This'll be where discussions about the Golden Age will go, just to keep things easier to read :)
For the setting, go to:
Vilydunn - Golden Age of Nightmares Thread (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?17223.last)
Just posted the altered map of Vilydunn.
Anyone have any questions or comments so far on this new version of the Nightmare?
I like the basic idea, but we need details. What are the monsters like? are there special monsters for this Nightmare world? Is it a real nightmare the population is collectively experiencing, or is that more of a metaphor? What are the races, classes? What is magic like, are there any differences? just a few things to think about.
That post made me realize that I didn't put a link to the old thread.
Sleep (The Nightmare) (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?4878)
There's the old thread for Vilydunn, roughly 200 years before the Golden Age begins. That should clear things up a little until I post all the new information :)
I looked at your map, and I want to know what's in the Lost Bayou!
I love Bayous in fantasy, I want to see your take on it.
;)
I am very interested in presenting it once it comes to that post. I will say now though that the settlement in Lost Bayou is based entirely on the sluggish river that flows through there. There's almost no land-based travel.
I look foward to it. One of my favorite fantasy landscapes is always the swamp/bayou, and I can't wait to see how you develop it. :)
:)
Posted a wee bit on the new nations.
Filled in Secrets of the Dreamscapes. It's a little on the mystery of what happened to the Ancients when they disappeared. "The Powers That Be" is also now filled out. At some point, I'll be adding a list of terminology to the Secrets of the Dreamscapes post so the use of particular words makes more sense.
:)
Added Humans to Dreamers in the Nightmare!
:)
Just a couple of notes here. Take them with a big block of rock salt, because I'm coming to this setting without having read any of Sleep.
The reference to a magical virus is interesting, but somewhat incomplete. Also, I'm not much liking the term virus, because to me that's so tied up with the idea of a protein sheath and DNA core that I'm distracted from whatever it is supposed to mean. Not that I have a better term. It seems like it should be some kind of magical resonance/feedback that turns back against the minds of magical practitioners, rather than a truely infectious agent. But that's just me.
One thing I'd like to see in the further development is a bit of thematic unity to each of the kingdoms. The whole nightmare thing is very atmospheric, but if I were to be running (or playing) a campaign set in one or another of your kingdoms, how would that atmosphere affect those campaigns?
Is it an all-consuming concern for the rulers? That is, something that must be constantly defended against, walled out, beaten back, attacked, or exterminated.
Or more of a pervasive background that provides a flavor and texture to what would otherwise be more conventional concerns? Like, politics, wars, colonial expansion, clannish or sectarian rivalries, etc.
If I'm looking at this setting as a place to run my own campaign, these things will tell me what kinds of campaigns go best in which kingdoms and which areas of the world. If I'm looking at creating a character, this will help me come up with ideas and hooks, and see how my character relates to the background.
QuoteJust a couple of notes here. Take them with a big block of rock salt, because I'm coming to this setting without having read any of Sleep.
Good enough, but I don't believe the setting hits you quite right if you haven't seen Sleep, which explains the nature of the Nightmare a little more fully. An explanation specifically for this version is coming, however.
QuoteThe reference to a magical virus is interesting, but somewhat incomplete. Also, I'm not much liking the term virus, because to me that's so tied up with the idea of a protein sheath and DNA core that I'm distracted from whatever it is supposed to mean. Not that I have a better term. It seems like it should be some kind of magical resonance/feedback that turns back against the minds of magical practitioners, rather than a truely infectious agent. But that's just me.
It would seem so, but when using a more real-world term I had intended to help solidify the setting's 'marriage' of sorts between science and the arcane arts. I think a virus with the domains of real-world sickness that affects by something that
isn't at all a real force (magic), helps in that way. It's also important to know (and this will be more fully explained in the future) that though it spreads by use of magic, it doesn't require its host to be able to wield magic to infect someone.
QuoteOne thing I'd like to see in the further development is a bit of thematic unity to each of the kingdoms. The whole nightmare thing is very atmospheric, but if I were to be running (or playing) a campaign set in one or another of your kingdoms, how would that atmosphere affect those campaigns?
The unity between the kingdoms is kind of like the unity between the two groups in the Robber's Cave experiment (two groups of people at a summer camp were split into different areas but worked together on tasks, then the psychologists conducting the experiments at the summer camp manipulated them to pit them against each other, and in the end they had to set aside grudges and differences to work against a common goal). That is, the nations may be for the most part individual and may have hostility between them, but in the face of grave danger most people will work together until safe. There are exceptions, but for the most part the terrors that they face temporarily eliminate conflict.
As for the nature of the world, and why it's called The Nightmare, is simply because people are afraid. In both editions of Vilydunn, it's as much a fear brought on by what
could be there or what
could be the truth as it is a fear of what
is. I hadn't noticed it for a long time (probably because I had never read it up until about two months ago), but there are some aspects of the Cthulhu mythos present in the horror of The Nightmare, but at the same time it may be more tangible. Despite all of their power, be it technological or magical, the people of Vilydunn fear the possibility that there might be more than what they can see, and what they know. The fear the fact that they are always vulnerable.
QuoteIs it an all-consuming concern for the rulers? That is, something that must be constantly defended against, walled out, beaten back, attacked, or exterminated.
Somewhat. A side effect of The Nightmare and its ways is that many people frequently go insane, and often strange and terrible things happen with absolutely no explanation (not to mention the fact that since a little before the return of the Ancients, the landscape warped and is now quite literally a nightmare dreamscape), so they can have a lot of work on their hands.
QuoteOr more of a pervasive background that provides a flavor and texture to what would otherwise be more conventional concerns? Like, politics, wars, colonial expansion, clannish or sectarian rivalries, etc.
It fits in there too.
QuoteIf I'm looking at this setting as a place to run my own campaign, these things will tell me what kinds of campaigns go best in which kingdoms and which areas of the world. If I'm looking at creating a character, this will help me come up with ideas and hooks, and see how my character relates to the background.
Aye. Much more is coming in time. Till then, I hope I've cleared up a little :)
A few changes:
-Moving of some posts in the initial order, to allow readers to get a better grip on the world before the actual peoples and places are discussed in great detail
-Addition of the Ghostwhisper Troll introduction to the Dreamers in the Nightmare post
-Added some information to The Warping of Reality (now higher in the post list), including three entries of the Hellfey
Note: All information on races and creatures right now is introductory. As soon as I've got the basis for everything down, I'll delve much more into the ways of each race and of course, stat blocks. :)
Added a "Mission Statement" to the first post of the setting thread. Now you can see some of what the Golden Age will feature. :)
New information to be found in the "Worship and Wizardry" post. I gave some basic information about the way religion works in Vilydunn, and presented two of the Seven Scholar Gods.
Questions, comments, concerns?
Updated the Scholar Gods to finish off Ithuel and include Hallic. Unsure of what will be posted next, but it will likely be either the other Scholar Gods and a few other faiths, a huge post for What Grows By Madness detailing the unique plant life and physical nature of The Nightmare, or detailed descriptions and stat blocks for the playable races. :)
The Seven Scholars are completed.
Updated to include the Weather Witches in the Worship and Wizardry section, and the Across the Ocean section now features a much larger map of The Nightmare, for those of you wondering just where and how big all of the other areas mentioned in that post are.
Added the Four Shadows to the Worship and Wizardry section. :)
Some of the Science and Success post has been done. There is more to come, however :)
The four shadows are awesome. Although, I think their respective sins are a bit extreme... I mean, you'd hink you'd notice a severed limb talking in your mind and telling you to dig up corpses...
Well, he's very cunning when it comes to that. When he "has the opportunity", it's when the person being tempted is on a battlefield, in a mortuary, at the scene of a murder, or some other place where a corpse or fragments can be found. He will sort of "possess" the body part and send mental messages to his victim, but the messages will more often than not seem like something that the person has thought up themselves. Only the most willful of people will notice his tempting for what it is, and may realize where Launx is by the compulsion to keep looking at the body part he's in.
It's a little confusing, but...
And now there is more information on Verantraum in the Warping of Reality post. Hope that it clears things up on just what kind of world it is :)
Added a little more here and there. The extended posts for the races may be up tonight (the Humans will probably just feature stat blocks and some class information, while the other races will be more extensive). :)
What are the Grugast up to in their little war?
What is the Fallen King in game terms? Or is it "better left unsaid"?
Is Evercall one of the Free Cities?
What are the Free Cities like?
Is the Dreamchange always "active" or does it subtly shift and twist.
These are just a few of the question that your marvelous setting has provided me with. I applaud your effort and prose.
Questions are good :)
1. Grugast is aiding a nonhuman race in a war against creatures from the sea... rumors place the Ghostwhisper Trolls as this race. :)
2. The Fallen King? It is quite hard to say. Some say he was both a mighty warrior and a spellcaster whose power was hard to match. My current decisions place him at about MaA 9/Wlck 17.
3. Yes, Evercall is one of the Free Cities. It is one of the ones allied to the Two Empires
4. The Free Cities are all different from each other in many ways. Lost Bayou is the most secretive and alien of all of them, as it's hidden deep in the Forbidden Swamps and is said to be based largely around the river that flows through its center. Most of the cities take advantage of the dream-like qualities of Vilydunn if they can (assuming their area is more dream-infused than normal). For example, one of the Free Cities in Umbendvawn (it's not shown on the original map) takes advantage of very light gravity in the area, building very high with much less support. The atmosphere in most Free Cities, even those allied to the Empires, is usually one of much freedom and opportunity; laws can be much more lax than in the borders of Ayrmaria and Verkem, and many bounty hunters and outlaws operate in these cities depending on what they've done.
5. Dreamchange shifts and twists, but in the opposite way you'd expect. "Extreme" shifts the most and can become completely "normal" for long times before reverting back, while "Low" hardly ever changes. "Medium" and "High" are in between.
Thanks for the reply. :)
I have an announcement to make. Due to upcoming exams, Vilydunn's going on a hiatus for an unknown period of time. Even assuming I didn't have exams to worry about, I'd still need time away from the setting.
I'll still be around the CBG from time to time, of course, but I won't be working on the setting.
Peace.