The Campaign Builder's Guild

QuoteThis is something I hadn't considered. I really like the idea of babbage-engine-brained machines... I might have to steal that idea!

Go for it!  Although you should definitely be aware that actual babbage-engines are nowhere near even remotely powerful enough to be even semi-intelligent - they would have to be staggeringly vast (if the estimation at Orion's Arm are to be believed, the brain could be made in a cube 50km a side and suspended in space).  So if you want intelligent steam-powered robots, cool, but you're throwing physics out the window pretty much completely.  That can be great though!  I do it in my settings all the time.

Ok, my thoughts:

I really like it.   My initial impression is that I would be lining up to play in a Pinnacle game (whatever system it uses).  Now, for more detail:

The City of Bray.  It sounds absolutely gorgeous, and surprisingly eco-friendly for an industrial capital (from my understanding, at least).  The fertile valley, and the cleft, and the "not wanting to scar" the landscape, combined with the massive towers, and understood "steampunk" of it all, make it feel like a utopic and evolved city, which is interesting to see.  A industrial city that manages to NOT despoil its surrounding environment, but instead builds up into the foothills, and straight up into the sky.    And the good thing is that with alchemical-criminals, and scissor-men, and hoppers, there is plenty of crime, sleaze, and darkness in the underbelly to belie the utopia, and keep it interesting and conflict-ridden.

The image I get when I think of the Piston Fists, is maybe not exactly a piston per se, but a spring-loaded contraption which, when you impact it, releases a catch that shoots a fist-extension or hammer head forward, dealing huge amounts of damage.  In this case it need not be a super-long arm extension, and could be more badass than over-the-top silly.  

The Killimsa I am not as sure about.  If you want "lightingpunk" and/or electrical stuff, Tesla and his coils are a big thing in Steampunk culture, but the Killimsa almost feel more like our modern society, when they talk of "metal birds" full of people (obviously passenger airplanes) and bottled lightning (ordinary light-bulbs), they sound like they are just our modern culture, with, perhaps some pretensions at playing gods and/or aliens.  I mean, this can be interesting, but for me personally, it feels more "silly" than cool.  

This appears to have a bit more biopunk than a lot of steampunk settings, which is cool.  I'm not used to seeing that, so it interests me.  It's true that with the essences you might have to be careful to avoid going x-men on the setting, but they provide a lot of fun possibilities too.  Street-gangs who inject themselves with essence of wolf, or a daredevil climber who gives himself essence of (well, something really good at climbing.  I was going to say spider, but then I remembered that they don't have essence, apparently).  I also see this leading to potential Jekyll & Hyde scenarios, and Island of Dr. Moreau stuff (especially combined with the Scissor-men, as Steerpike points out)

Can you combine essences?  Can I inject Monkey and Snake to become a really flexible climber?

Do you get any drawbacks from the injection?  If I dope with snake, will I become (for example) very flexible and rather sluggish?

M.

Quote from: Seraphine_Harmonium
Ok, my thoughts:

I really like it.   My initial impression is that I would be lining up to play in a Pinnacle game (whatever system it uses).  Now, for more detail:

The City of Bray.  It sounds absolutely gorgeous, and surprisingly eco-friendly for an industrial capital (from my understanding, at least).  The fertile valley, and the cleft, and the "not wanting to scar" the landscape, combined with the massive towers, and understood "steampunk" of it all, make it feel like a utopic and evolved city, which is interesting to see.  A industrial city that manages to NOT despoil its surrounding environment, but instead builds up into the foothills, and straight up into the sky.    And the good thing is that with alchemical-criminals, and scissor-men, and hoppers, there is plenty of crime, sleaze, and darkness in the underbelly to belie the utopia, and keep it interesting and conflict-ridden.

Thanks! I wanted to get away from the dim and dour cities that are often placed in steampunk settings. Though I imagine parts of Bray to be fairly dark and dreary, I wanted the city come across as a little more life-like and vibrant yet with the underpinnings of some conflict.

Quote
The image I get when I think of the Piston Fists, is maybe not exactly a piston per se, but a spring-loaded contraption which, when you impact it, releases a catch that shoots a fist-extension or hammer head forward, dealing huge amounts of damage.  In this case it need not be a super-long arm extension, and could be more badass than over-the-top silly.

The Killimsa I am not as sure about.  If you want "lightingpunk" and/or electrical stuff, Tesla and his coils are a big thing in Steampunk culture, but the Killimsa almost feel more like our modern society, when they talk of "metal birds" full of people (obviously passenger airplanes) and bottled lightning (ordinary light-bulbs), they sound like they are just our modern culture, with, perhaps some pretensions at playing gods and/or aliens.  I mean, this can be interesting, but for me personally, it feels more "silly" than cool.[/quote]

The Killimsa I'll in all likelihood remove - I can more readily see how they seem odd silly, and they're feel a bit too shoehorned for me. I can color a setting in other ways.

I'm still up in the air over piston fists. I can see them being comical yet at times fun and badass. I should draw a picture to show people how I see them.

Quote
This appears to have a bit more biopunk than a lot of steampunk settings, which is cool.  I'm not used to seeing that, so it interests me.  It's true that with the essences you might have to be careful to avoid going x-men on the setting, but they provide a lot of fun possibilities too.  Street-gangs who inject themselves with essence of wolf, or a daredevil climber who gives himself essence of (well, something really good at climbing.  I was going to say spider, but then I remembered that they don't have essence, apparently).  I also see this leading to potential Jekyll & Hyde scenarios, and Island of Dr. Moreau stuff (especially combined with the Scissor-men, as Steerpike points out)

I've been wanting to combine bio and steampunk for a while now, so I'm glad you like what I've done. Essences are a pretty pivotal feature of the setting, so I'll need to hammer out the details on them. Right now, they're pretty vague. Also, given that insects and other invertebrates tend to have some of the coolest and/or bizarre evolutions, I'd love to find a way to include them. I was enamored with the idea of essence coming from the spine, but I could just be drawn from somewhere else, or left intentionally vague. That being said...

Quote from: Chaomesh
Can you combine essences?  Can I inject Monkey and Snake to become a really flexible climber?

Do you get any drawbacks from the injection?  If I dope with snake, will I become (for example) very flexible and rather sluggish?

M.

You can combine essences, or at least that's how I see it. I think safer injections would come from combining the essences beforehand and then injecting the mixed mutagen, but it would dilute the combined effects to some degree. Making multiple injections would provide the full power of both, but also be very dangerous to the health and mental integrity of the person... hmm, perhaps injecting too much essence changes the very essence of being human? Maybe they adopt a feral and/or alien persona/desires (bestial urges, territorial, agressive, etc.).

To inject some of that "antiquation" Ghostman mentioned, I think it'll be the case that mental disorders will be chalked up to the person's essence having been contaminated by more animalistic ones (their essence was not fully filtered of its impurities at birth). Thus, hysteria, seizures, and other psychoses would not warrant a mental examination so much as an examination of their bodily essence.

I also think you bring up a good point about drawbacks with using essence. I think if someone had a sloth's essence it would be considered a drawback to be so slow and sleepy, but it could also be used as a sedative or a calming reagent. I think the drawback would be that, if you doped on pure snake (hehe) you would have all the drawbacks and advantages that you mentioned (flexible but sluggish). Alchemists would likely work feverishly to wring out those "defects" to try and provide a more focused version of the essence that would embody only the desired functions, such as the snake's flexibility without the sluggishness.

Thanks for the questions, on both your parts. Stuff like that really helps the juices flow.

Natural vs Refined Essence; could be a point for a side (or main) adventure if the players are the Alchemists in question.

M.

EDIT:  Man, you sold me some BAD gecko last time!  I couldn't stop trying to lick my eyeballs for anything.

I decided to work on fleshing out Eadgard's religion before really delving further into the society and what surrounds it. Given that religion is so engrained in our everyday life, I found it necessary to create one that I found interesting for Eadgard. When I get to detailing the many other cultures in the explored regions of Terrel, they will have their own, different religions as well, though probably not quite as detailed.

[ic=Religion in Eadgard]Though many religions drift across the valleys and between the peaks of Terrel*, Eadgard's Galtic faith covers most of the colonized world.

Early history brought with ancient Bray the Lucan faith – the belief in the power of the mountains themselves and the godly spirits that perched atop them. Mount Luca, for which the faith is named, was the prized protector and provider of ancient Eadgard, who chose the form of a valiant white ram and brought his life-giving waters down to the people of the Cradle**. Eight other peaks (all in all making the Nine Pillars of Creation that held up the sky) reigned as sister or brother gods to Luca, though countless were the minor gods of smaller mountains. The Lucan faith remained dominant for many centuries.

[spoiler=Details on the Lucan Pantheon]
[ooc]This is by no means complete, but I wanted to provide some degree of information regarding the old faith. Right now, I only have these two primary mountain gods detailed, with faint ideas for the others.[/ooc]
Luca is the First of the Nine Pillars, upon each of which rests the mantle of the sky. The tallest and largest mountain of the Cradle (the valley within which all of Eadgard is situated), Luca's peak stretches into a long and thin precipice of ice and snow, often imagined to be a white knife thrusting up to pierce the firmament (this is the very action that priests perform before plunging their ivory knives into their sacrificial offering).

Luca is the god of all others, the creator of all Terrel and the protector of Eadgard. Depicted as a massive white ram whose every breath brings icy wind and snow, Luca manifests either in his animal form, a tall, white-haired man, or a hybrid of the two. Tales of his majesty abound in religious scriptures.

Yrre is the most distant of the nine peaks, a dormant volcano that has long since blown its own towering peak in its eruption eons ago. Yrre is the god of fire and destruction, of bottled wrath and explosive vengeance whom is said to manifest himself as a great red snake composed of molten rock that slithers down the erupting mountain to slake its rage on those unfortunate enough to be caught in his path. Yrre is appeased through sacrifice, and in ancient times lengthy pilgrimages would be made to his volcanic peak to toss in criminals and thieves as an offering to spare the more righteous souls.

Yrre erupted long ago during a violent quake, blasting off its top and cloaking the sky in fire and ash for days on end. Were it not for Luca, who used his roots to tear open a fault before Yrre, the farmlands below would've been completely destroyed. Luca took on the disguise of a human who was picking berries by the edge of the cleft to tempt Yrre into consuming him. When Yrre got close enough, Luca revealed his form and cast Yrre into ever-deep fault, where he remains to this day. Some claim Yrre will return and is crawling his way back to the surface slowly, waiting for the day he can take vengeance upon Luca and all those who worship him in the valley.

Though Yrre is considered by many to be long gone, the threat of his presence and the horror of his wrath still draws fevered  prayer and ritualistic sacrifice (of animals, typically), and many continue to believe he is not dead (evidenced by quakes in the earth and the tales of distant, weaker eruptions) even as the Galtic faith perseveres. Yrre has no mountain temples, though the cleft through which he fell is often visited to cast sacred stones (to slow his ascension back to the surface) or animals (to force him to stop and consume the offering).
[/spoiler]
It was not until Leopold Galt, prized savant*** responsible for the discovery of col and the harnessing of its power, brought new magic into the world that the Lucan faith could not match. With the early, almost divine advent of flying machines and steam power, Galt shaped the core of the Lucan faith with each marvel he unveiled. As a stranger to such renown, Galt shied away from the public eye but became as much a miracle maker as blasphemer for harnessing the power of the sacred mountains, though faith inevitably shifted to view the Lucan mountain gods less as powerful defenders and warriors and more as providers and troves of power waiting to be tapped by human hands. The beautiful gemstones, powerful col, and precious metals all took on a sacrosanct appeal as mines erupted in once sacred sights, and as the Lucan faith struggled to find coherency in its old teachings its worshippers thinned. Fara Edius Macaroy, leader of the Lucan church, saw the beginnings of the fall of the Lucan faith and feverishly sought to revive it. Galt, shortly after his death, was proclaimed a prophet of the Lucan, no – Galtan faith, who had shown Eadgard the errors of the church. Newfound Galtans flocked to worship the late Leopold Galt and honor his teachings, and his worn blueprints and designs for his creations remain biblically protected and recognized.[/ic]

[ooc=Notes] *Terrel -- the name of the world in which Pinnacle takes place.
**Cradle -- the name of the valley that Eadgard is in.
***Savant -- a term for a very smart, gifted person in Eadgard.[/ooc]

[ic=The Galt Religion]
Galtans believe in the Father Leopold Galt, the prophet of the mountain, who created the union between Luca and man by providing the sacred gemstones, metals, and col necessary for creation. Galtans adhere to the idea that humanity is the master of its own world, and that other things (such as animals and plants) are there to better them or further their progress. Those who are dominated by the spirit of Yrre, the destroyer of man, seek only to inhibit and tempt mankind with destruction (dangerous flora and fauna, jagged mountain peaks without abundant snow to provide water or lacking in col, etc.).

Essences are considered a tool meant for mankind that has been corrupted by Yrre's malevolent hands. He has tempted man by giving them great power through essences in the hopes that man consumes so much as to destroy his own humanity and revert to an animalean form. Sacred chymists therefore work to purify the contaminated essences to provide only the purest and most powerful droughts, condemning those who inject "raw essences" as tempters of Yrre and deviants of the faith.[/ic]

[ic="Stolen Sky" by *voitv on Deviantart]
[/ic]

Warks

The advent of the flying machine, the early balloons and dirigibles that now mark the metal, corpulent monstrosities that drift across the modern skies, had literally opened humanity to the sheer vastness of the world around them and simultaneously invalidated a thousandfold philosophies of a world that "stopped beyond the mountains." Warks, as they would come to be called, dominate the skies over Eadgard and spread across them like a great spider, weaving an invisible web of conquest into once untouched lands.

Warks are large, bulbous dirigibles filled with helius and powered by col. Across their rounded, ovular frames are the barnacled foundations of passenger cabins, defensible turrets, propellors, aerial fins, and other automata to aid its voyage and/or provide more cargo space.

Given the mountainous terrain, the overall shortage of flat land, and the lack of aerial docks outside of Eadgard, warks deploy men fitted with clockwork suits to glide down to the ground, connected by long cords of woven steel to reel them back in when necessary. While on the ground, the soldiers and diplomats will conduct what business they may in the foreign land and then be safely towed back to the wark when needed. In more extreme cases (most often when and if conflict erupts on the ground), larger warks will deploy lesser clipper vessels holding small fronts of soliders with clockwork suits to maximize the area over which troops can navigate while remaining connected to the safety of the aerial ships.

Corsairs, Pirates, & Vultures

As the world opened up to the skies, so too did the possibilities. A kindled sense of exploration erupted in Eadgard, and a fervent pride swelled over the country as foreign lands came under their utopian dominion. But not all folk had known the kindness of the crown nor the pride of their country - those defiant to the royal crown of Eadgard, the downtrodden, poor, criminal, opportunistic, or dastardly souls, could now escape the prison of the empire via the skies if they knew the right people and had the right connections. While some were content with fleeing the growing empire or smuggling under the guise of different marks, many sought to take back as the opportunity presented itself. Sky pirates, colloquially known as vultures, came about in force. Most were dispatched not only by the superior, combative warks, but predominantly by their own ineptitude at piloting their floundering, scrapmetal excuses for a ship. Some, though few they were, persevered and secured their infamy in the ranks of exiles and criminals of Eadgard. Corsairs, pirates, vultures; they are all many terms for the same criminal enterprise.

The "Galt Religion" makes me immediately think of John Galt, and there are certain vague similarities philosophically as well, with the whole "man is the master of his own world" mentality. With Bioshock being among the inspirations for this setting, I can't help but imagine the parallels are not completely unintentional. Since you've got clear parallels to steampunk and to Victorian society, too, I would think that the "Robber Baron" archetype would connect with certain other Ayn-Rand-inspired imagery, as well.

I think the name "Wark" is kind of silly, and, in all honesty, I'm not particularly a fan of it, but I like the concept. Airships always add to the "cool factor" of a setting, to me, and there are so many places they just fit right in. The image is very evocative. As I read and try to envision this, I see a lot of similar imagery to Opus creeping in too (That's not necessarily a bad thing! It's just stuff you like) and, in some ways, this seems like it's a darker version of Opus. Of course, there are massive differences as well and that analysis is probably terribly simplistic.

I would certainly enjoy playing in this setting, if I haven't said so already. :D

Quote from: sparkletwist
The "Galt Religion" makes me immediately think of John Galt, and there are certain vague similarities philosophically as well, with the whole "man is the master of his own world" mentality. With Bioshock being among the inspirations for this setting, I can't help but imagine the parallels are not completely unintentional. Since you've got clear parallels to steampunk and to Victorian society, too, I would think that the "Robber Baron" archetype would connect with certain other Ayn-Rand-inspired imagery, as well.

Would you believe that the comparison between the religion and John Galt were entirely unintentional (but really cool)?

QuoteI think the name "Wark" is kind of silly, and, in all honesty, I'm not particularly a fan of it, but I like the concept. Airships always add to the "cool factor" of a setting, to me, and there are so many places they just fit right in. The image is very evocative. As I read and try to envision this, I see a lot of similar imagery to Opus creeping in too (That's not necessarily a bad thing! It's just stuff you like) and, in some ways, this seems like it's a darker version of Opus. Of course, there are massive differences as well and that analysis is probably terribly simplistic.

I would certainly enjoy playing in this setting, if I haven't said so already. :D

Wark is a silly name, but I kind of like it. It could very well change, but all in all I wanted to avoid referring to them as airships or blimps (I think wark is at least better than blimp), mostly because I want to distinguish them from the masses of other ubiquitous "airships" in other settings. Zeppelins are cool, as are dirigibles, but the former doesn't stick out to me quite as much and the latter is just hard to say over and over again. Maybe I'll drop the 'W' and call them Arks...

I'm not surprised you see Opus sneaking in here and there! I don't even notice it until you point it out :P, but as you say, it is just stuff I like. I'm trying to keep the two relatively separate so as not to tread too much on the other. The "layout" of Opus (colonized, familiar center surrounded by a wild, open, and mysterious land) definitely shows up in Pinnacle, and I think Pinnacle is a bit darker, but not so much as to be oppressive in that regard.

And thanks! I'm glad Pinnacle has, so far, passed the sparkletwist test of playability. :)

I'm going to start writing about the various new cultures of the world in a journal style entry from an unnamed scientist aboard a likewise unnamed airship. For now, you'll have to settle with my stream-of-consciousness scrawls. Enjoy!

[ic=The Yoi]
Nothing so far discovered has proven truly alien or to stray that far from the human physique - some are shorter, some taller, some darker, some lighter, and so on; I'm rather underwhelmed that we have not found any evidence so far for the fabled "winged men" that have others spoke of. Nevertheless, the trip has been fruitful; just yesterday we passed over the a fantastic trio of volcanos, their molten basins at their peaks still bubbling and smoldering - It gave me quite a shudder to think of the hellish depths of the great Destroyer and I slept ill that night. The captain refuses to let me smoke anywhere but the upper deck (it seems to strike him with fits of coughing), though I've tried repeatedly to educate him on the respiratorial benefits of strengthening the lungs in such an efficient and pleasant manner - alas, evolution does not favor everyone.

Last week we found several peaks we could not ascend in our vessel despite our ~1,250 fathom advantage off of flat level. By Galt Himself, the majesty of this world is astounding. I can't help but wonder that were the Prophet here to see the things as I do now, would his creations have differed at all? Would his theories have changed? I suppose it is hubristic to ask; to imply error in His own design is to imply error in all creation. Whatever the case may have been, never had my foundations been so shaken when I first laid eyes upon the glowing, fungoid depths of the cleft. What would the Prophet say of this? Of the mayhem we would cause?

A telescopic lens spotted several creatures moving around the monstrously large phosphorescent crag beneath us, and I was asked to identify if they seemed to be human methods of locomotion, though they used decidedly more crass language. They were much to far to make out any overt details regarding their exact species, though I believed they seemed bipedal and, from what I could gather, human. The captain barked his profane orders to the crew, and without hesitation a small force of eight men encased themselves in suits of metal and leather attached by heavy chains. I would've been happy to watch them from the safety of the telescopic lens, but the captain ordered myself along as well.

We descended by means of aerosuit (metal deathtraps) and kept our winch-levers ready to reel us back in the moment we encountered any danger (we had heavy carbines with us, but orders from the King prevented us from resorting to violent behavior except in our defense). We had first contact within seconds: a man, perhaps a warrior of his tribe, with fragments of leather and iron strapped to himself in a shameful excuse for armor, with a face coated in phosphorous green and yellow smears. He had some type of spear in his hand, though he looked more afraid than anything and did not attack. Our leader opened his speaking grate and introduced ourselves to the fearful man in a language he was clearly unversed in. After several minutes of charades and drawings in the dirt (I was not sure the man knew of any language at all, for he did not speak during this interaction), the rest of his warparty emerged from the surrounding fungoid crags - two dozen, by my count - in hiding and dressed similarly to their frontman. We were led to the edge of the monstrous rift but could not descend without disconnecting out means back to the ship. Instead, we peered down into the vibrant depths. I was stunned.

Stretching on and on to a river of molten lava were narrow (in the cosmic sense; it was possibly half a mile across!), raw walls riddled with glowing fungi encrusted with shambling planks of wood and stone. Hundreds, no, thousands of people poked their heads out and reared them to our skyward position, from between mushrooms the size of boats, beneath vast overhangs of spotted and luminous shelves, from hanging vines and glowing moss draped across the rift. The man took his "spear" and fired it at the opposing wall of the cleft, where the tip (connect by some sort of woven vines) seemed less to stick in by pure force than by some sticky residue, and connected the other end to where he was standing by similar means. He slid down and landed on a shelf-like mushroom and addressed in a strange, vowel-y voice. Music quickly swelled up towards us as people danced from their homes and across the rickety bridges of moss and wood and glowing things; women and men came up to paint our aerosuits with phosphorescent mush and, in increasing fervor, tried to hastily climb up our chain links to the wark. I tried to persuade them with what means I could to get them down, but they began ignoring us entirely to reach the ship in some sort of fanatical fervor. I looked to my comrades for aid. Some were wrestled down, but others persisted; several climbers were far out of our reach by the time we could properly react to the situation. I recall one man crying for help as he was barraged by a crowd of people and fell onto his back. A hand grabbed and covered the glass window of my suit and I felt my body being turned about wildly. Then, the cacophonous ring of a gunshot, a scream, and then several more shots. I felt a weight lift from my suit, and the hand limply slid off my window. I pulled the winch before I could fully understand what happened.

We maintained an aerial anchor over the cleft for the next 24 hours. It increased in luminosity as time passed. There was no more dancing, no more movement at all from what the vision the lens provided to me. The red-stained bodies of 12 people lay untouched far below us - we did not try another contact. I do not know what had become of such strange glow-people, and though I fear another visit will end even worse, I must unravel their secrets. [/ic]

Animalia

Animals in Eadgard, and pinnacle, for that matter, vary from the familiar (snakes, birds, fish, etc) to the bizarre (canopy crawlers, skywhelks, squibbles, etc.). Most things we know of on Earth, like horses or cows, are either very uncommon or unheard of on Pinnacle, where environmental factors altered their evolution. Instead of such creatures, more surefooted goat-like beasts evolved to traverse the vast peaks and reach the thin patches of lichen, and the small areas of lowlands and fertile plains have led to extreme competition between species to become very hardy and minimize the amount of nourishment they require to render the land infertile. In pockets of more verdant growth and alpine forests, countless species thrive and coexist in a complex ecosystem polished to delicate balance over hundreds of thousands of years. Even in the air-thinned, windswept peaks of the immeasurably tall mountaintops stranger creatures exist - odd, alien beasts of bizarre and uncertain origin, requiring little oxygen and thriving off of the strange, bulbous trees and other eerie vegetation.

Back to the Cradle, Eadgard boasts of several beasts burdened with day-to-day tasks such as message delivery, transportation, wool, and food. The following will detail some of the more prominent animals and the tasks they serve, as well as a few organizations surrounding them and their usage.

The Circus
The opening of Eadgard to the rest of the world and its multifarious cultures, animals, and people has given life to an entertainment industry that thrives on the foreign, the mystical, and the bizarre - the circus. Elaborate tents pitched from high beams and held aloft by balloons provides a certain grandiosity and allows audiences to be temporarily captured in a world apart from theirs. The acrobatic Yoi walk along tightropes and jump through hoops all the while glowing in phosphorescent neon body paint as essence-augmented Uthlathegn men routinely catch the wonder and awe of audiences as they perform great feats of strength and endurance. Zukuri metals and magnets levitate and fly as if held by an invisible hand as Idleopec women dance wild dances atop hot coals and beds of knives.

Wonders of technology, biomancy and magic come together underneath the variegated folds of the cavernous tents - freak shows of grafted animals and humans and half-men machines mark the more startling displays while acts of hypnotism and stage magic draw a more regular crowd. Most popular of all perhaps are the alien, unfamiliar creatures of the circus: the vast array of fauna (and flora) that are brought back to Bray routinely awe the audiences with their strange colors, behavior, and tricks. Fire-spitting beetles, floating gas bags trailing a thousand tentacles, eyeless predators of the lightless depths, sabertoothed rainbow lizards, lantern cats, ghast wolves, giant canopy crawlers that feed on entire groves, corrosive cave slimes, thousand-legged pincer snakes, cyclopean cave spiders, towering mountain striders, echo birds, one-legged leapers, faeries, flickermoths, and many more all make up the strange menagerie of creatures that inhabit the circus.

Cliffrunners and Brull
Also known as the "Surefoots," "Mountain Riders," and "Cliffies," Cliffrunners are an ancient mounted order dedicated to the protection of Eadgard and the Cradle, equipped with a long, multipurpose spear, light leather armor, a specialized, pivotable saddle, and their signature golden caps. Cliffrunners ride atop the mighty brull, a large, goat-like, woolen beast equipped with cloven hooves that nestle themselves into mountain faces to scale seemingly vertical heights. Their long heads are adorned with two large horns (which are trimmed during training by Cliffrunners) to imply dominance and also clash with rival brull, females having smaller, subtler horns and brulling lacking them entirely at birth.

Brulls are extensively trained to deal with the additional weight of a rider (riders must be lithe and strong, and maintain a strict diet relative to the needs of their brull) as well as the pivoting of their weight as they climb. When a brull scales a rockface, the riders pivot their specially designed saddles to sling themselves to the opposite side of the face. When additional assistance is required, the cliffrunner will utilize her spearhead by nestling into the rocks below or using the small hook to hang from overhangs above to provide more support. Brulls are intended to move quickly across locations where normal humans couldn't and engage enemies with the added reach of their spears. Today, cliffies provide a mobile defensive force for Eadgard and are predominantly viewed as icons and guardians.

The sheer age of the cliffrunner order is laden with antiquities and old, sacred rituals and rites of passages that have stood the test of time. New entries are required to journey to the top of a hidden peak wearing stone boots and heavy clothing, carrying with them a rose flower. When the flower is delivered safely and within the timeframe of the journey, they are then admitted to training.

Llums
The Llum is a large, bovine creature with a high arched shell and low, wide head. The llum is the size of a carriage, with a large, domed shell along its back to store fat and tufts of wooly fur blanketing its legs and head. When panicked, a llum will retract its wide head into its shell and sink to the ground. Due to their fat stores, they can remain like this for days on end, and often do so when they falsely suspect a predator is around. Old folktales speak of great mounds of grass and dirt that lift up and shift about; old llums awakening from year-long slumbers. The eyes on their head are spaced widely to be able to view their lowland canyons from end to end but give them a blind spot at their center, where a powerful shell-like bone protects their head from frontal assault. As such, llums periodically strive to position themselves where the valley floor is to their flanks and the incline is to their protected front and back.

The llum serves as a source of meat, wool, and, in the past, armor. Llum shells, much too big for individual use, were broken apart and resealed with birch-bark tar to create shields and armor for hunters and warriors. Their thick, wiry wool is used nowadays less for clothing and more for rugs, carpeting, and insulation. In addition to food, armor, and wool, llums continue to serve as beasts of burden in farmlands and are extremely efficient (if a bit deliberate and quite slow) creatures that can lift and pull incredible burdens; some folk even took to riding them, placing saddles high atop their domed shells to roam slowly about the valley. In the modern era, llum-rides are considered a practice of romance - laden with a howdah, a guide steers the couple about the twilit hillsides of the Cradle.

Scamps
Scamps are a species of rodent with long bodies, beady eyes, and small, sharp, and durable teeth to cut the precious roots and tubers they feed on. They live in vast underground tunnel systems to hide from their main avian predators, occasionally catching rides along the wooly underside leisurely llums that stride overhead. Scamps are considered the pest of all pests in Eadgard, and they have a notorious habit of mistaking wires and pipes for the prized tubers and roots; a scamp infestation is something greatly feared by tinkers, exacerbated by the fact that scamps are thin enough to slip through surprisingly small gaps and along pipes. "Scamp" is a common term for mischievous children or troublemakers.

Rhuk
Though the telegraph is alive and well in the modern era, the mountainous terrain of Terrel prevents its widespread use outside of Bray and nearby outposts. Instead, messages are popularly transmitted via messenger birds known as rhuks. There are many species of rhuks, varying in size from as small as a human fist to that of a small dog, and their coloration can vary immensely. Whatever the case, rhuks are unified by their beak shape: a long, thin beak with a sizable throat pouch to catch and carry rodents such as scamps. Rhuks will oftentimes sit in the valley lowlands near scamp clusters and leave their mouths agape, secreting a scent that mimics the tubors and roots they feed on. When a foolish scamp gets too close, they'll be gulped up and swallowed.

Despite their habits of devouring anything caught in their gular pouches, rhuks can be trained to carry fairly large items. In the past, less humane methods for rhuk delivery included coating the item in a horrid gel and taping the beak shut for only the recipient to undue, but such has since been abolished. Now, rhuk training goes so far as to prevent them from swallowing the item and opening their bill on command in exchange for a few bits of food. Likewise, rhuks can carry small items on their backs or in their legs, though the most comfortable method is via the pouch.

Skavers
Perhaps the most feared raptors of the sky, skavers are immense birds of prey so large in size that they can only fly short distances. Instead, they rely on their massive wingspan and aerodynamic form to glide from high peaks to reach places and skydive prey. A skaver is about twice as tall as a human adult, with a wingspan that more than triples that length. They have large, thick beaks with a spearlike hook at the tip to slice and mar their prey, and their large, circular and pupilless eyes seem to stare every which way at once. Skavers primarily prey on brulls, but rarely use the aforementioned methods of attack; instead, they conserve their energy by flying up beside them and using their talons and wings to push them off balance and to their deaths, where the skaver can then land and feast. If driven by extreme hunger, they have been known to attack and successfully kill llums by piercing their hard shells with their beaks, though such attacks are risky and can just as often fail or result in the skaver being trampled to death. Skavers will also hunt other birds, especially when trying to provide extra food for their young.

Though skavers do not go out of their way to attack humans, Cliffrunners become the unfortunate victims in skaver attacks on brulls as a hungry skaver will not take the time to distinguish the rider for the brull. As such, skavers are hunted by Cliffrunners and seen as a threat to their order. Skaver eggs, on the other hand, are considered a rare delicacy for Eadgardians.

I like these animals! It seems like it isn't really a fantasy setting without a bestiary of strange and interesting animals, and you haven't failed to deliver. Especially given the idea of "essences," it seems like the kinds of creatures that would show up would be quite varied and odd. I liked how "The Circus" gave a snapshot of the kinds of things that might show up, yet, was not hugely detailed, so it left things kind of a blur, like the blur of different scattered imagery you might get going to the actual circus and catching glimpses of all of these creatures.

I guess it wouldn't really be a Weave setting without llums. (Poor Llum...) I like this take on them. Did the Opus versions have shells, too, or is that a new addition? I don't remember that from before, but, then again, I was never really sure how they looked.

Are scamps cute or repulsive? I could see them either way. (Or maybe, like rodents, it depends on how mangy and scraggly they are...)

Quote from: sparkletwist
I like these animals! It seems like it isn't really a fantasy setting without a bestiary of strange and interesting animals, and you haven't failed to deliver. Especially given the idea of "essences," it seems like the kinds of creatures that would show up would be quite varied and odd. I liked how "The Circus" gave a snapshot of the kinds of things that might show up, yet, was not hugely detailed, so it left things kind of a blur, like the blur of different scattered imagery you might get going to the actual circus and catching glimpses of all of these creatures.

I guess it wouldn't really be a Weave setting without llums. (Poor Llum...) I like this take on them. Did the Opus versions have shells, too, or is that a new addition? I don't remember that from before, but, then again, I was never really sure how they looked.

Are scamps cute or repulsive? I could see them either way. (Or maybe, like rodents, it depends on how mangy and scraggly they are...)

Thanks for the kind words!

Pinnacle definitely needs a fantastic menagerie to play with, so there will be many more to come. I've been trying to work on sketching out a few of them and labeling their various parts and cross sections in a mock-Darwinian sort of manner, but I don't really have anything to show of that just yet; I've decided to make a map of the currently explored world first.

Llums are, of course, a necessity in any setting and a hallmark of excellence, so Pinnacle must have them. In Opus, they did not have shells - they were just big, shaggy bovine things with some stunted horns and a big, hunched back. The shells are a new addition... perhaps they are some offshoot species from the distant plane of Opus (just because no one has ever seen a llum traverse the planes doesn't mean they can't!). "Planar grazers" also sounds pretty sweet.

I generally picture scamps as fairly cute, almost ferret-ish, but hated for their destructive innocence. They can get pretty ragged looking and a probably come off as repulsive after wading through a bunch of machinery. I imagine many tinkers have some "legendary tales" along the vein Moby Dick of the single scamp, battle scarred and bedraggled, tearing through their hard wrought creations overnight and their epic chases throughout the workshop.

If you've ever spent too much time around ferrets, you know exactly how ugly those adorable things can get if left to their own devises. :P

I really like the Skavers, especially the description of the predation habits, felt very realistic. However, right now what I'm basically picturing is a large golden-eagle - anything else set them apart from the "bird of prey" norm? Also, I keep picturing a breed of Skaver's with particularly long legs a-la the secretary bird - is that a thing? Also, are Skavers ever a problem for airships in any way?

I love this; keep it coming!

The REAL Introduction to the Yoi

[ooc]I wrote the aforementioned post about the Yoi more in an act of creative exploration than that of actual documentation for the setting, and wanted to really flesh them out - some of the things presented here may clash with those presented there, but I wouldn't worry about that too much (and you shouldn't either).

Some notes on the Yoi - I wanted to explore something that was a tad more oriental in tone than before, and this is what I've come up with (I swear it's not just the names). They *are* in fact human, though I saw no reason to explicitly say they are when Eadgardians have no reason to assume everyone else is of their ilk; they're probably a bit too arrogant to grant them the lofty title of "human," but I'm sure some do. I wanted to make them distinctly different in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, such as their cattish eyes and incredibly white skin, respectively, to make them more than just foreigners and provide them with a touch of fantasy. They've just evolved differently, but not so much as to be totally alien and weird.

I've been doing some meager research on fungi and naturally formed ravines (not at the same time) and wanted to incorporate that in some way as well, so the Yoi were born as mushroom eating asians who live in big ravines. I also wanted to give them a sort of "neon light district" feel ala Tokyo, so the mushrooms glow. Now that I've let you taste the truly byzantine complexities that have gone into this thought process, read on!
[/ooc]

[ic=Yoi]Beyond the snarled peaks of the east lies a range of volcanic mountains that seethe billowing clouds of ash and smoke, as if the mountains themselves were breathing to the beat of an earthen thrum. Descending the molten rivers of these smoldering titans leads to a solid tangle of vines and leaves so thick that one might mistake the jungle canopy for the ground. Navigating this impossibly dense crown of vegetation is foolish; those wishing to descend must do so by the jagged foothills of the mountains or blast their way to the floor with powerful explosives. Just beneath the labyrinthine canopy lies the surprisingly deep floor of the forest, where rudimentary forces of light are unheard of. Wading through the bizarre, bioluminescent vegetation finally reveals the home of the Yoi; great clefts of riven earth, aglow with moss and fungi that drop even deeper into the world.

   The chasms of the Yoi, known as the Yoi-Hye, range in depth from a stones throw to incalculable drops into blackness, beyond the carpet of their precious, phosphorous mycelium and inhabited only by the darkest dreams and nightmares of the ivory-skinned people. Petrified rivers of hardened obsidian lie frozen at the base of some while others are laced with small, crystal clear rivulets of purified water leading into massive bowls for the cliff side communities' consumption. Though the clefts of the jungle floor are small and narrow in parts, the bases of these mazelike crags are spacious and surprisingly verdant with large, overgrown fungi that give light to the caverns and the Yoi, providing food and shelter for the industrious folk.

   The Yoi themselves are quite similar to Eadgardian humans, albeit cursed with pure white, fragile skin that blisters and burns in the sunlight. Their eyes are large and reflect light when shined upon them, allowing them to see clearly in considerably less light than an Eadgardian. Their hair tends to be lighter-colored (sometimes even pure white), long, and silky, and they stand a bit shorter than the average human. Their garments are typically long and flowing, giving them an ethereal sort of quality when they move about in the dim light of their homes – explorers who have stumbled across their homes have been quoted as having seen the ancestral spirits of a long dead people.

   Yoi society hunts by utilizing the deceptive nature of the shifted forest floor to disguise and obscures certain areas of the cleft (left intentionally dark and stripped of luminous fungi) to make otherwise safe areas suddenly drop off into sheer, deadly cliffs. Hunters will scout out along the dark forest for prey, scare them into fleeing in the direction of a cleft, and let their own fear send them tumbling down to their death or into carefully laid nets of vines and rope. The cultivation of mushrooms and other edible fungi has led to the creation of vast expanses of underground gardens as well, and carefully grown mycelium allows the filtration of water into a more purified form.

   Perhaps most unusual is the Yoi religion, which dominates and dictates their everyday lives. They believe that the vast carpets of glowing mycelium that cover the majority of their cavern floors is actually the fabric of a divine being that presides over life and death, and the fungi that grow from it are the individual godlings it creates. Even stranger are their practices of worshiping this "god-fabric": each day, the devout will ritualistically pluck one of the large, godly mushrooms and consume it to gain the golding's divinity and power. What power comes from this ritual (if any) has yet to be observed, though rumors abound of legendary gifts given to the consumer. The mycelium is also used as a filter for their drinking water, a resting bed for their deceased, and even the cloth of the most zealous followers.

Yoi in Modern Eadgard

   Those of the Yoi who make the dangerous flight to distant Eadgard must take precautions to protect their delicate skin; aside from copious amounts of clothing (long sleeves, gloves, even face masks in some cases), umbrellas are the most common and "acceptable" method of covering the skin, though some pay homage to their warriors and don the phosphorous paint of the crushed flora to protect them. "Modernized" Yoi wear dark colors to contrast their pale skin and wear their hair bound in elaborate pins to emulate the common style. Borrowing from the Zukuri dyes, they take to further accentuating their slightly larger eyes by dabbing them in dark shades (males as well as females practice this).

   In Bray, the Yoi flock to living in areas where towers are nestled close to one another and relish in the maddening layout of the city. Choosing to live high in the spires, they open their windows and cross luminous vines and fungal branches to neighboring windows, creating a neon-lit district that comes to life once the sun sets, selling their popular soups, fungal truffles, earthen fabrics, deadwood flutes, luminous pigments, mycelium filters, exotic critters, carved clay tablets, obsidian jewelry, and other wares.

   Many Yoi experience a certain nausea when exposed to the sky for the first time, feeling as though they'll be swept away into the gaping maw of the heavens with nothing to catch them, and as such are relatively uncommon in places outside of Yoi-Hye and the Sejiru Jungle.[/ic]