamans have confessed to "awakening" some spirits that didn't know they existed themselves. Whatever the case, spirits exist, they can be contacted, and it may be useful to talk to them.

Obviously, spirits don't always want to spill the beans. In those cases, some level of bargaining may be required: this isn't as extreme as the case in thaumaturgy, where the contacted party is the source of power, but it may very well be troublesome to get a spirit to do something. Even the most intelligent spirit has a pretty damn limited understanding of anything beyond its scope, and reasoning with them is impossible: they just won't get it. The art of appealing to them -for it is an art- requires a lot of work, and having to adapt to this kind of thinking tends to weigh on a shaman's sanity.

Some shamans might screw up their rituals, and wind up contacting the wrong agency- like the Dryad Network, or an elemental, or a devil. Some people think that's how thaumaturgy was first devised. For obvious reasons, that's not a good idea. Don't try this at home.






Then I just HAD to think about Lydus, which got me thinking about heaven, and a couple ideas I'd forgotten to type down earlier. They'll be posted in the relevant thread. For now, I just wanted to submit this entity for Lydus.

It's based off Yog-Sothoth, so it's gotta be awesome. /retard

Pressure Watchers

Upon sight of a place like Lydus, one would wonder if any sort of creature lives there. And as a matter of fact, yes- the Pressure Watchers, as they're called, do in fact inhabit this realm.

The Pressure Watchers are massive bubble aglomerations, ranging from twenty inches to fifty feet in diameter, with a womanly torso emerging at some point from the mass. The entire creature is tinted a grayish blue, its surfaces glinting as it bobs calmly (or zips hastily) throughout the realm of Lydus, looking for something interesting to look at.

Interestingly, unlike many other creatures of similar bodily configuration, Pressure Watchers are not voracious. As a matter of fact they're quite friendly and talkative, though they're so indiscriminately talkative and retentive that they have a pretty hard time keeping secrets. They've got some difficulties telling creatures that talk from creatures that don't talk, though, so one must first engage them in conversation before anything can happen.

Not violent by nature, they have as their main mode of defense the ability to send their would-be attackers to another plane of existence, preferably one they have easy access to. They have two other bizarre powers: the first is their ability to "mark" an individual while they are on Lydus, much like nemesis do, except that Pressure Watchers do not do anything to the mark- they merely scry into their surroundings, giving themselves something to look at. Their last bizarre power is the ability to wipe out anyone's memories of having ever been in Lydus: this is convenient for individuals they mark, though the Pressure Watchers often use it on anyone they get to look at. This explains why no one gets to remember much about Lydus.

I rather like the Dimensional Magic entry. I'm not sure where it'd go on the wiki, but its a nice bit of information. Maybe as an excerpt from a book?

Anyway, I remembered dimensional pocket storms, the possibility of using dimensional magic as signals from mage to mage somehow, and also the fact that teleportation isn't exact, it would depend on the current stability of the land around you. If it's very unstable, it could whisk you away somewhere way different than where you intended. I've actually sort of employed that in my imagination as for some other forms of teleportation. Some tecniques would be more exact, require more time to pinpoint the arrival destination, while others would be meant for a quick getaway, but could send you almost anywhere based on the the stability of the area.

really interesting ideas here, and really original too with those pressure watchers
Reading that built some strange pictures in my head XD

And nice take on the dimensional magic ^^ I think it makes sense that the practitioner would use existing circumstances to perform dimensional magic indeed. And this also make me think if crafting portal should really be considered as something of a base skill as mentioned in the wiki. In the way you put it, it would be something really very advanced. mhh

Squire Angels

Squire Angels, also known as protoangels, are lesser heavenly spirits that manifest as young humans in robes, often carrying a large shield. They're in general a youthful and naïve bunch, rash and enthusiastic, full of childlike energy- which they must learn to harness in order to become regular angels. To this end, they do other angels' bidding in heaven, learning all they can about both themselves and the physical world souls come from. They often take a particular interest to the physical world, as they are more likely to do their masters' bidding there, or accompany them into that place.

This is also why they are the most likely source for thaumaturgic heavenly magic: a pact with a squire yields powers that protect, heal, illuminate and fortify. While not very powerful, squires are easily reachable and generally open to deals, making them a relatively safe source for magic. They are loath to squander however- unless one can prove that they're embarking in a holy crusade, the squire will politely (and firmly) decline at the first opportunity they get.

As part of their pact, squires expect advice and help if they ever need it: they're more interested in knowledgeable, wise, learned individuals, and such definitely catch the squire's interest while making a deal. They usually contact the pact maker every dawn (or every dusk, as agreed), to keep up with the news of the day and be assured that their powers are not wasted nor used in vain. Some squires can get pretty damn chatty, though, and pester the pact maker for hours every day.


Drollstem

This strange fern is native to the Green Hell. It has irregular, spiral-like stems with varying numbers of long, stiff, jagged leaves that curve in spirals; it grows in patches, often reaching heights of 30 feet. This plant isn't dangerous by itself, unless eaten- it contains a nervous depressor capable of causing paranoia and hallucinations. Most animals know to leave it alone.

However, when the drollstem is set on fire, it releases this drug into the air, allowing it to be inhaled, which makes its application a lot more effective. A fire in an area with drollstem is ten times as dangerous: even before the air becomes unbreathable, it becomes a hallucinogen, making it so much more difficult to get out alive.


Pyrolypso

This odd, tall, broad, blue-green grass in the Green Herb is easily identifiable not only by its color, but also its tendency to sweat an oily, blue-green residue. Wherever the Pyrolypso grows, the ground quickly fills up with this vegetable oil, creating a slippery quicksand that burns VERY well. Thankfully, its smell allows for a trained nose to identify these deathtraps quickly- otherwise, any creature heavier than a cat will find itself quickly caught in the quicksand and too greased to cling on to anything.

There is great interest in the Pyrolypso grass- its oil, properly refined, would make a respectable rocket fuel. However, all the explorers who returned with live samples brought back different strains of grass, none of which produced an oil of the same composition as the one that first sparked interest. As of right now, this grass remains but a hazard of the Green Hell.


Suchwer

Threat: [s]Legendary[/s] Minimal.

This invertebrate is native to the Great Rocky Fields. Basically a slimy green caterpillarlike creature the size of a housecat, the Suchwer's bulbous eyes and twitching, ash-black antennae make it ugly as sin. The creature doesn't undergo any metamorphosis during its life, merely growing from a fraction of an inch (its original size) to about one foot in length as it merrily devours grass. Suchwers are herbivorous and almost completely harmless, at the bottom of the food chain, surviving by sheer force of numbers.

During storms, however, this changes. Suchwers absorb electricity from the environment to accellerate their metabolisms from their usual sluggish pace to a heinous, frightful speed- the sight of a foot-long caterpillar dashing along the ground is not for the faint of heart. Even those who see a single one of those sluggy caterpillars may soon realize there's a bunch more caterpillars of all sizes all around the grass. Suchwers are attracted to things that quiver, as they identify them with grass in the wind, and thus they crawl on people who tremble, looking for somewhere they taste like grass. This tendency to crawl on people who are afraid of bugs, specially during storms, has been the subject of some controversy, as some still insist that it's proof that Suchwers are actually sadistic and evil.

Oh I really like the squire angel idea The fact they form pacts that are a two way road somehow. Lot of interesting things to do with that.

Great idea also with the drollstem. Terrifying and unpredictable and somehow it mix well with the Green hell region. nice job on these

Karbo wrote:

Oh I really like the squire angel idea The fact they form pacts that are a two way road somehow. Lot of interesting things to do with that.

Glad you liked it. People were saying heaven was underused, tried to see if I could do something with it, this came out. Wondering if I can think of anything else to make of Heaven, give it more screentime. No way we're making XXX angels for that.

Karbo wrote:

Great idea also with the drollstem. Terrifying and unpredictable and somehow it mix well with the Green hell region. nice job on these

...okay?
Well, I was just thinking of how to make fires worse, so I thought maybe psychoactive smoke could totally throw a wrench into anyone's chances of doing anything clever. Thought about making it poisonous smoke instead- two different challenges: psychoactive smoke will hurt your chances of getting away, poisonous smoke, if it doesn't kill you right away, may repeat on you later (or something, depends on what does the poison do...). Likewise, the Pyrolypso can make fires worse by giving you a reason to be there- namely, to get your hands on some fuel.

Still thinking if poisonous smoke or psychoactive smoke fits best the region. Psychoactive smoke totally kills your chances if you rely on... well, your brain. Poisonous smoke, it depends on what the poison does, but we have more counters in Felarya for poisons than for drugs.

Seeker of Paradise

Size: 13-16 inches
Threat: Minimal

This bird can be recognized by its characteristic, yellow-gold eyes, its black-trimmed beak, and its flamboyant appearance, with many long, curling feathers on its head and tail. Its color depends on its gender, with males being dark purple, and females being red with white chests. It spends most of its life eating small insects and fruits in the banks of the northernmost stretches of the Jewel River, almost past the Jungle of Perils. Seekers are silent most of the time, but sometimes, they flock together in groups of 50-75 and fly tirelessly towards a vanishing land somewhere in Felarya, where they nest and lay eggs.

The Seekers stay in the vanishing land as it returns to its original world, where they raise their young. Outside Felarya, the flock seems to migrate at random, until it finally returns to Felarya. Somehow, they are capable of perceiving dimensional disturbances on a borderline global scale, and flawlessly find their way to portals and vanishing lands alike. How this bizarre animal does this is unknown; not only are they extremely elusive, and rare on a multiuniversal scale, but the only place where they may be reliably found is widely known to be the most dangerous part of Felarya. Outside of it, many cultures have occassional records of a flock of bizarre birds nesting on lands that suddenly lost all their inhabitants overnight.


Gusto Vole

Size: 4-6 inches
Threat: Minimal

This beige little rodent, hailing from the Fairy Kingdom, has a short, fuzzy tail, tiny ears and a round muzzle. Some specimens have reddish brown spots on their hair too. Strict herbivores, Gusto voles nibble any kind of vegetable they can catch around ground level with their thick teeth. Though not specially strong or fast, their prodigious breeding rates allow them to stay at the base of the food chain and yet survive as a species.

Its defense mechanisms include hiding, digging holes, and sprinting away. They are nothing to write home about. However, the most particular trait of the Gusto voles is that their DNA is wildly variable, but despite it, they do not show any noticeable physical aberrations other than wildly varying flavors. Gusto voles cover the whole spectrum of tastes with their bizarre flavor, much to the delight of fairies and other curious wildlife. One would expect the least tasty to have been the only ones to survive so far, thus giving birth to generations of progressively blander flavors, but apparently, they have yet to mutate a flavor that's repulsive to all their predators at the same time.


Celestial Iron
Rarity: Legendary

This particular mineral comes from the heavenly realms. While not exactly iron, it behaves close enough to mild steel that the differences don't really matter. The differences between celestial iron and real one, however, are, first, that celestial iron is quite resistant to magic, specially to that which involves the forces of darkness; spells of darkness, of evil, or those born from the forces of hell are absolutely incapable of even inconveniencing this metal. It is completely insensitive to silver succubus' metalokinesis (though not to metalokinesis of any other type), it blocks the negative component in coldfyre, and it stops many more of hell's supernatural armory.

The second ability that Celestial Iron has is that, when wielded by an angel, it magnifies tremendously the wielder's dimensional magic: thus, celestial iron armor allows the angel to stay longer in the physical realm. The rapiers of purifier and defiler angels are also instances of celestial iron, and are key in their ability to shrink even giant predators, which not even fairies can. Needless to say, celestial iron is a tremendously powerful material, and angels guard it jealously. One would best not be wielding it in front of an angel- and demons, including succubi, consider wearing such armor equivalent to being looking for a fight.

I'm all for heavenly materials, but why call it iron? Iron's one of the weakest metals used to forge anything, why not use the name of another metallic ore? It's a great idea no matter what I say about the name though. Though the ability to shrink predators I think is bad, ironically because we're talking about angels. Angels should be more powerful innately, not need to rely on a metal like that, its part of what makes them more mysterious I think. I mean you could say "easier" instead of being the "key" in their ability to shrink giant predators, or just scrap it altogether. Celestial Iron definitely has plenty of qualities no matter what.

In my thoughts, legendary weaponry is either very very good/strong at one particular thing, or it can do crap loads of everything. Though since you didn't say Celestial Iron was superdense, it seems that this legendary metal is of the latter. Really its all up to you in the end though, either way I still think it's a good idea.

edit: wait a sec. smelters and forges are made out of iron. celestial iron amplifies dimensional magic. maybe when refined a certain way using celestial iron, other materials can be given bizarre or new qualities?

First of all you can really come up with a lot of stuff. I'm almost envious. Anyway on to the ideas.

The seekers of paradise are a really interesting idea, their bizarre and outrageous appearance certainly fitting for felarya (though the defining differences between females and males seems somewhat arbitrary.) What I like best about them though is that it adds so many better opportunities to introduce off world characters to Felarya without it having to be a freak accident portal every time. It's extremely easy to picture a scenario such as a bird watcher wanting to get a picture of the never before seen creature only to be whisked away.

The Gusto Voles on the other hand seem fairly one dimensional compared to the seekers (pun unintended) but that isn't a problem. They're hardly anything important but that's what makes them so great in my opinion, they may hardly be anything other than a silly distraction but that fits the nature of fairies perfectly. Any stories set in the fairy kingdom is naturally going to involve fairies, which will probably gave lots of dialogue and minute details because of how social they are. The gusto voles lend themselves to that sort of background activity and side action in a perfect way it seems. Plus if that doesn't work you could try writing a story about a quest to find the perfect tasting vole.

The celestial iron... I think is taking the concept in a counter intuitive direction. Angels should already be both powerful and hardy against evil because they're holy divine beings. Celestial iron seems more like a surrogate angel suit, it makes sense that angelic ore would be reflective of angels abilities but they wouldn't have much use for it. Maybe if you turned it around and made it sought by demons protected by angels it would make more sense. Demons can use it to protect against the holy power of heaven and mount an attack. It's very easy to imagine a demon trying to corrupt a heaven bound soul to sneak them a bit of the angelic metal. The concept as is though gives you a way to strip angels of their angely-ness so there are plenty of opportunities whichever way you go.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

I'm all for heavenly materials, but why call it iron? Iron's one of the weakest metals used to forge anything, why not use the name of another metallic ore?

I call it iron because of the similarity with cold iron and as a shout out to meteoric iron. I really don't feel like invoking the polymorphism of steel, the hardness of nickel-cobalt, or the advanced charm of dispersion-strengthened alluminium alloys. Titanium and magnesium don't have anything to do here either.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

It's a great idea no matter what I say about the name though. Though the ability to shrink predators I think is bad, ironically because we're talking about angels. Angels should be more powerful innately, not need to rely on a metal like that, its part of what makes them more mysterious I think. I mean you could say "easier" instead of being the "key" in their ability to shrink giant predators, or just scrap it altogether. Celestial Iron definitely has plenty of qualities no matter what.

I didn't make this part up, actually. I just extended it to that the celestial iron does its thing to just about any manifestation of darkness, and works specially well with other dimensional magic that the wiki adjudicates to heavenly dwellers. Most of the examples I put up are just that, examples of its two key abilities: it one-ups darkness, and it enhances dimensional magic. Put 'em two together, and you get what a purifier can do to you.

the wiki; original text by either The Quantum Mechanic or gwadahunter22222 wrote:

A Purifier angel will relentlessly track and devour creatures with darkness in them, either by swallowing them whole if they are small enough, or by using her blade, imbued with her excessive positive energy, to shrink the target to a more manageable size.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

edit: wait a sec. smelters and forges are made out of iron. celestial iron amplifies dimensional magic. maybe when refined a certain way using celestial iron, other materials can be given bizarre or new qualities?

Nah. Best leave that to individual writers, I think; I envisioned this to be solely the province of ceiciels, not piledriver sheet metal fer heavy industry.

======

Emerald Electronic wrote:

First of all you can really come up with a lot of stuff. I'm almost envious. Anyway on to the ideas.

No need to be envious. Coming up with stuff is just about all I do.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

The seekers of paradise are a really interesting idea, their bizarre and outrageous appearance certainly fitting for felarya (though the defining differences between females and males seems somewhat arbitrary.)

Not really arbitrary, actually- it's kinda toned down from the real bird of paradise. The boys are fabulous, the girls are modest.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

What I like best about them though is that it adds so many better opportunities to introduce off world characters to Felarya without it having to be a freak accident portal every time. It's extremely easy to picture a scenario such as a bird watcher wanting to get a picture of the never before seen creature only to be whisked away.

Kinda was aimin' for that. It creates opportunities, mebbe inspiration too.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

The Gusto Voles on the other hand seem fairly one dimensional compared to the seekers (pun unintended) but that isn't a problem. They're hardly anything important but that's what makes them so great in my opinion, they may hardly be anything other than a silly distraction but that fits the nature of fairies perfectly. Any stories set in the fairy kingdom is naturally going to involve fairies, which will probably gave lots of dialogue and minute details because of how social they are. The gusto voles lend themselves to that sort of background activity and side action in a perfect way it seems. Plus if that doesn't work you could try writing a story about a quest to find the perfect tasting vole.

Thanks.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

The celestial iron... I think is taking the concept in a counter intuitive direction. Angels should already be both powerful and hardy against evil because they're holy divine beings. Celestial iron seems more like a surrogate angel suit, it makes sense that angelic ore would be reflective of angels abilities but they wouldn't have much use for it. Maybe if you turned it around and made it sought by demons protected by angels it would make more sense. Demons can use it to protect against the holy power of heaven and mount an attack. It's very easy to imagine a demon trying to corrupt a heaven bound soul to sneak them a bit of the angelic metal. The concept as is though gives you a way to strip angels of their angely-ness so there are plenty of opportunities whichever way you go.

Actually, I devised celestial iron because we have silver succubi but we don't have any metal capable of fending that off. An angel in metal garb would be worse than naked against a silver succubus... which is kinda hot, in hindsight, but wanted to throw my hat into the ring anyway. Besides, we had the purifier angels too, I thought maybe their blades were special, and I thought maybe angels needed a little advantage of their own where it came to staying in Felarya. I mean, they ain't gonna go round eatin' people fer energy to stick around... are they?

I see what you mean now by the seekers of paradise. I think I said that in regards to a storytelling perspective, there doesn't seem to be anything to warrant a distinction because both genders look different but are the same. Realizing that they're birds of paradise shout outs it seems more sensible. However if the boys and girls are going to remain different maybe something could be done to differentiate them behaviour wise too so there's a reason to have them visually separable in the first place?

A defense against silver succubus makes a lot of sense as well, but I'm not sure why the rest of the effects would be there. Angels I would think have little need for magical protection being divine beings. Perhaps it bestows the user with the qualities of an angel? Then they would have both a defense against the silver succubi's and a more imperative reason to guard from the hands of mortals and demons. Whichever way you decide to take it though I don't see much use of it besides a get out of ferromancy free card, save for maybe a few uneducated wielders being unwittingly attacked by seemingly innocent beings.

Nice job on those ^_^

I really like the seeker of paradise . It's an original idea that fits well and take advantage of the nature of the world
I just wonder, according to you, what make the bird come back to Felarya anyway ? and also what zone are you meaning by the most dangerous one ? the green hell ?

The Gusto vole is a funny idea, I thought at first it was convenient but on second thoughts, on a crazy place like the fairy kingdom it's existence wouldn't be that surprising XD

I'm less convinced by the celestial iron though, I see it as a little too powerful ^^;

Hm, alright. I thought that they could do it innately, guess I was wrong. Apparently they need tools to do any kind of shrinking or growing magic, even doing it to themselves they cant really grow or shrink. Only a few can. I thought maybe that blade thing was a special case (because I thought it was a little unclear), but I was wrong. Honestly it kind of makes me feel like that that makes their dimensional abilities kind of a sham. Ah well, I guess Angels cant do everything XD

As for the smelter thing, well it'd just be a smelter I'd wager. Heavy industry already exists in heaven. It has to, they went to war with hell in Lydus for like 5,000 years! That's an insanely long time, considering we go bankrupt after a few years of war.

Karbo wrote:

Nice job on those ^_^

I really like the seeker of paradise . It's an original idea that fits well and take advantage of the nature of the world

Thanks.

Karbo wrote:

I just wonder, according to you, what make the bird come back to Felarya anyway ? and also what zone are you meaning by the most dangerous one ? the green hell ?

I'd wager the bird comes back to extend its lifespan, to get rid of any slow-acting diseases it may have picked up, and mayhaps for ready access to more places where it can be an invading species without staying long enough for anything to adapt to it.
By the most dangerous zone I meant the northern banks of the Jewel River, where it touches the Jungle of Perils. There also be Bloodclaw apes there, another species that has dimensional disturbances as part of its life cycle somehow; while the Green Hell is dangerous, it's also a special case. That place actually hates you :p

Emerald Electronic wrote:

I see what you mean now by the seekers of paradise. I think I said that in regards to a storytelling perspective, there doesn't seem to be anything to warrant a distinction because both genders look different but are the same. Realizing that they're birds of paradise shout outs it seems more sensible. However if the boys and girls are going to remain different maybe something could be done to differentiate them behaviour wise too so there's a reason to have them visually separable in the first place?

True, they are the same, but still, differentiating them makes them more clearly birds. As for different behaviour, I think there's already enough material on the Seeker of Paradise, but we could squeeze in that the purple ones sing and the red ones incubate eggs.

Karbo wrote:

The Gusto vole is a funny idea, I thought at first it was convenient but on second thoughts, on a crazy place like the fairy kingdom it's existence wouldn't be that surprising XD

Convenient? For sure, but the point of the Gusto vole was that it be wacky and silly. Also, because I've been thinking aboot anything else there is to eat that isn't human. I wanted to devise edible shrimps, but the last time I touched the subject of shrimp, I turned them into antediluvian, unknowable, inchoate aberrations. Can't make aberrations of cute li'l rodents though.

Karbo wrote:

I'm less convinced by the celestial iron though, I see it as a little too powerful ^^;

Funny that. It doesn't do anything that angels don't do already. Eh, anyway...

Archmage_Bael wrote:

Hm, alright. I thought that they could do it innately, guess I was wrong. Apparently they need tools to do any kind of shrinking or growing magic, even doing it to themselves they cant really grow or shrink. Only a few can. I thought maybe that blade thing was a special case (because I thought it was a little unclear), but I was wrong. Honestly it kind of makes me feel like that that makes their dimensional abilities kind of a sham. Ah well, I guess Angels cant do everything XD

Angels are one size fits all; they don't shrink or grow. Yes, the blade is a special case, but I don't know if the blade was devised for that particular purpose, or if it's just the kind of metal they use. I aimed for that some angels derive some abilities from a metal they make, or at the very least amplify them through special tools.

Emerald Electronic wrote:

A defense against silver succubus makes a lot of sense as well, but I'm not sure why the rest of the effects would be there. Angels I would think have little need for magical protection being divine beings. Perhaps it bestows the user with the qualities of an angel? Then they would have both a defense against the silver succubi's and a more imperative reason to guard from the hands of mortals and demons. Whichever way you decide to take it though I don't see much use of it besides a get out of ferromancy free card, save for maybe a few uneducated wielders being unwittingly attacked by seemingly innocent beings.

While angels are divine beings, many mythologies have had divine beings using tools. Mjolnir, Zeus' disposable Lightnin' Bolts, the Book of Thoth, Michael's sword, Aeolus' sack full o' wind, Hephaestus' everything, the list goes on and on. Didn't see much wrong in saying purifiers did it with their swords, and that angels wear armor that doesn't get silver succubi'd.
Though in hindsight, this doesn't explain defilers, so I guess I can forget about that angel- that angle. Other than that, it'd be a get out of demonic magic free card, which angels also use to extend their stay in the mortal realms- and which they guard jealously.

"Once size fits all" has never really made much sense to me in the prospect of a living creature that doesn't act as a living boot.

We've always had a lot of shiny rocks in Felarya. Diamonds, rubies, topaz, diamonds, corundum, diamonds, emeralds, diamonds, malachite, diamonds, diamonds. It was only a matter of time before we had a zone made completely of them, diamonds. The Topazial Sea and the Jewel River make good examples, but they're too... non-toxic for my taste. So was it that I saw a let's play of Zeliard, a game from my youth... and remembered the Cavern of Tesoro, diamonds. The whole place was made of gold- lovely, ain't it? But you know, it made me wonder sometimes why couldn't I take a brick and go back to the store and buy everything. It gave me an idea, diamonds.

Looking in wikipedia for pyrite (FeS2), I saw chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and Bornite (Cu5FeS4), also known as "peacock ore". The thing they all had in common, diamonds? Sulphur. Then again, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure there's already a zone that's made of shininess underground; though it's not on the wiki, there's a li'l ! sign on the map that reads... I can't remember what it read.

What do you think of this, diamonds?

The Shining Maze

Stretching across and beneath the Jewel River lie some underground pathways lined with golden blocks. The Shining Maze, as they've been dubbed, connect the Tolmeshal Forest, the Grove of Carnivorous Plants, and the Forest of Whispers, amongst other places, though its inhabitants only appreciate trespassers when they get to eat them.

These tunnels were excavated on a winding bed of sulfides by the local creatures- the natural fracture of the rocks creates the bricklike, winding appearance of the maze. The walls are almost completely golden (due to the iron and copper sulfides they are mainly composed of), with patches of blue, silvery, and irised materials where other minerals form. Glowing, almost gemlike patches of moss decorate the angles of the walls. Moisture tends to accumulate in some parts of the maze, creating small, flowing streams of noxious liquid, carpeted with live, fungal verdigris.

These caves are home to mostly nocturnal animals, spending the day inside the shallowest reaches of the maze. As one gets farther from the surface, the Shining Maze becomes much more desolate, but the atmosphere grows less breathable the farther one goes downwards. Deep enough, it becomes corrosive, and often jets out from cracks in the higher levels- begetting the question of what, exactly, generates those vapors.

======

So I was in a hot springs kind of mood, and this came out. I could go on and on about the fauna, but I'm trying to keep the focus of the place on the hot springs. It's kinda difficult- I don't even know where those would go. Mount Vylkren comes to mind, then again, Felarya doesn't have a mantle, so maybe I should go instead for Miragia. It's where the weird stuff goes on. But... it could also go very well somewhere in Frost Peak, where a hot spring would really hit the spot. The Jungle of Perils could also be the right place, if we're going to make it the fountain of youth: nothing better than bloodclaw apes to keep anything from getting a firm foothold there. There's also the Sulphur Sources in the Great Rocky Fields. You know, I think elementals of some sort would be right here...

Problem, though, I run out of inspiration where we get to the healing properties. I had been thinking, maybe we could finally give up and just throw some springs of youth in there, or maybe a spring of regeneration (and have some regenerating fauna while we're at it)... or we could be ironic and make it poisonous, like some hot springs are. I had been thinking, maybe the healing properties in the mud from this place can be preserved for as long as one keeps it hot enough, unlike in the rest of Felarya; that could present a logistical challenge with a sizeable reward.

The Boiling Hill (name may yet change)

Hidden by the vapor that rises from it, this muddy crag is characteristic for the of dozens of ponds that criscross it at several altitudes. These ponds are warm enough to elevate the temperature of the area well above that of the rest of the zone, and keep these conditions even at night.

These hot springs are home to unique lifeforms, at home in the extremely high temperatures of the springs. Any submerged rock is slippery with a mat of goo that thrives on the minerals contained in the water, and brightly colored amphibians lick these rocks for sustenance. Almost no other native creature populates those springs, though many come from time to time, giant predators in particular, to delight in the peace and warmth of the water.

These are some good ideas you're tossing around. I've been trying to come up with a tropical area with lots of gems and precious stones of sorts myself, and I wanted to stick it somewhere on the eastern side of the map, but it'd need to be next to one of the jungles near the north.

This actually just made me think about how on one side is a jungle, and the other is a tundra. two opposite climates right next to each other? Hm...

Anyway, making a region with a ton of precious metals is near impossible I would think because gems and precious metals are so varied that they're all formed in different situations. However, regarding you desire for hot springs, since there's a desert, maybe there could be a jungle area, with the boiling hill there. Keep it in similar climate types and all.

For the "Land of the Mirror Sky" I had magic concentrated into intense pools of energy, that end up reflecting the land in the sky during some circumstances, but for you, similar types of pools of energy could be formed but tweaking them to have some different properties. Though healing properties are kind of redundant aren't they? As the effect from the soil spreads through the water and the plants as well - though its possible I'm not really understanding what you truly want here.

Overall I like were you're going though.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

These are some good ideas you're tossing around. I've been trying to come up with a tropical area with lots of gems and precious stones of sorts myself, and I wanted to stick it somewhere on the eastern side of the map, but it'd need to be next to one of the jungles near the north.
This actually just made me think about how on one side is a jungle, and the other is a tundra. two opposite climates right next to each other? Hm... Anyway, making a region with a ton of precious metals is near impossible I would think because gems and precious metals are so varied that they're all formed in different situations.

And yet we have the Jewel River, and the Topazial Sea. No, none of the golden elements I've described is a precious stone or a gem, they're ores. Cuprous and ferrous ores, mainly pyrite and chalcopyrite in fact- basically worthless, though they can fool you into thinking they're golden. The Jewel River was a pet peeve of mine when I arrived, but I got more or less used to it. Besides, come to think of it, there is a way it could've form-

BRB writing legend.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

However, regarding you desire for hot springs, since there's a desert, maybe there could be a jungle area, with the boiling hill there. Keep it in similar climate types and all.

Yeah, thinking about that, but by the way, hot springs don't belong in any particular climate. They're a geothermal thing, a property of the tectonic plates and stuff.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

For the "Land of the Mirror Sky" I had magic concentrated into intense pools of energy, that end up reflecting the land in the sky during some circumstances, but for you, similar types of pools of energy could be formed but tweaking them to have some different properties. Though healing properties are kind of redundant aren't they? As the effect from the soil spreads through the water and the plants as well - though its possible I'm not really understanding what you truly want here.

I've been thinking about that. No, healing properties aren't redundant: the Holy Oak magnifies healing properties 10-fold, the Ascarlin can magnify them 10-fold too. That's a x19 increase made already possible without going into new material. I was thinking that maybe even losing 80% of its properties upon leaving contact with the ground, the mud here could be magnified from the soil to such an insane level that it could even be carried out of Felarya, and... well, you can do the maths yourself.

Let's just say hot springs gotta be really damn healthy.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

Overall I like were you're going though.

Thanks.

If I could throw in an idea/persuasion in here, Imoreith Tundra could use a little more love. ^^; And really, a good hot spring would attract certain types of explorers, especially if it had magical properties like the ones you're throwing around.

Ohh I really like the shining maze !
that idea of iridescent golden and blue walls create a pretty unique place and walking literally inside a treasure is pretty exciting too ^^
And hot spring is an interesting idea, I know a couple preds who would probably love them XP

A Handsome Ransom, aka Don't Do this at Home Kings

There is an old tale that speaks of a remote empire, far to the north of Felarya. Well past the Jungle of Perils, the Green Hell, lay a stretch of land that a greedy conqueror had carved into a makeshift empire. This land lay at the base of a chain of spiny, jagged mountains, high beyond imagination, loaded with ice too high to thaw. And, oddly enough for Felarya, several kingdoms lay at the foot of these mountains. However, one of the kings saw fit to become a conqueror, and quickly overran his neighbors' land over the course of a generation.

For once, this reign was not stopped by the Guardians- but by its own ruler. When the conqueror fell in battle, his heir, Emperor Pothame, took his place- but quickly became smitten with Princess Ihrema of the lands across the plains, his heart coming to harbor a shameless, insane, unholy lust, unconcerned with limits, blind and deaf to all reason. Leaving her kingdom for last in his plans for conquest, he'd time and again try to woo her, and time and again she'd refuse his advances- until, aware that he might very well choose to cut to the chase and take her (kingdom and everything) by force, Princess Ihrema suggested him a task for a dowry- were he to pick every gemstone hidden in the gut of the lands and present them to her before the end of the week, she'd finally grant him her hand in marriage.

With the unabashed arrogance and recklessness that youth, royalty, obsession and lust all inflict on their hosts, Emperor Pothame accepted almost before she fully explained her conditions and put his war on hold for that week. All restraint flew from his mind as he conceived a first (and terrible) plan to gain her hand: he would kidnap the genie Desineun, consort of the then-young Queen Thanjayuur, the ruler of all that lies beneath the lands of Felarya. Desineun was said to be the greatest treasure of Felarya, the most beautiful man to have ever lived, or that would ever live, a lover of epic proportions, a consort whom even goddesses were not worthy of. Any man's handsomeness, no matter how great, served only as a mediocre monument to his own, and every woman's beauty was but a humble offering to his taste. Every word spoken in his praise was naught but a pale, offensive disservice, every toast to his greatness served only to highlight the ignorance and folly of those who tried to do any justice to his handsomeness.

Nonetheless, Emperor Pothame spoke to the spirits, and had them spread the word that he was actually as beautiful as Desineun. Though an obvious lie, Emperor Pothame made sure to speak to blind spirits, and trusted that the genie's arrogant, boastful nature would lead the being right towards him. It worked: the first obstacle away, it was child's play for the Emperor managed to trap the genie. Then, speaking to the spirits again, he sent a message to Queen Thanjayuur. He told her that, when every jewel hidden in the land within his sight was laid bare to the wind, the beautiful genie would be released. He warned her as well that were any undue harm incurred in the process, he would not hesitate to harm her consort. Then the emperor stood in the land between both kingdoms, waiting for his demands to be met.

Queen Thanjayuur, understandably annoyed at the demand, upset about the methods used by the fledgling emperor, and fuming with rage that anyone would think of touching one of her Desineun's hairs, specially some repulsive sleazebag like Emperor Pothame, quickly came up with a way to grant the request. She commanded the dirt, the soil, and the rocks in sight of Pothame to vanish from his sight if they sat over jewels.

Before the emperor's eyes, the plains shattered and crumbled to nothingness. A massive section of the mountain crumbled before his eyes, the stone standing only to avoid disintegration by collapsing on top of the jewels he was to be shown. Delighted to see the land covered in gems as far as the eye could see, he took an instant to proclaim, atop the thin dirt spires left beneath his feet, his love for Ihrema, and his success in his scheme- perhaps an instant too long. While he forced Thanjayuur to unmake the rocks atop the gems, she had no power over the ice in the mountain peaks. This ice came apart, fell, shattered, and thawed in the way down released, turning into an absolutely immense glacial deluge that carried him away like a hollow, rotten log. He closed his eyes.

HAPPY ENDING:

Unfortunately, he didn't word himself too well with his wish. It mattered not that he closed his eyes- as soon as he was within sight of the land, it would disappear into nothingness, creating a path for the water to rush through: with the emperor's flailing body heading the charge, a new river was cleared, whose bottom would be littered fast with the unearthed gemstones. One violent turn after another, as the torrent tore a path through whatever seam was nearest under the ground, the violence of the fluid had struck him mortally several times by the time the water finally wound up in the sea. Eventually, the water around his corpse stilled, so the fish could pick his bones clean.

Reunited with her consort, Queen Thanjayuur eventually bored of the genie. However, Desineun knew he had been spotted by Princess Ihrema during his release from the mad emperor's trap. Having never taken a mortal lover before, but curious about the reason why Pothame would have done what he did, he married her. In the genie's arms, she forgot that Pothame or his kingdom, now hidden behind the broadest river in the world, had ever existed.

FUZZY ENDING:

Unfortunately, he didn't word himself too well with his wish. At any time, whenever the land had him within sight, whether his eyes were closed or not, it would fade away to reveal the measly gems hidden beneath, creating a path the water rushed through, carrying him aloft. One violent turn after another, as the torrent tore a path through whatever seam was nearest under the ground, the violence of the fluid had struck him almost fatally several times by the time the water finally wound up in the sea. Only by miracle did the waves carry him to shore, where he still had a path of thousands of miles to tread back alongside the newly minted river's edge.

Driven by the same insane, frightening obsession, the emperor started the long way back home to his palace. The memory of the princess' beauty kept him going, facing an odyssey's worth of trials along the newly minted, currently still uninhabited river- but he arrived in court to see the wedding between Ihrema and Desineun. As he found out from a wise man, Queen Thanjayuur had since grown bored of her consort, and the two of them had met and fallen in love while he was trekking upstream. Knowing that he could never compete with the genie, he decided to give up on his insane pursuit of Princess Ihrema, and stealthily left the wedding before anyone could ask for his invitation.

The emperor wasn't sure of what to do then. He found himself strangely empty once rid of the obsession; he didn't want to return to his kingdom just yet. Putting it back together after they had most certainly tore themselves apart over who'd take over seemed like a daunting and unfulfilling task. So he walked downstream along his new river for a full day- stopping in the evening to gaze at the new and interesting fish that lived in it now. That's when he met Unaphin, the elemental queen of Water, who was right now surveying the newest addition to her dominion.

The water explained to her that he was the man who'd been carried along by the churning torrent as it carved its way through the continent. Curious as she was, she had the water beckon him to her, so that he may satisfy her curiosity. Oddly compliant, the emperor accepted her invitation, and told her of his story, in all its stupid, embarassing details.

She found his tale amusing enough to be a fair trade for the life he forfeited by accepting her invitation. In fact, it was because of her that Pothame is remembered up to now- his kingdom forgot, in the genie's arms, the princess forgot him, the genie had never paid him any mind, and even he himself managed to put his errors behind himself before he finally passed away. Only the Queen remembered his folly, and it became one of her favourite tales to share with those she cared to amuse- or deter out of attempting to manipulate her kin into granting boons.






What'cha think, boss? I'mma need some help with this one- haven't thought of a good name for the elemental queen of water, and it's a king for all I know. We could just leave it at the happy ending.

======








Say, dem ephemerales and dat limbo gave me a weird idea. Did anyone read Alraune? I sure didn't. But the myth of the mandragora is way older than the novel Alraune. So I had been thinking... how do we make a Felaryan mandragora? Just in case, I checked for Slimetoad and Jasconius not to have done it before. You can never tell with those guys. Apparently, the only one who tried it was Pyrostyle, back in September 2009, from the 10th to the 11th. But his stuff looked kinda tame... so I threw in a couple things in mine just to crank up the scariness factor. Instead of just having mandragoras, those are mandragora-amazons-Predator (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger)-locusts-Antheus-treants-zombies-orcs-aliens-kudzu-vampires. Also, Lavos.

P.S: If you think this is scary, look for my good ol' Aspen Dryads. Feels like practically the same thing, in hindsight...

Mandragora

Mandragora is the name given to the root of an eponymous plant, characteristic by its broad, oval, wrinkled leaves and small, clustered flowers. While the plant itself acts rather mundane, usually growing in groves of several dozen specimens, its tubered, ginger roots grow actively larger throughout its life cycle, reaching rather disproportionate dimensions compared to the size of the plant itself.

When the root is developed enough, which can be anywhere from a five feet long to an eight foot long system, the tuber undergoes a bizarre mutation. The root warps itself into a rather humanoid form, complete with holes for peeking eyes and a slash-like mouth. This lumpy form is actually just armor; mandragoras are actually green and exactly shaped like muscular females, complete with hair, eyes and a mouth right behind their hide's eyes and mouth, and depending on how much damage is done to their outer hide, they may show more or less of it. Once per day, usually at night, the mandragora searches for small prey, this is, anything close to the ground it can swallow whole and moves slow enough for them to capture. In most cases, this means insects, small rodents and baby birds, though in some cases it might involve rarer, sentient fare.

Mandragoras don't usually go after human-sized prey, but if a creature tries to pull out their leaves while they're underground, they'll immediately emerge and let out a scream that'll summon any other mature mandragora within hearing range to the screamer. Even though they seem unable to manage a pace faster than a power walk, keeping always at least one foot on the ground, any offender should flee while the mandragoras are still busy unearthing themselves. Mandragoras also go after human-sized prey if they are confident they outnumber them or can otherwise make short work of them. They don't actually consume the prey: they bludgeon them into submission, strangle them, and bury the corpses close to their root systems, where another plant with broad, rugged leaves will sprout a week or so after.

The tuber's stamina is seemingly endless anytime they're in contact with the ground. Fire, unlike one would expect, doesn't frighten the tubers- they are too watery for it to do more than superficial damage, their hairy, lumpy hide usually falls off before any damage is incurred to the meat of the tuber- and they know it will grow back. Fearless and impersonal as they are, mandragoras don't stop even because of predators, though they may direct their wrath at them if something happens- this usually leads only to a meal full of nutrients and vitamins. The most effective way to actually stop a mandragora is to use an arrow to stick a sack of salt to its back, so that when the roots return to their plant they'll wither the whole grove; its fibrous armor isn't sensitive to arrows.

That trick will work against most mandragoras, but sometimes, mandragoras just happen to grow, pardon the pun, smarter. Clever mandragoras, as they're called, while on average far, far duller and simpler than humans, are capable of sufficient organization to stablish a pecking order, and may also grasp speech (usually slow and paused), craftsmanship (as long as it's only one piece), reasoning (with considerable difficulty) or trade (when they really luck out). They also got a bit of a green thumb, just enough not to fall for the salt trick, and a rudimentary grasp of tactics which, combined with their strength and numbers, may actually endanger a predator sometimes.


FUR BESHITARYAN PERDATHURS LOL

======










This is a little craziness I developed on my own. I had been thinking about what ghosts are made of, and also I was studying about polymers, the newest (and cheapest) group of materials used in engineering. If you read long enough about a subject, you'll have hot dreams about it. Yes, that includes all the boring things like the mathematical triangulation of the effects of supply and demand of commodities on developing economies. Which explains Spice and Wolf. :B

P.S: I'll post a version for dummies someday... yeah, sure...

Polyecter

As a rule of thumb, matter both has a mass and takes up room (Lavoisier and Lomonósov. 1787 AU). This used to be more than just a rule of thumb, until the discovery of polyecter.

Many creatures in the multiverse seem to disintegrate into nothingness once slain (Sakaguchi et al. 1988 AU). The process of slaying them for whatever they may be carrying used to be common practice once upon a time, considering the object left behind to be but an anomaly. While wasteful in comparison, the process seemed sufficient for everyone until chemical developments (Hyatt, 1863 AU) suggested that the waste of material was the anomaly. He managed to congeal the lost material and use it appropriately.

Eventually the material became used for clothes (Nagai et al. 1977 AU), though its actual nature was only codified nearly a decade after (Venkman, Spengler and Stantz, 1984 AU). It didn't take long for polyecter to find other niches which it continues to hold to this day, thanks to the advances made by several trailblazers (Leed-sha, Maeda and Fukumoto 1989 AU, Shiina et al., 1991 AU, Takeuchi et al. 1992 AU). Independant experiments (Imaishi et al. 2007 AU) have tested, with satisfactory results, the performance of polyecter in extremely demanding conditions.

Polyecter is usually found as an aether (Aristotle et al. 377 BU), similar to terra pingüis (Becher and Stahl, 1682 AU), except its mass is variable (Takeuchi et al. 1992 AU, Imaishi et al. 2007 AU) due to polymerization, though some authors (Michelson and Morley 1887 AU, Lavoisier and Lomonósov 1787 AU) believe this is absolute horseradish. When the polymerization is initiated (Nagai et al. 1977 AU), the polyecter reacts immediately to form repetitive, expanding structures, with practically limitless size (Imaichi et al. 2007 AU). While the repetitive structure is a given, the degree of criscrossing in the material can be modified (Goodyear, 1839 AU) just as well as the activation methods, so as to obtain different microstructures with variable properties.

It's common practice [citation needed] to use a load during polymerization, so as to reduce the amount of polyecter employed. It's this practice, rather than any other, that has allowed polyecter to achieve costs much lower per pound than any other material, even considering its usually low density [dubious, discuss]. The use of a load entails the polymerization of the material while mixed with an existing material (Cronin and Gerow 1963 AU, Beck and Parker 1939 AU) had already proven satisfactory, creating material of appropriate density and tremendous strength.

Currently, polyecter activators must be obtained from the wild (Tajiri et al., 1996 AU, Sakaguchi et al. 1988 AU), directly from creatures that make use of the material. These activators are then built into the appropriate magical device (Takeuchi et al. 1992 AU), which will make use of the activators to synthesize the necessary polyecter into the required structures (weapons, clothing et c. 500000 BC). The versatility of properties that polyecter is capable of ensures its engineering applications are as broad as the properties the original sources manifest (Tajiri et al., 1996 AU), though later studies have suggested that the practice of hunting for polyecter may in fact cause the depletion of the source organisms, in a manner similar to other species (Tajiri et al., 2010, referring to Loxodonta et al., 1966 AU).

While most activator-bearing entities present no particular challenge to defeat, actually harvesting any component requires the use of a special kind of weapon (Shiina et al., 1991 AU, Tajiri et al. 1996). Some particular entities, however, should be hunted with a neutrona wand and a proton pack, with a corresponding trap (Spengler and Stantz, 1984 AU). The actual process of harvesting the polyecter activators, on the other hand, exceeds the limits of this document.

[...and so on, and so on...]

wow lot of ideas here XP

Great job on Handsome Ransom It clearly has a tale feel to it, and a moral of sort ( don't mess with Queen Thanjayuur XD ) and having it being a tale of the Queen herself as a mean of warning is a nice little twist. I loved the Fuzzy ending better ^^
The Mandragora are suitably scary, I imagine what it must look like to pluck a leave from a plant only to see it screaming, seeing a humanoid form starting to emerge from the ground and attracting others nearby ^^

For the Polyecter though.. I admit I haven't really understand what it is about ^^; I mean you mention creatures that vanish into nothingness but leave that substance behind ?

Also I would like to add the shining maze, if you agree with the disclaimer :3

Karbo wrote:

Great job on Handsome Ransom It clearly has a tale feel to it, and a moral of sort ( don't mess with Queen Thanjayuur XD ) and having it being a tale of the Queen herself as a mean of warning is a nice little twist. I loved the Fuzzy ending better ^^

Also, it explains who made the Jewel River

======

Karbo wrote:

The Mandragora are suitably scary, I imagine what it must look like to pluck a leave from a plant only to see it screaming, seeing a humanoid form starting to emerge from the ground and attracting others nearby ^^

Yeah. And when you're done with the surprise factor, they're lumpy, brown, and want to kill you. And when you're done with the horror factor, that lumpy, brown hide is a green amazon's organically grown powersuit. And when you're done with the sci-fi violence, they're stupid.

======

Karbo wrote:

For the Polyecter though.. I admit I haven't really understand what it is about ^^; I mean you mention creatures that vanish into nothingness but leave that substance behind ?

It's just one of my usual bizarrades, like Sareu Trosvil, only written kind of like an academic paper. A'course I didn't write a proper abstract, introduction, and stuff.
What can I say in my defense? Thinking of people's faces as they read this is kind of fun.

======

Karbo wrote:

Also I would like to add the shining maze, if you agree with the disclaimer :3

OK, I agree.