Xiluh

[SDragon]

I really did. I was a little bummed to find that activity died down since the start of my absence, but I still enjoyed the conversations. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

I'm not sure I understand the second question. By "lesser spirits", are you referring to Sun and Moon, or are you referring to the mention of animism? If it's the former, then they're still gods, just not quite as abstracted as the major gods. If it's the latter, then I may have been misleading. There isn't actually any animism, the shamanic practices only make it seem so, from an outside perspective.

Although the gods are within everything, it's at different rates and ratios. Some things may have a strong presence of one (or more) of the gods, while other things may have a weaker presence. Fire, for example, might be stronger with Sun, but shadows might be stronger with Moon, or silence might be stronger with Jaguar. All gods are present in all of these things, but you might not get a proper pyromagical effect if you're appealing to the wrong god, or appealing to the right god in the wrong way. These subtle nuances make it appear like animism ("you're praying to the sky to make rain so that those forest fires can be put out!"), but that's only superficial. It's still a polytheistic panentheism ("I'm trying to balance subtle diplomatic approaches in an attempt to ask the gods to have rain put out those fires.").

[SDragon]

Nechui[/b]


Nechui are small bug eating creatures, with a build that some compare to monkeys, and others compare to lizards. They are notable for a few reasons. Although they are known to exist in abundance, they are very rarely found; it has been said that for every one nechu that a man can see, there are twenty twenties of nechui that he cannot see. Also, while typically slow creatures, a nechu provoked to a chase can reach great speeds, outrunning all hunters but those trained to catch nechui. The difficulty in hunting nechui, along with the flavor of a chased nechu, have made nechu-meat something of a delicacy among some human tribes.

Also of note is the coat of nechui. Like other animals, nechui are adorned with a decorative coat. Unlike other animals, however, the coat of nechui is not that of feathers or scales or fur. Instead, it is a lush green herb, which allows them to blend in with the land they live in. Although nechu-meat is a valid source of food, nechu-grass is forbidden by the gods, to all but the shamans. Nechu-grass properly obtained by a shaman has uses in a variety of rituals and can be prepared into many salves and ointments.


[spoiler=OOC]That's right, Nomadic's Chia pets have come alive and entered Xiluh![/spoiler]

[Elemental_Elf]

Nechui[/b]


Nechui are small bug eating creatures, with a build that some compare to monkeys, and others compare to lizards. They are notable for a few reasons. Although they are known to exist in abundance, they are very rarely found; it has been said that for every one nechu that a man can see, there are twenty twenties of nechui that he cannot see. Also, while typically slow creatures, a nechu provoked to a chase can reach great speeds, outrunning all hunters but those trained to catch nechui. The difficulty in hunting nechui, along with the flavor of a chased nechu, have made nechu-meat something of a delicacy among some human tribes.

Also of note is the coat of nechui. Like other animals, nechui are adorned with a decorative coat. Unlike other animals, however, the coat of nechui is not that of feathers or scales or fur. Instead, it is a lush green herb, which allows them to blend in with the land they live in. Although nechu-meat is a valid source of food, nechu-grass is forbidden by the gods, to all but the shamans. Nechu-grass properly obtained by a shaman has uses in a variety of rituals and can be prepared into many salves and ointments.


[spoiler=OOC]That's right, Nomadic's Chia pets have come alive and entered Xiluh![/spoiler]

... I love it! Words cannot express how cool I find the Nechui! You have definitely earned this:



[spoiler=Code that links back to the post]

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[link=http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?6413.150#post_65292] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/RHO1/Awesomeaward223.png[/img] [/spoiler]

[SDragon]

Thanks! That's now in my sig.

[SDragon]

Should the nechui be added to the first post?

[SDragon]

Some slight updates. A badge to the first person who can guess what changes I've made today!

[SDragon]

I'd like to go off the record for a moment, and say that there is a slim possibility that I might stop posting major updates to Xiluh. There are reasons for this which I'd rather not get into, but development is still going on. In fact, it may going stronger now than it had been for many times previously.

Minor updates, however, will continue either way, and as always, comments, critiques, reviews, and even ideas are always welcome.

[Xeviat]

Here's my review as promised!

Edition Wars: Are you still looking at using 3E for this? Are you going to port over to Pathfinder or give 4E a try? Either way, I'm always available for crunch help (I've got to earn my title back for next year since I wasn't around this year).

Racial Arrogance: What happened in this world to make it so racial arrogance never developed, especially in humans (it is such a human quality). Was it simply the creation of the Yuma and the destruction of the first-ones? Or is it a more modern concept?

Elves: Aside from their stats, what makes your elves elves still? They're warriors and the men are stoic while the women are pretty. Do you use at least one of the elven tropes with them (being very magical or in tune with nature)? Just curious here: If it looks like a chicken but it quacks like a duck, I'm confused.

Dwarfs: I like the way they act and their place in history, and their unique status of having the largest settlements. While I know I just was confused about elves not seeming elfie enough, I see calm serene dwarfs as very fitting; those are earth qualities. Why was Marg so gungho about killing off the Saag clan of dwarfs?

Cultural Influences: Again, I love the mesoamerican influences; not enough settings draw upon it for inspiration. I'd like to see ritual battles taking place here along with the sacrifices. I do enjoy the warriors pride seen in human and elven males.

Classes: Are you going to re-theme the monk as a divine class? If you would like help modifying it to be a 1-4th level caster like the Paladin/Ranger, I already have a structure for it (Originally designed to be a Psionic Monk, it could be altered to divine easily enough). Why is it that they try to turn sorcerers into clerics but not wizards; clerics seem to have more in common with wizards because of the whole long apprenticeship thing. Or is sorcery something developed rather than inborn? Or is it that being a cleric is partially inborn?

Bestiary: I love the selection of animals and monsters; very well themed. The nechui are interesting too. Are all jaguars, eagles, and snakes intelligent, or only some?

Numbers: I notice the calendar has a necessary leap day every four years, but they are collected together every 52 years (13 periods) in one big celebration. Was there a significance to the number 13? I also notice that 20 seems to be a significant number (20 days in a month, and money increases by a factor of 20 for each denomination); This leads me to think Xiluh mathematics should be base 20 instead of base 10, which would be why people could count out wood and obsidian coins easily.

Nations: With the invasions over, is there much conflict between the individual tribes and city-states?

Names: How are women's names handled? Do they just have one name, or do they also take on their father's name? Is property patrilineal or matrilineal?

Adventure Hooks: Love them, especially the "One of the PCs is called to help defend his tribe in a food battle against another PCs tribe" one. I would like to play in a game that starts with the jaguars disappearing, as I suspect that would delve into fun aspects of Xiluh's spirituality.

Still awesome as ever.

[Llum]

Now I don't understand how clerics see wizards as taking a short-cut to power, since wizards study easily as hard as a cleric, gaining there power through knowledge alone. The sorcerer being weird is nothing new, but your sorcerers don't seem to gather any suspicion from naturally being able to do what takes others years to do?

Bump :D

Killing a Couatl is both highly dangerous and highly taboo. Killing one for the feathers would be akin to killing a demigod for his left toenail; even if you survive the incident, you'll still be shunned and despised by many. It's not in your best interest to try this.

Really, the best chance you have to get the feathers is to find a corpse. This is only slightly easier then killing one yourself, as the bodies are taken by the gods pretty fast, but for some, the renown is well worth the effort.

Is it possessing the feathers that will make you shunned? If so, wouldn't finding a corpse be considered bad? If it isn't just owning them, couldn't a Coual-Killer just say he found a corpse?

[SDragon]

Here's my review as promised!

Always appreciated!

Edition Wars: Are you still looking at using 3E for this? Are you going to port over to Pathfinder or give 4E a try? Either way, I'm always available for crunch help (I've got to earn my title back for next year since I wasn't around this year).

Racial Arrogance: What happened in this world to make it so racial arrogance never developed, especially in humans (it is such a human quality). Was it simply the creation of the Yuma and the destruction of the first-ones? Or is it a more modern concept?[/quote]First-One[/i] quality. It lead to an increasingly oppressive totalitarian state that ultimately angered the gods. It still remains in the yuma, but the other races have learned that this is a Very Bad Thing Indeed.

Elves: Aside from their stats, what makes your elves elves still? They're warriors and the men are stoic while the women are pretty. Do you use at least one of the elven tropes with them (being very magical or in tune with nature)? Just curious here: If it looks like a chicken but it quacks like a duck, I'm confused.

Dwarfs: I like the way they act and their place in history, and their unique status of having the largest settlements. While I know I just was confused about elves not seeming elfie enough, I see calm serene dwarfs as very fitting; those are earth qualities. Why was Marg so gungho about killing off the Saag clan of dwarfs?[/quote]Cultural Influences: Again, I love the mesoamerican influences; not enough settings draw upon it for inspiration. I'd like to see ritual battles taking place here along with the sacrifices. I do enjoy the warriors pride seen in human and elven males.[/quote]Classes: Are you going to re-theme the monk as a divine class? If you would like help modifying it to be a 1-4th level caster like the Paladin/Ranger, I already have a structure for it (Originally designed to be a Psionic Monk, it could be altered to divine easily enough).[/quote]Why is it that they try to turn sorcerers into clerics but not wizards; clerics seem to have more in common with wizards because of the whole long apprenticeship thing. Or is sorcery something developed rather than inborn? Or is it that being a cleric is partially inborn?[/quote]Bestiary: I love the selection of animals and monsters; very well themed. The nechui are interesting too. Are all jaguars, eagles, and snakes intelligent, or only some?[/quote]Numbers: I notice the calendar has a necessary leap day every four years, but they are collected together every 52 years (13 periods) in one big celebration. Was there a significance to the number 13?[/quote]I also notice that 20 seems to be a significant number (20 days in a month, and money increases by a factor of 20 for each denomination); This leads me to think Xiluh mathematics should be base 20 instead of base 10, which would be why people could count out wood and obsidian coins easily.[/quote]Nations: With the invasions over, is there much conflict between the individual tribes and city-states?[/quote]Names: How are women's names handled? Do they just have one name, or do they also take on their father's name? Is property patrilineal or matrilineal?[/quote]Adventure Hooks: Love them, especially the "One of the PCs is called to help defend his tribe in a food battle against another PCs tribe" one. I would like to play in a game that starts with the jaguars disappearing, as I suspect that would delve into fun aspects of Xiluh's spirituality.[/quote]Still awesome as ever.[/quote]

Thanks! Such sentiments are, of course, always appreciated.

[SDragon]

Well, damn. A lot of the most recent progress has been lost. If I ever find some way to recover it, I definitely will, but until then, I can't really do anything about it.

I'm slowly adding Xiluh information over at my own personal wiki. I'll include the link sometime soon.

[SDragon]

I wrote a short in-world piece for Xiluh. http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?74297.last

[SDragon]

Added the new language thread to the bibliography. This is a decent time for anyone who hasn't taken a look at Xiluh to do so.

[Age of Fable]

I'm led to infer that it's a representative currency; the value of wood coins isn't due to the inherent value of the wood itself, but because the coins represent wealth that resides in some national treasury to back up the currency.

It could be something like wampum.

[Age of Fable]

It's not that clear what social role adventurers play, or what sort of adventures are meant to happen.