The world is out of order. No one knows why, what spirits or ancestors have been angered, but...
Paths of Civilization
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People's Panoply - Early Iron Age
- Pronouns
- He/Him
People's Panoply
Arms
The most common weapon of the People is the bow, and while the composite bow is perhaps the most famous, most of the People who use one make do with simpler constructions, mostly unitary recurve or flatbows, with a few longbows also present. Those who for whatever reason do not use bows will train with slings or at least javelins. While iron heads on arrows, darts, and javelins have become the norm, some still use stone heads in places where iron has not quite fully reached yet.
In melee the predominant weapons are spears and clubs - the spears often also doubling as heavy javelins depending on preference - with the demon club being a two handed specialist weapon. In recent years the militia has also started bringing theoretically agricultural tools such as axes and sickles into battle, as these give easy access to iron edged weaponry. Iron daggers are also typical, and are starting to grow as work on making sickles with longer blades and general one-up-man-ship has been causing them to expand. Sickles and daggers tucked into the belt have become something of a status symbol among those in the militia, and the elite warriors have also been picking up the habit.
Armour
Many warriors of the People go into battle relatively lightly adorned due to a combination of summer heat often making heavier clothing uncomfortable, missile troops frequently finding heavy armour gets in the way too much, and the belief among many that wearing excessive clothing into battle is a way for spirits of disease to seize you. For those that do wear protection, quilted linen or wool is by far the most common protection, providing a layer of padding, with leather commonly used as reinforcement. For certain warriors, cages of wicker are worn to provide additional protection against clubs and slingstones and to better help deflect arrows or spears.
Also in use are shields, which are usually made of wicker or leather stretched over a frame, although planks of wood reinforced with leather are becoming more common, especially as iron nails and studs see wider use.
Arms
The most common weapon of the People is the bow, and while the composite bow is perhaps the most famous, most of the People who use one make do with simpler constructions, mostly unitary recurve or flatbows, with a few longbows also present. Those who for whatever reason do not use bows will train with slings or at least javelins. While iron heads on arrows, darts, and javelins have become the norm, some still use stone heads in places where iron has not quite fully reached yet.
In melee the predominant weapons are spears and clubs - the spears often also doubling as heavy javelins depending on preference - with the demon club being a two handed specialist weapon. In recent years the militia has also started bringing theoretically agricultural tools such as axes and sickles into battle, as these give easy access to iron edged weaponry. Iron daggers are also typical, and are starting to grow as work on making sickles with longer blades and general one-up-man-ship has been causing them to expand. Sickles and daggers tucked into the belt have become something of a status symbol among those in the militia, and the elite warriors have also been picking up the habit.
Armour
Many warriors of the People go into battle relatively lightly adorned due to a combination of summer heat often making heavier clothing uncomfortable, missile troops frequently finding heavy armour gets in the way too much, and the belief among many that wearing excessive clothing into battle is a way for spirits of disease to seize you. For those that do wear protection, quilted linen or wool is by far the most common protection, providing a layer of padding, with leather commonly used as reinforcement. For certain warriors, cages of wicker are worn to provide additional protection against clubs and slingstones and to better help deflect arrows or spears.
Also in use are shields, which are usually made of wicker or leather stretched over a frame, although planks of wood reinforced with leather are becoming more common, especially as iron nails and studs see wider use.
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Living Conditions - Early Iron Age
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Advisors don't know.
They think at the very least it will crack down on tax evasion type smuggling and the like and make administration easier, which should have secondary improvements in how other crimes develop.
Blackbirds aren't that great in urban environments yet, although they're also the only warriors with even remotely the right training to deal with the situations.
Go out and make sure that people are in fact following the law.
Each other the other major kingdom has at least two major holy sites that you know about, they likely have many other minor ones.
Most of the other major settled groups are of the opinion that the People are an odd lot who have lots of good stuff and are generally rather generous, but seem to prefer to keep to themselves. There's also the general opinion that they're kind of weak since they don't engage in much fighting, but they're probably strong enough to make fighting in the hills a pain, and while there's good stuff beyond the threat of another rival taking a swing before you've made it to the good stuff means that if they're not going to cause trouble you might as well leave them alone for the time being.
There is currently a significant amount of questioning of how exactly the spirits work. A sort of proto-theology is started to bubble away in the background. Major changes are unlikely to crystallize before the temple or library are completed though.
The People have about average skin tones for their neighbours, but they also have a wide array of neighbours and a lot of internal mixing so everyone thinks that they look just a bit exotic in terms of skin and hair tones. The nomads think that they look just a touch darker than them while the lowlanders note their relative lightness of skin tone. In terms of hair the People have a much greater diversity of hair styles due to multiple traditions, a relatively lax view on policing that sort of thing, and more hair types than most people have. The basically complete absence of major pox scarring and the fact that the People don't have the same lower end in size as most sedentary people is also frequently commented on. Spiritually the People have a whole host of unique prayers and invocations that signify them as being the People rather than the host of unique prayers and invocations of other groups.
Yes, there is a general taboo around handling the dead, especially outside your family, and it is forbidden to anyone not assigned by the shamans to handle any dead body showing actual signs of decomposition.
Ymaryn art tends towards the abstract with lots of knot work and geometric shapes. A common motiff is to take a serene geometric shape or symbol and surround or intertwine it with more organic seeming lines with curves and branches.
Clothing is primarily linen or wool tunics and either breeches or kilts depending on environment and local gender norms, with jackets, ponchos and the like depending on weather. The People make use of dyes other than the snail red-violet, but they are mostly more muted reds, blues, and blacks from plant and mineral sources. They make extensive use of decorations like necklaces, braclets, and pins to demonstrate various forms of success awarded to them by superiors and the community, forming an elaborate form of social communication. Wearing an unearned badge tends to earn a major beating at the least. Tattooing is also used, although it has a much more pragmatic purpose in the eyes of the People in that they are believed to have an influence on the flow of spiritual energies within the body. A warrior might have a sort of sunburst tattoo over their heart to strengthen their constitution, although this is believed to also make them dangerously hotblooded so they might also introduce symbols of roots and ice around their skull and head to help them stay calm and grounded, if also slowing down their wits outside of battle. For this reason, while ritual tattooing is done, tattoos are seen of as being primarily medical in nature.
Aside from their masks, the most quintessential Blackbird regalia are their leafy cloaks and other such camouflage items, while for the Carrion Eaters they carry around surgical tools and little dolls with wound markings to serve as shorthand for what treatments to apply when they are in a hurry and need to consult their notes quickly. People find these intensely creepy and there are all sorts of stories about what they actually do, and the Carrion Eaters sometimes encourage them.
Both women and men tend to accessorize by doing their hair, with many different styles and objects used to tie and decorate hair.
The average home in Valleyhome is a three story complex in a U or O shape, made primarily of mudbrick and adobe with wooden support structures. The first floor is the primary economic area, centered around the courtyard area, while the second floor is the living and sleeping area with the top floor being for long term storage/extra sleeping space and more perishable items being stored in a cellar where it is cooler. Outside the major population centres two story homes holding maybe three generations and clustered along family lines tend to be more typical.
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Spiritual Order
- Pronouns
- He/Him
On the Order of Spirits
The People recognise multiple forms of spiritual entities and categorise them into a number of interrelated but non-exclusive groups. These groups have to do with relative power, function, and relationship to humans.
Lesser Spirits
Every living thing is considered to have its own spirit, and most places will also have a spirit of the location. Thus the overwhelming majority of spirits are classified of as lesser spirits, and there will usually be minor rituals to apologise or appease when trespassing on their domain, such as apologising to the spirit of a tree for cutting it down while also promising the spirit of the forest that this action is being done for the greater good of the People and the forest as a whole.
Greater Spirits
Greater Spirits are the very powerful spirits of the world, ones with broad domains that they oversee, typically with some relationship to other spirits in their domain. Most Greater Spirits are now associated with distant, primordial, or historical events or forces.
Gods
Gods are a special class of spirit that have three characteristics: they are powerful enough to affect the world, they are interested in human affairs, and they can be convinced of things through human intervention. This last part is perhaps the most tricky since many lesser spirits that are not thought of as gods can also fall under this framework, but the general difference is that rituals and prayers directed at lesser spirits are done personally while for gods they are as much addressing the responsibilities of the god as the god individually. Thus, when apologising to a tree for cutting it down, one is making a personal appeal to the tree's spirit, but when addressing the God of All Forests one is making an address to the responsibility the god holds. There are however a few examples of Lesser Spirits who are also Gods, usually because they have a localised but critically important job, usually of important natural places like springs, caves, or grottoes of important spiritual significance.
Terrestrial Spirits
Terrestrial spirits are spirits of earthly nature and are the most typical spirits. They are responsible for local natural phenomena such as the growth of plants and animals, the flowing of rivers, and all the other things that make the world a good place to live. When angered droughts and hill collapses and most other terrible things result, making them incredibly important to be kept happy. Fortunately, they mostly seem to appreciate their purview being kept care of, so by carefully tending the land the People can keep them pleased while still reaping the benefits.
Celestial Spirits
By far the largest category of Greater Spirits that are not gods, while also being a large contributor to important gods, the Celestial Spirits dwell in the sky as the storms, stars, planets, sun and moon. While individual stars are often considered to be lesser spirits, the constellations are the greater spirits and any of the "mobile" celestial objects are associated with a god of some sort, although distant and hard to please gods. Celestial spirits are typically associated with powerful but distant forces like fate, things of cosmic importance but that take little concern for human affairs.
The Dead
Every person is considered to have at least two souls, an upper soul which dwells in the head and is responsible for complex thought and a lower soul which dwells in the heart which is responsible for physical animation. An excess of souls or outside spirits can be associated with both great power and mental dysfunction. When a person dies, their lower soul flees their body, leaving it inanimate, while the upper soul lingers for a time before being collected by the Greater Spirit of Death, who assesses their deeds in life and then takes them off to their final fate. The dead can still however still influence the world of the living and thus paying the proper respects to ancestors helps ensure that they can speak up in the courts of the spirits, while disrespect can have them counsel for their impious descendants to be given a lesson in respect.
Demons
Demons are outsiders from the world, spirits that have no connection to the proper order of things and thus are intrinsically disruptive. Sometimes they are summoned up by Great Spirits to punish the wicked, being given free rein to cause havoc by bringing disease. Sometimes they come in on their own and war with the spirits of the world. While foolish humans can bribe them into doing what they want, demons know no loyalty to humans or spirits and thus ultimately cannot be controlled.
Crow
Crow, the Creator and Teacher, is something else entirely. By the framework above, Crow would be considered a 'demon-god', but the conclusion drawn is that while he comes from the same place beyond the order of the world as demons he himself is not a demon as he helped produce the order of the world, and he is not intrinsically malicious. Dangerous yes, but malicious no. A better translation of his role would be 'Primordial', 'Titan', or 'Asura'. Something immensely powerful and a little bit outside the current order, but not demonic. The fact that Crow does not take a leadership role among gods and spirits is also a notable divergence for one of his power.
The People recognise multiple forms of spiritual entities and categorise them into a number of interrelated but non-exclusive groups. These groups have to do with relative power, function, and relationship to humans.
Lesser Spirits
Every living thing is considered to have its own spirit, and most places will also have a spirit of the location. Thus the overwhelming majority of spirits are classified of as lesser spirits, and there will usually be minor rituals to apologise or appease when trespassing on their domain, such as apologising to the spirit of a tree for cutting it down while also promising the spirit of the forest that this action is being done for the greater good of the People and the forest as a whole.
Greater Spirits
Greater Spirits are the very powerful spirits of the world, ones with broad domains that they oversee, typically with some relationship to other spirits in their domain. Most Greater Spirits are now associated with distant, primordial, or historical events or forces.
Gods
Gods are a special class of spirit that have three characteristics: they are powerful enough to affect the world, they are interested in human affairs, and they can be convinced of things through human intervention. This last part is perhaps the most tricky since many lesser spirits that are not thought of as gods can also fall under this framework, but the general difference is that rituals and prayers directed at lesser spirits are done personally while for gods they are as much addressing the responsibilities of the god as the god individually. Thus, when apologising to a tree for cutting it down, one is making a personal appeal to the tree's spirit, but when addressing the God of All Forests one is making an address to the responsibility the god holds. There are however a few examples of Lesser Spirits who are also Gods, usually because they have a localised but critically important job, usually of important natural places like springs, caves, or grottoes of important spiritual significance.
Terrestrial Spirits
Terrestrial spirits are spirits of earthly nature and are the most typical spirits. They are responsible for local natural phenomena such as the growth of plants and animals, the flowing of rivers, and all the other things that make the world a good place to live. When angered droughts and hill collapses and most other terrible things result, making them incredibly important to be kept happy. Fortunately, they mostly seem to appreciate their purview being kept care of, so by carefully tending the land the People can keep them pleased while still reaping the benefits.
Celestial Spirits
By far the largest category of Greater Spirits that are not gods, while also being a large contributor to important gods, the Celestial Spirits dwell in the sky as the storms, stars, planets, sun and moon. While individual stars are often considered to be lesser spirits, the constellations are the greater spirits and any of the "mobile" celestial objects are associated with a god of some sort, although distant and hard to please gods. Celestial spirits are typically associated with powerful but distant forces like fate, things of cosmic importance but that take little concern for human affairs.
The Dead
Every person is considered to have at least two souls, an upper soul which dwells in the head and is responsible for complex thought and a lower soul which dwells in the heart which is responsible for physical animation. An excess of souls or outside spirits can be associated with both great power and mental dysfunction. When a person dies, their lower soul flees their body, leaving it inanimate, while the upper soul lingers for a time before being collected by the Greater Spirit of Death, who assesses their deeds in life and then takes them off to their final fate. The dead can still however still influence the world of the living and thus paying the proper respects to ancestors helps ensure that they can speak up in the courts of the spirits, while disrespect can have them counsel for their impious descendants to be given a lesson in respect.
Demons
Demons are outsiders from the world, spirits that have no connection to the proper order of things and thus are intrinsically disruptive. Sometimes they are summoned up by Great Spirits to punish the wicked, being given free rein to cause havoc by bringing disease. Sometimes they come in on their own and war with the spirits of the world. While foolish humans can bribe them into doing what they want, demons know no loyalty to humans or spirits and thus ultimately cannot be controlled.
Crow
Crow, the Creator and Teacher, is something else entirely. By the framework above, Crow would be considered a 'demon-god', but the conclusion drawn is that while he comes from the same place beyond the order of the world as demons he himself is not a demon as he helped produce the order of the world, and he is not intrinsically malicious. Dangerous yes, but malicious no. A better translation of his role would be 'Primordial', 'Titan', or 'Asura'. Something immensely powerful and a little bit outside the current order, but not demonic. The fact that Crow does not take a leadership role among gods and spirits is also a notable divergence for one of his power.
Overflow Chart
Yep! I actually made a diagram to help keep track:
Just follow the arrows - and in case of stuff flowing out of the middle complex, go in increasing order (0, then 1, then 2, then 3).
Awesome map
- Location
- in the trash
Assume that any inaccuracies and discrepancies in geography come from the ancient cartographers fucking things up.
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Holy site descriptions
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Major Holy Sites
Rainbow Trail - Location: Valleyhome Province
The oldest holy site, this community once marked the rough half-way point between Upper Valleyhome and Redshore. While changes in movement patterns meant that it was reduced in importance economically centuries ago, this site remains important because it is the burial place of kings and high priests, as well as a storehouse of the oldest and most important relics of the People. For the rare few with the capacity to do so, this place is considered an important stopping point on pilgrimages out of Valleyhome to Holy Sea and the Sacred Forest, forming part of what is known of as the Triangle Path.
Sacred Forest -Location: Sacred Forest, Sacred Forest
Holiest of holies, this combination of temple, city, and forest can be defined of as narrowly as the temple complex to the gods, with Fythhagyna and Crow at the center. A place of learning, scholarship, and debate, it is also one of the biggest consumers of art in the kingdom. The central pilgrimage site for the People and even outsiders attracted to know more of their gods and mystic arts, everyone dreams of one day making the trip, and a fair fraction of the populace will find the time and resources to make the trip. Those who live in and tend the forests consider themselves the holiest of all the People, and pilgrims will often make offerings of labour to do minor tasks such as the planting of trees or the repair of retaining walls, under the supervision of expert artisans and priests.
Holy Sea- Location: Redshore
Just outside the urban area of Redshore there is a secluded cove among the cliffs where the stones form beautiful bands and the sea comes in just right at high tide to create a place of wonder and serenity. While the actual location is largely preserved, structures have grown up around the perimeter to house the priests and shamans who make offerings to the sea and peer into the pools at low tide to seek omens of the future. The populace of Redshore come by with offerings of fruit and grain to be sacrificed to the sea in exchange for the bounties of fish they bring in.
Horse Valley - Location: Stonepen
A broad box canyon that has had living structures sprout up along the perimeter, Horse Valley serves both as a place to house sacred herds of cattle and horses for the Stonepen region and as the premier star gazing location, renowned for its clear nights and excellent sight lines. While a favorite with locals and mystically inclined shamans, it is far enough off the main trails that it gets comparatively little attention for its age. The founding of the Heaven's Hawk has considerably increased its traffic, and sacred falconers have begun to appear among the priests and shamans.
White Circle - Location: Northshore
A natural shrine formed from a break in the ground forming an enclosure of natural white megaliths, White Circle is a small place that has slowly gained considerable wealth as traders frequently make small offerings there as they sail the coasts, this serving as the natural break point between the dangerous cliff of Redshore province and the gentler shores of the northern provinces.
Warrior's Rest - Location: Northshore
Found at a key stop off point along the trails out of the hills in the south heading towards the Stallion Tribes, Warrior's Rest is the religious center of the north, as the settlement serves as a logistical resting point for warriors traveling across the kingdom to the various fights - usually in the north - and also as a massive cemetery for those who fell in battle in the north, their bodies unable to be taken all the way home before decomposition grew too terrible to transport.
Star Mirror - Location: Blackriver
A curiously out of place sinkhole in dark stone, the water that collects in this secluded place is always dark and clear, and thus when the sun sets it becomes a perfect mirror for the heaven's above. While not as good for the direct study of stars, many priests and shamans claim to have nearly lost themselves in the glittering dark, their souls detached from their bodies. There have also been assuredly been those who literally lost themselves to the surprisingly water through accident or darker means. Aside from disturbing the water, there is also a fairly strong current of mysterious source just beneath the surface that is believed to be part of what keeps the water so clean.
Sunrise Grove - Location: Redhills
Located within the dry hills of Redhills, Sunrise Grove faces to the east to greet the sun every morning. Situated in a place of rolling, golden sandstone, this holy site is based more around the necessities of the community to have a meeting place than any particular natural feature.
Skyforest - Location: Southshore
Along the seaside cliffs of Southshore, one in particular rises up into a particularly high and flat plateau. Covered in thick forests, the place also seems to attract fogs to its feet, making the forest seem to sit within the clouds, both from the sea looking in and from the forest looking out. While maintained with care, the eerie fogs long ago lead the shamans to leave the forests wilder than most, to serve as a place of communion with the primordial green of the world.
Bloodgrove - Location: Redshore
The stones here bleed, stained with iron. Bloodgrove is one of these deposits, paired with a profusion of plants that seem to grow nowhere else. The priests protect the sanctity of this place from the miners, while also supporting their spiritual needs. Many say that it is in Bloodgrove that the blood of those killed in beneath the earth wells up, and here it is that the priests put the spirits of unquiet miners back to rest.
Spiritwell - Location: Blackriver
Little more than a natural well at first, it was soon discovered that sound did strange things when one went to get a bucket of water. Soon enough priests and shamans were brought in, and it was discovered that down in the narrow confines there was a cave system, and the whispers of spirits could be heard if one paid close attention. After a few generations it was realized that priests and shamans who spent too much time there had a tendency to go mad with the revelations of the spirits, and thus the membership there is on strict rotation with other holy sites. This has made Spiritwell a place of learning second only to the Big Three.
Moonwell - Location: Southshore
A most peculiar place, this spring and pool sits at the bottom of a natural channel between two hills. Centuries ago it was observed that during the solstices the moon had a tendency to be bracketed by the sides of the channel, and soon a major astrological observatory sprang up to track what phases of the moon could be seen from this location at what times of the year and what it could mean.
Sparkling Cave - Location: Hatriver
An old site first found by the Hathatyn, the Sparkling Cave is a former mine that ran out of ore millennia ago but also lead to the discovery of a chamber where the walls are filled with tiny sparkling crystals. A single candle makes the chamber shine like the night sky, and it was only natural that priests take up shop for this important holy site and place of pilgrimage.
Rainbow Trail - Location: Valleyhome Province
The oldest holy site, this community once marked the rough half-way point between Upper Valleyhome and Redshore. While changes in movement patterns meant that it was reduced in importance economically centuries ago, this site remains important because it is the burial place of kings and high priests, as well as a storehouse of the oldest and most important relics of the People. For the rare few with the capacity to do so, this place is considered an important stopping point on pilgrimages out of Valleyhome to Holy Sea and the Sacred Forest, forming part of what is known of as the Triangle Path.
Sacred Forest -Location: Sacred Forest, Sacred Forest
Holiest of holies, this combination of temple, city, and forest can be defined of as narrowly as the temple complex to the gods, with Fythhagyna and Crow at the center. A place of learning, scholarship, and debate, it is also one of the biggest consumers of art in the kingdom. The central pilgrimage site for the People and even outsiders attracted to know more of their gods and mystic arts, everyone dreams of one day making the trip, and a fair fraction of the populace will find the time and resources to make the trip. Those who live in and tend the forests consider themselves the holiest of all the People, and pilgrims will often make offerings of labour to do minor tasks such as the planting of trees or the repair of retaining walls, under the supervision of expert artisans and priests.
Holy Sea- Location: Redshore
Just outside the urban area of Redshore there is a secluded cove among the cliffs where the stones form beautiful bands and the sea comes in just right at high tide to create a place of wonder and serenity. While the actual location is largely preserved, structures have grown up around the perimeter to house the priests and shamans who make offerings to the sea and peer into the pools at low tide to seek omens of the future. The populace of Redshore come by with offerings of fruit and grain to be sacrificed to the sea in exchange for the bounties of fish they bring in.
Horse Valley - Location: Stonepen
A broad box canyon that has had living structures sprout up along the perimeter, Horse Valley serves both as a place to house sacred herds of cattle and horses for the Stonepen region and as the premier star gazing location, renowned for its clear nights and excellent sight lines. While a favorite with locals and mystically inclined shamans, it is far enough off the main trails that it gets comparatively little attention for its age. The founding of the Heaven's Hawk has considerably increased its traffic, and sacred falconers have begun to appear among the priests and shamans.
White Circle - Location: Northshore
A natural shrine formed from a break in the ground forming an enclosure of natural white megaliths, White Circle is a small place that has slowly gained considerable wealth as traders frequently make small offerings there as they sail the coasts, this serving as the natural break point between the dangerous cliff of Redshore province and the gentler shores of the northern provinces.
Warrior's Rest - Location: Northshore
Found at a key stop off point along the trails out of the hills in the south heading towards the Stallion Tribes, Warrior's Rest is the religious center of the north, as the settlement serves as a logistical resting point for warriors traveling across the kingdom to the various fights - usually in the north - and also as a massive cemetery for those who fell in battle in the north, their bodies unable to be taken all the way home before decomposition grew too terrible to transport.
Star Mirror - Location: Blackriver
A curiously out of place sinkhole in dark stone, the water that collects in this secluded place is always dark and clear, and thus when the sun sets it becomes a perfect mirror for the heaven's above. While not as good for the direct study of stars, many priests and shamans claim to have nearly lost themselves in the glittering dark, their souls detached from their bodies. There have also been assuredly been those who literally lost themselves to the surprisingly water through accident or darker means. Aside from disturbing the water, there is also a fairly strong current of mysterious source just beneath the surface that is believed to be part of what keeps the water so clean.
Sunrise Grove - Location: Redhills
Located within the dry hills of Redhills, Sunrise Grove faces to the east to greet the sun every morning. Situated in a place of rolling, golden sandstone, this holy site is based more around the necessities of the community to have a meeting place than any particular natural feature.
Skyforest - Location: Southshore
Along the seaside cliffs of Southshore, one in particular rises up into a particularly high and flat plateau. Covered in thick forests, the place also seems to attract fogs to its feet, making the forest seem to sit within the clouds, both from the sea looking in and from the forest looking out. While maintained with care, the eerie fogs long ago lead the shamans to leave the forests wilder than most, to serve as a place of communion with the primordial green of the world.
Bloodgrove - Location: Redshore
The stones here bleed, stained with iron. Bloodgrove is one of these deposits, paired with a profusion of plants that seem to grow nowhere else. The priests protect the sanctity of this place from the miners, while also supporting their spiritual needs. Many say that it is in Bloodgrove that the blood of those killed in beneath the earth wells up, and here it is that the priests put the spirits of unquiet miners back to rest.
Spiritwell - Location: Blackriver
Little more than a natural well at first, it was soon discovered that sound did strange things when one went to get a bucket of water. Soon enough priests and shamans were brought in, and it was discovered that down in the narrow confines there was a cave system, and the whispers of spirits could be heard if one paid close attention. After a few generations it was realized that priests and shamans who spent too much time there had a tendency to go mad with the revelations of the spirits, and thus the membership there is on strict rotation with other holy sites. This has made Spiritwell a place of learning second only to the Big Three.
Moonwell - Location: Southshore
A most peculiar place, this spring and pool sits at the bottom of a natural channel between two hills. Centuries ago it was observed that during the solstices the moon had a tendency to be bracketed by the sides of the channel, and soon a major astrological observatory sprang up to track what phases of the moon could be seen from this location at what times of the year and what it could mean.
Sparkling Cave - Location: Hatriver
An old site first found by the Hathatyn, the Sparkling Cave is a former mine that ran out of ore millennia ago but also lead to the discovery of a chamber where the walls are filled with tiny sparkling crystals. A single candle makes the chamber shine like the night sky, and it was only natural that priests take up shop for this important holy site and place of pilgrimage.
Current overflow chart
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Also, if you want to know how the points interact now:
Patch Notes 1.12
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that while some things have definitely been pretty awesome all on their own, your power growth curve can probably be attributed to me leaving the difficulty set to easy. Some of this was that throwing too many problems at once is taxing for me, some of this enjoying seeing you all win. A big one is that I haven't been working with the downsides of Love of Wisdom as much as I could have.
That said, I'm not going to be a complete jerk. I'm just going to start enforcing some background rules a bit more than before, and any differences can be chalked up to a change in social structure and economy.
1.) Taking in refugees via CA now has an increased cost in terms of temporary econ damage and a slower payout. So for a min dip the cost would be the chance for stability, 2 temp Econ damage, and +2 Econ next phase. Other than the slower payout rate, this change can be chalked up to being able to tank the damage previously
2.) Kicking war missions and megaprojects now also includes temporary econ damage. This can also be attributed to being able to tank the damage and not notice previously
3.) I will be introducing an internal faction system. Factions give mini-quests. Completion can either give bonuses or prevent penalties (I will roll whether they are 'pleased' or 'tantrum' quests). Some of these min-quests you may not want to complete as their requirements may run counter to your goals, but you will have to take them into account. Nothing quite like a faction throwing a tantrum and costing you stability during an unrelated crisis to ruin your day. This can also be chalked up to changing social landscape. Factions can in fact have mutually contradictory goals and their goals can be incredibly petty, including such quests as "Have X faction fail their current quest". The more absolute the government type the fewer factions and the fewer types present, while more democratic government types will have more and more diverse factions. This will represent that historically in-fighting in republics at a time of crisis has been one of their bigger downfalls, while on the other hand a system that can successfully juggle multiple competing factions tends to avoid the stagnancy that kills more absolutist groups.
That said, I'm not going to be a complete jerk. I'm just going to start enforcing some background rules a bit more than before, and any differences can be chalked up to a change in social structure and economy.
1.) Taking in refugees via CA now has an increased cost in terms of temporary econ damage and a slower payout. So for a min dip the cost would be the chance for stability, 2 temp Econ damage, and +2 Econ next phase. Other than the slower payout rate, this change can be chalked up to being able to tank the damage previously
2.) Kicking war missions and megaprojects now also includes temporary econ damage. This can also be attributed to being able to tank the damage and not notice previously
3.) I will be introducing an internal faction system. Factions give mini-quests. Completion can either give bonuses or prevent penalties (I will roll whether they are 'pleased' or 'tantrum' quests). Some of these min-quests you may not want to complete as their requirements may run counter to your goals, but you will have to take them into account. Nothing quite like a faction throwing a tantrum and costing you stability during an unrelated crisis to ruin your day. This can also be chalked up to changing social landscape. Factions can in fact have mutually contradictory goals and their goals can be incredibly petty, including such quests as "Have X faction fail their current quest". The more absolute the government type the fewer factions and the fewer types present, while more democratic government types will have more and more diverse factions. This will represent that historically in-fighting in republics at a time of crisis has been one of their bigger downfalls, while on the other hand a system that can successfully juggle multiple competing factions tends to avoid the stagnancy that kills more absolutist groups.
Early iron age elemental metaphysics
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Elemental Theory
King Rulwyna and her mother Lolwyna were the first to lay out the formalization of alchemy still used today, dividing the composition of the material world up into the Four Primary Elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, divided up by the combination of the Cardinal Pairs of Hot vs. Cool and Wet vs. Dry. Earth is Cool and Dry; Water is Cool and Wet; Air is Hot and Wet; and Fire is Hot and Dry. There are two further elements conceptualized by the alchemists and priests as being essential to the function of the world but not primarily a part of it. These are Vitriol and Quicksilver/Gygo, and are defined of as being Neither Hot nor Cool, Wet nor Dry and Both Hot and Cool, Wet and Dry; these contradictions make them outside the realm of the everyday material world, but of key importance to spiritual function and alchemy. However, which is the element of Neither and which is the element of Both is highly contested. Most alchemists believe that Vitriol - or at least the pure form - is Neither, which allows it to facilitate the transformation of one element to another, but some contest that it must be Both so that it can take and contribute attributes to materials. Research and argument continues, but is hampered by the fact that all agree that there has never been an isolation of a pure element.
Take for example the water one finds in a river or sea. It may seem pure, but if one boils it all away then residues of solid materials can be found - especially in seawater where there is a significant quantity of salt present. If one passes a piece of pottery through a flame it comes away blackened with soot from the flame, indicating the presence of Earth. While some materials are close to the pure forms of the elements, pure elements in of themselves are the workings of the divine. For those without access to the magic of the gods, this is perhaps a good thing, as vitriol can only be controlled by humans when in a suspension of water. Pure vitriol, unbound to a carrier, would surely be lethal to the human form as it rapidly catalyzed random change in everything it touched.
While esoteric ways to combine and manipulate the elements are known to the priests and alchemists, the everyday world has many obvious ways in which the elements interact. Take example the potter. Clay is a combination of Water and Earth, which allows the potter to shape it with ease. The application of Air however removes much of the water, setting the clay mostly in place, while the application of Fire sets it permanently. The application of certain powders adds in tiny solid carriers of Vitriol, which the Fire liberates to promote transformation of the clay into a glaze.
Elements and the Soul
All living things have at least one soul, the Heart Soul, with higher order beings having at least one Mind Soul. It has been speculated that higher order beings still can have more than one Heart and Mind Soul, and even hierarchies of souls and sub-souls. It has been determined that while the elements themselves are not gendered, when manifest in spirits they are. The Hot elements of Fire and Air are masculine - passionate and active but also fickle and explosive; the Cool elements of Water and Earth are feminine - supportive and deliberative but also passive and slower. In a properly balanced body all the elements are present in the correct mixture, with each of the Heart and Mind souls producing a Primary and Secondary element.
In a well balanced man, the Heart Soul is Primary Fire and Secondary Water, while the Mind Soul is Primary Air and Secondary Earth. This gives men exceptional strength and quickness of mind, but also makes them prone to impatience and an excess of emotion. In a well balanced woman, the Heart Soul is Primary Earth and Secondary Air, while the Mind Soul is Primary Water and Secondary Fire. This makes women calm, stable, and patient but also less immediately active. It must be noted that all people contain all elements, and thus men can be patient and women's tempers can boil over, it is simply that they are less prone to these behaviours and attitudes naturally.
It can of course be the case in the imperfect world of the material that imbalanced combinations can occur. The most common is that a soul produces the incorrect Secondary Element, leading to a spiritual imbalance. Excess Fire tends to produce nigh uncontrollable passions, excess Air a flightiness of the mind, excess Water a dullness of the emotions, and excess Earth an ossification of the mind. These imbalances can also shift the masculinity or femininity of a person, leading to a shift in attractions to those around them. The most extreme cases are where there is a mismatch in genders for the Heart and Mind Souls. In these cases the Heart Soul will produce a body of one gender while the Mind Soul will feel as another. In all cases of these imbalances, while it can produce discomfort and alienation from the community, the priests and shamans know the proper rituals to help better align the flows of energy, and in fact the excess can be used to work certain kinds of magic. While not universally accepted, it is believed that same sex attraction can as much be driven by a deficit of properly gendered energy as by an excess.
Third Souls
While the exact cause is hotly debated, there is undeniable proof of those with at least three souls. While these individuals can have disturbed lives, the excess of energy produced by an extra soul can also grant extraordinary physical and magical power. It has been suggested that the Third Soul is fact an artifact of the womb. Metaphysically, while the female body provides an abundance of Water and Earth for the flesh of a child to grow upon, there must also be a storage space for the child's souls within the mother's body in the time between conception and the flesh of the child becoming viable. As all men are descended from the First Mother, it stands to reason that they would also have the room within their Soul Structure for such a space, but it goes unused - some priests contest that this structure is in fact the testes of men, which contains the material for one soul of a child, the mother contributing the other, but as these scholars often argue with each other about which soul the mother contributes and which the father contributes they are not the majority opinion. It is thus posited that under the correct circumstances an additional soul may take up residence within this space, with many pointing to the difficulties of Third Soul individuals have in having children as being indicative of their metaphysical reproductive organs being otherwise occupied. Counter examples of Third Souls having children are usually in turn countered with the fact that twins exist and Third Souls also are often suspected as having four or more souls to account for their abilities, so perhaps the soul womb has sufficient room for up to four more souls.
It is believed that the physical presence of a womb makes women somewhat more likely to become Third Souls, explaining the existence of certain women among the ranks of the martial heroes of the People.
Demon Souls
The definition of a demon is a long standing argument among scholars and priests. While classically a demon is a spirit with no proper function in the material world, making its presence actively disharmonious, some consider the category to be a prior lack of understanding. While once believed to be caused by demonic activity, it is now felt that diseases of decay are caused by human interference into natural processes. Some in fact believe that demons are spirits of Vitriol or Quicksilver, performing tasks that do not make sense within the realm of the primary elements. With the dangers of Vitriol and many metals known if ingested or inhaled, it is believed that some examples of particularly badly affected spirit-touched individuals may not in fact be possession, but Third Souls who have a Vitriol or Quicksilver soul attached rather than a more traditional variation. While all agree that a Vitriol or Quicksilver Heart or Mind Soul would not result in a viable birth, in the Third Soul position survival may be possible, but the introduction of such esoteric elements would produce both exceptional spiritual capacity and a wildly divergent mind and/or body.
In recent years, with further insights from with careful handling of the spirit-touched, it is starting to become recognized that the rituals and spells for aiding those with imbalances of the Primary Elements are inadequate for those with a more esoteric Third Soul. Furthermore, since these elements are directly integrated into their soul structure, exorcism is not only useless but actively detrimental to their health. Determining the difference between demonic possession and an esoteric Third Soul remains an aggressively controversial point of contention between scholars, priests, and shamans.
King Rulwyna and her mother Lolwyna were the first to lay out the formalization of alchemy still used today, dividing the composition of the material world up into the Four Primary Elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, divided up by the combination of the Cardinal Pairs of Hot vs. Cool and Wet vs. Dry. Earth is Cool and Dry; Water is Cool and Wet; Air is Hot and Wet; and Fire is Hot and Dry. There are two further elements conceptualized by the alchemists and priests as being essential to the function of the world but not primarily a part of it. These are Vitriol and Quicksilver/Gygo, and are defined of as being Neither Hot nor Cool, Wet nor Dry and Both Hot and Cool, Wet and Dry; these contradictions make them outside the realm of the everyday material world, but of key importance to spiritual function and alchemy. However, which is the element of Neither and which is the element of Both is highly contested. Most alchemists believe that Vitriol - or at least the pure form - is Neither, which allows it to facilitate the transformation of one element to another, but some contest that it must be Both so that it can take and contribute attributes to materials. Research and argument continues, but is hampered by the fact that all agree that there has never been an isolation of a pure element.
Take for example the water one finds in a river or sea. It may seem pure, but if one boils it all away then residues of solid materials can be found - especially in seawater where there is a significant quantity of salt present. If one passes a piece of pottery through a flame it comes away blackened with soot from the flame, indicating the presence of Earth. While some materials are close to the pure forms of the elements, pure elements in of themselves are the workings of the divine. For those without access to the magic of the gods, this is perhaps a good thing, as vitriol can only be controlled by humans when in a suspension of water. Pure vitriol, unbound to a carrier, would surely be lethal to the human form as it rapidly catalyzed random change in everything it touched.
While esoteric ways to combine and manipulate the elements are known to the priests and alchemists, the everyday world has many obvious ways in which the elements interact. Take example the potter. Clay is a combination of Water and Earth, which allows the potter to shape it with ease. The application of Air however removes much of the water, setting the clay mostly in place, while the application of Fire sets it permanently. The application of certain powders adds in tiny solid carriers of Vitriol, which the Fire liberates to promote transformation of the clay into a glaze.
Elements and the Soul
All living things have at least one soul, the Heart Soul, with higher order beings having at least one Mind Soul. It has been speculated that higher order beings still can have more than one Heart and Mind Soul, and even hierarchies of souls and sub-souls. It has been determined that while the elements themselves are not gendered, when manifest in spirits they are. The Hot elements of Fire and Air are masculine - passionate and active but also fickle and explosive; the Cool elements of Water and Earth are feminine - supportive and deliberative but also passive and slower. In a properly balanced body all the elements are present in the correct mixture, with each of the Heart and Mind souls producing a Primary and Secondary element.
In a well balanced man, the Heart Soul is Primary Fire and Secondary Water, while the Mind Soul is Primary Air and Secondary Earth. This gives men exceptional strength and quickness of mind, but also makes them prone to impatience and an excess of emotion. In a well balanced woman, the Heart Soul is Primary Earth and Secondary Air, while the Mind Soul is Primary Water and Secondary Fire. This makes women calm, stable, and patient but also less immediately active. It must be noted that all people contain all elements, and thus men can be patient and women's tempers can boil over, it is simply that they are less prone to these behaviours and attitudes naturally.
It can of course be the case in the imperfect world of the material that imbalanced combinations can occur. The most common is that a soul produces the incorrect Secondary Element, leading to a spiritual imbalance. Excess Fire tends to produce nigh uncontrollable passions, excess Air a flightiness of the mind, excess Water a dullness of the emotions, and excess Earth an ossification of the mind. These imbalances can also shift the masculinity or femininity of a person, leading to a shift in attractions to those around them. The most extreme cases are where there is a mismatch in genders for the Heart and Mind Souls. In these cases the Heart Soul will produce a body of one gender while the Mind Soul will feel as another. In all cases of these imbalances, while it can produce discomfort and alienation from the community, the priests and shamans know the proper rituals to help better align the flows of energy, and in fact the excess can be used to work certain kinds of magic. While not universally accepted, it is believed that same sex attraction can as much be driven by a deficit of properly gendered energy as by an excess.
Third Souls
While the exact cause is hotly debated, there is undeniable proof of those with at least three souls. While these individuals can have disturbed lives, the excess of energy produced by an extra soul can also grant extraordinary physical and magical power. It has been suggested that the Third Soul is fact an artifact of the womb. Metaphysically, while the female body provides an abundance of Water and Earth for the flesh of a child to grow upon, there must also be a storage space for the child's souls within the mother's body in the time between conception and the flesh of the child becoming viable. As all men are descended from the First Mother, it stands to reason that they would also have the room within their Soul Structure for such a space, but it goes unused - some priests contest that this structure is in fact the testes of men, which contains the material for one soul of a child, the mother contributing the other, but as these scholars often argue with each other about which soul the mother contributes and which the father contributes they are not the majority opinion. It is thus posited that under the correct circumstances an additional soul may take up residence within this space, with many pointing to the difficulties of Third Soul individuals have in having children as being indicative of their metaphysical reproductive organs being otherwise occupied. Counter examples of Third Souls having children are usually in turn countered with the fact that twins exist and Third Souls also are often suspected as having four or more souls to account for their abilities, so perhaps the soul womb has sufficient room for up to four more souls.
It is believed that the physical presence of a womb makes women somewhat more likely to become Third Souls, explaining the existence of certain women among the ranks of the martial heroes of the People.
Demon Souls
The definition of a demon is a long standing argument among scholars and priests. While classically a demon is a spirit with no proper function in the material world, making its presence actively disharmonious, some consider the category to be a prior lack of understanding. While once believed to be caused by demonic activity, it is now felt that diseases of decay are caused by human interference into natural processes. Some in fact believe that demons are spirits of Vitriol or Quicksilver, performing tasks that do not make sense within the realm of the primary elements. With the dangers of Vitriol and many metals known if ingested or inhaled, it is believed that some examples of particularly badly affected spirit-touched individuals may not in fact be possession, but Third Souls who have a Vitriol or Quicksilver soul attached rather than a more traditional variation. While all agree that a Vitriol or Quicksilver Heart or Mind Soul would not result in a viable birth, in the Third Soul position survival may be possible, but the introduction of such esoteric elements would produce both exceptional spiritual capacity and a wildly divergent mind and/or body.
In recent years, with further insights from with careful handling of the spirit-touched, it is starting to become recognized that the rituals and spells for aiding those with imbalances of the Primary Elements are inadequate for those with a more esoteric Third Soul. Furthermore, since these elements are directly integrated into their soul structure, exorcism is not only useless but actively detrimental to their health. Determining the difference between demonic possession and an esoteric Third Soul remains an aggressively controversial point of contention between scholars, priests, and shamans.
Best map on the market right now
Concho117
Going really fast!
- Location
- Somewhere in Orbit
#AcademiaNutHatesCartographers
Just spent the last few hours making a new, accurate, StratMap.
Enjoy.
Just spent the last few hours making a new, accurate, StratMap.
Enjoy.
We should go exploring more!
Also, here is a Political Map of how the Ymaryn government functions.
It's complicated!
Also, here is a Political Map of how the Ymaryn government functions.
It's complicated!
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