The Account of Adren the Bard (Discussion)

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The Account of Adren the Bard (Discussion)

Post Post #0 (isolation #0) » Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:00 am

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(More to come in this space)
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Post Post #1 (isolation #1) » Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:01 am

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Current Status

Hiatus
Expected to resume in late September or early October.
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Post Post #2 (isolation #2) » Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:01 am

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Welcome, friends!

This is not a traditional Mish Mash game, per se, but rather a collaboratively-told story. You, the readers, will have input at nearly every point in the tale, able to make major decisions for the protagonists and guide their fate. Two to three times a week, depending on my schedule, I will post updates to the story, as well as a link to a Google form with potential options. Please feel free to discuss with your fellow readers your options, or create your own. If you come up with a novel solution or humorous alternative, I will gladly incorporate whatever makes the best story.

Story updates will come from the Adren the Bard account, which will be reserved for that purpose. If you would like to read just the story, I invite you to view this thread with Adren's posts in isolation. Out of character nuts and bolts, like this, will come from my main account.

Before we begin, we must craft the kind of story we are telling together. The only parameters I reserve are that the protagonist is a young adult male, approximately 23 years old, who lives in a non-Earth world with pre-modern technology, some degree of magic, and a society that is conducive to adventurers. Everything else is up to you.

Let's get started!
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Post Post #9 (isolation #3) » Thu Mar 05, 2020 6:18 am

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To answer a question: Adren is not the protagonist in question, but rather the bard telling the story. Adren will eventually be encountered by the protagonist, and may adventure with him. The protagonist’s class/profession and some details about Adren will be determined in an upcoming survey.

I anticipate four or five of these initial character creation surveys, and then we’ll jump into the story. This time is for you all to tell me what sort of story you want told, while later input will be about making more immediate- and short-term choices.
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Post Post #15 (isolation #4) » Fri Mar 06, 2020 2:11 am

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The response level has been overwhelming so far! I was prepared to be perfectly happy with ten responses by the end of the weekend, and you all have nearly doubled that in the first day.

I'll leave the first survey open until the end of the day, then post the results and the second round. I think with this degree of engagement, I can accelerate the pace of the preliminary stages.

Thanks all!
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Post Post #24 (isolation #5) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 2:54 pm

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Okay, the votes are in! I don't plan on releasing the full results of most surveys, that would be tedious and not useful. However, for this first one, it might be helpful to see the results and explain how I use this data to make decisions for the characters.

Image

For this first one, responses were highly varied. The three joke answers were set aside, and the remaining one (the whaling port) was considered and discarded. That left a three-way tie...not a great start, friends. In this situation, I use my own discretion. I looked ahead to the other responses, and decided to combine two of the most popular - our protagonist was raised on a farm outside a village on the edge of a great forest.

Image

This next one had a clear winner, but was hardly decisive. Using my discretion, I interpreted this to mean that the protagonist was raised by a single parent within a larger community consisting of an extended family. The second parent was around when he was little, but disappeared before he had more than vague memories. This question also had the only write-in vote I considered (raised among siblings), but I felt the majority selection was more compelling.

Image

This one was pretty clear, even if 27.6% is a paltry plurality. The sister is noticeably older, perhaps 31 to the protagonist's 23, and moved away when he was a teen.

Image

At last, a clear winner. A decisive percentage of you envision our protagonist as having lived a secure but hard-working life on a modest yet successful farm.
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Post Post #25 (isolation #6) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 2:56 pm

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Given the volume of responses, I'm going to accelerate the pace of this stage. The next survey will be up for two days, and deals primarily with the setting in which our story takes place. I will finalize the data on Tuesday, 3/10.

Enjoy!
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Post Post #26 (isolation #7) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 4:52 pm

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Oh wow, 22 responses already...feel free to discuss here if you like!
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Post Post #36 (isolation #8) » Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:53 am

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Raised by wolves was regarded as a serious suggestion, but it’s a bit cliche and not really a plausible scenario. If you’d said raised by a pack of werewolves, or Awakened dire wombats...we’d have had a conversation.
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Post Post #38 (isolation #9) » Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:05 am

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Tell you what, I’ll work them into the story. Maybe even a recurring motif
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Post Post #40 (isolation #10) » Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:20 am

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Customer satisfaction is our highest priority here at Pineco
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Post Post #46 (isolation #11) » Tue Mar 10, 2020 1:11 am

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Okay, results!

We have several decisive choices today. You, the audience, overwhelmingly voted for unexplained disappearances in the colony of a large empire, though honorable mentions go to the large empire itself and conflict/war. It may very well be that the protagonist travels to the homeland at some point, and once the disappearances are explained, war may very well result.

The magic/technology paradigm was less clear. A clear plurality decided that magic and technology have developed independently, but there was damn near a three-way tie between magic as a rare, uncommon, or common force. The more extreme options were therefore discarded, and I've exercised my discretion to split the difference. Magic is uncommon, but not strange. Most practitioners have limited power. A good analogy would be physicians - there are enough of them in the population that when you find out someone has an MD, it's impressive but not strange. At the same time, most practitioners are of the everyday, local variety. Just as world-class diagnosticians, surgeons, or specialists are rare, so too are individuals with significant sorcerous power.

Lastly, the technological level was a tossup.

Image

As you can see, responses were all over the map. A plurality did select High Medieval, but the two industrial options combined beat out the medieval options. Given that High Medieval is kind of the 'default' for this sort of story, I'm going to conduct a runoff. All options except High Medieval and Late Pre-industrial (circa 1700 CE) will be set aside, and "Other" will not be an option. Special mention goes to the Dark Ages suggestion, as I'm fascinated with that period of history. However, I'm planning a D&D campaign set in a dark age, so I'm not interested in telling this story in one.
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Post Post #47 (isolation #12) » Tue Mar 10, 2020 1:47 am

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The bulk of responses are coming within the first few hours, nearly all within the first day. For the duration of this design phase, we'll step this up to a
roughly
daily schedule.

Setting 2.0
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Post Post #54 (isolation #13) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 5:39 am

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Hi friends, I am not feeling well. Signs point to the common cold rather than something else, but I'm taking the day to relax and practice self-care. I'll be around, though, and will have an update this evening.
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Post Post #59 (isolation #14) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:44 am

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I am Pine!
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Post Post #61 (isolation #15) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:44 am

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Okay! We had a number of decisive questions this round, so let's get those out of the way.

-The setting is finalized as having late pre-industrial technology. I have a strong familiarity with this area of history, but if someone is an actual expert, let me know and I'd welcome your advice. Simple gunpowder weapons are common in the form of smoothbore cannon, muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. Rifles exist, but are mostly limited to hunters and sharpshooters. Armored cavalry (i.e. cuirassiers and lancers) remain dominant on the battlefield, but some forward-thinking commanders are experimenting with fast, lightly-armored dragoons as well. As we are going to be starting in an archipelago, it is important to note that we are approaching the height of the age of sail - ships of the line are the power in these waters, with faster frigates patrolling for pirates, which
will be a thing
. Overseas, triangular-style trade is commonplace. Plantation-style agriculture is in full swing, but I have no interest in telling a story that involves chattel bondage. The accepted method is large families and communities working their fields together. Cities are somewhat dense and squalid, but the first glimmers of real sanitation are coming into effect. Culturally, an Enlightenment analogue is taking place, but is not yet widespread and has not filtered down to the masses in any way yet. Schools and universities exist, but are likewise limited to the elite. Our protagonist's place in that hierarchy will be determined in the next survey.

-The dominant choice was for an archipelago, but I liked the second-most-popular choice so much that I'm going to incorporate it too. Our archipelago is located off the coast of a friendly foreign nation, some distance from the homeland. Think Caribbean islands off the coast of the Americas relative to Europe, or the Philippines off the coast of Southeast Asia, New Zealand off of Australia, Madagascar/Africa, Maldives/India, you get the picture. There is a sizable distance between the enclave and the nearby "host," but not so close that the "host" is all that bothered to secure it. Trade with the enclave islands is lucrative for all parties.
---Of the write-in selections, I liked several. I actually almost included a desert oasis in the original options, but that isn't the kind of story I want to tell, nor is the alternate dimension angle. The choice I
did
very seriously consider was the underground cavern choice (not shown above, cut off.)
Journey to the Center of the Earth
was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I liked
Land of the Lost
as well. The problem is that I just couldn't justify the science of having a large, well-lit subterranean environment, and darkness is not an obstacle I want to routinely surmount. What I CAN say is that I'm still taken with the idea, and we MIGHT see an underground adventure at some point in our protagonist's journey. Maybe with dire wombats.

-Colony development was pretty clear. A small, established colony, dominated by a single city on the largest island and many outlying plantation communities on outlying islands.

-Leadership of the two territories was also fairly clear. The homeland is ruled with an iron fist by an "enlightened" despot. A few limitations exist for the nobility, similar to the Magna Carta, and an assembly of nobles and wealthy commoners legislates in the monarch's name. The monarch him/herself, however, exercises absolute authority and may alter, overrule, or disband this assembly at will. The colony is likewise ruled by an imperial viceroy, who in practice delegates much of his or her power to an elected colonial leader. Outlying communities mostly govern their own affairs, except for capital offenses.

-The tough one is the relationship between the colony and the homeland. Y'all were all over the map on this one, with a very slight plurality favoring nominal independence. I'm going to call an audible on this one and say that colonial sentiment is heavily mixed. There are plenty of loyalists, some simmering revolutionaries, but the bulk of the population doesn't care. They consider themselves citizens of the colony first, expatriates at best. It would not, however, take a whole lot of iron-fisted interference to tilt that balance, nor would it require much positive press for the empire to secure the colony's loyalty. This may end up being a major plot point, driven by your choices.

-Lastly, I was delighted with the suggestions you offered for why the colony was founded! Here they are:
Spoiler: Suggestions
  1. Only the powerful blessed with strong magic can live a good life full of power and wealth. The strong are perceived as gods and any group/individual who tries to oppose the gods get's exiled. Since the empire has no allies this colony is their last hope.
  2. It's like a mining colony but for magic
  3. Traders who got sick of the monarchist overlords, decided to establish a trading colony untouched by the whims of the Empire leaders. Free to trade.
  4. Widespread belief that the centralization of society has lead to the decline of scientific and magical innovation has led to the funding of small exploratory ventures to establish comparatively small research enclaves in the interest of preserving the forward momentum of discovery.
  5. Because the land it's in has gems that enhance people's magical abilities
  6. It was founded because the colonists are descended from a race of magic users who were oppressed by the King. They banded together and established the colony as far from the King’s reach as possible. Legend has it that a “Mystic Sage” born every hundred years is the key to keeping balance or causing destruction. As a result the villagers hope to keep the centennial child out of the reaches of a corrupt monarchy.
  7. Spoils of war
  8. (insert bad speech that eventually leads to the revelation that the colony was America all along)
  9. As I chose Enclave for the relation to the Empire question, this will assume that answer.

    There was a bitter war for freedom from the tyrannical Empire to which the enclave remains a part. The war was fought long and hard and in the end, freedom was won by the subjugated peoples. But a small colony, once rich in precious metals, remained loyal to the state, and in demanded they remain a part of the empire!

    They were granted this, and they remain patriotic to this day! But being an enclave in a nation that threw your motherland out has its difficulties. Slowly, resource lines were cut as the risk became too great. Resources ceased to flow in as it became too costly to ship them in. While the officials remain loyal in theory, there has been no oversight by the empire's officials in a very long time and corruption seems likely within the ranks of those in charge here.

    Fortunately, the lands remain fertile and the people proud. There has been enough wealth to sustain the colony and trade within the area is far better than one would think, given the political situations internally and externally.
  10. Broken off the empire when an old king had twins, the second one was given this area to rule over, and the people rebelled.
  11. To secure a consistent source of dire wombats.
  12. Chasing after the incredibly versitile resource that is Dire Wombat Pelts, used in extremely powerful spells, more valuable than gold, and only present in the new world.
  13. Though it nominally has some other purpose, the truth is that one empire leader pushed for its creation purely to spite their sibling, and everyone knows it
  14. Jim, the "elected leader" of the nation, asked some bros if they wanted to go grab some brewskis. The brewskis were tough to find, and in a drunken stupor, the bros made it to a foreign state, where they just decided to set up shop rather than coming home.
  15. As a nice place for ducks to sleep
  16. Legendary Explorer James Columbus Colonialus Conquistador Americus set sail to defeat the legendary kraken which for years had halted sea exploration. It was a great long fight and ultimately, they could not kill the kraken but were able to put it into a long sleep using magic. The fleet was too damaged to return home so they went to the nearest island chain they could find. James and his crew lived here for 2 years, unable to repair their damaged fleet but discovering that the archipelago was beautiful and rich in resources. When eventually a rescue team found them, and they returned home with news of the archipelago, it was decided then to make it a colony.
  17. The nation that the colony is in will only have dealings with nations that build colonies/trading ports within their nation. They value diversity and also want to have a good example of the kind of people they're dealing with right there in front of them.
  18. It's a penal colony created by the leader of the church following a Schism that led to the outlawing of the use of magic. As such most of the people there are magic users or criminals.
  19. As a means of protecting magic users from getting exploited/used by the homeland. Those who have disappeared are those who have shown promising sorcerous power.

Now, tossing out those which are silly or in jest (a place for ducks to sleep? Really, worst?), those which don't work given the other decisions (the host country wouldn't be friendly if it were spoils of war), and the overly-complex, I'm left with three broad motifs.
-The colony is a haven, source, or exile for magic-users, leading them to be vastly over represented in the colonial population.
-The colony developed under scientific and mercantile charter, and is dedicated towards research, exploration, and progress.
-Standard imperial colonialism (though I like the story of shipwrecked sailors who liked their new home)

I'll draw up the next survey, which will decide this last question and otherwise focus mostly on our protagonist himself.
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Post Post #65 (isolation #16) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 1:04 pm

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This is not America. Any resemblances are merely coincidental.
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Post Post #67 (isolation #17) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 4:10 pm

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Alrighty then, the next survey is live.

This one took a little extra time because while I'm feeling much better, I'm still a bit under the weather. I also implemented a number of format changes - some questions are now ranked order, and others are checkboxes with "Other" options. If it's a checkmark, feel free to select more than one, though bear in mind that checking everything might as well be checking nothing. I'm doing this to implement some elements of approval voting and find what works for the most number of people. Enjoy!
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Post Post #68 (isolation #18) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 7:39 pm

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This is why we can't have nice things, children.
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Post Post #74 (isolation #19) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 2:42 am

Post by Pine »

In post 72, Felissan wrote:Oh no, I got here too late to campaign for making our hero ace :(
Ace is an option, feel free to lobby your fellow voters!
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Post Post #75 (isolation #20) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 2:43 am

Post by Pine »

I mean, the Mish Mash listmods tell me we're in strictly "fade to black" territory, though I could probably be convinced to bootleg some racier stuff.

Spicy pagetop :shifty: :oops:
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Post Post #79 (isolation #21) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:44 am

Post by Pine »

In post 78, xofelf wrote:
In post 75, Pine wrote:I mean, the Mish Mash listmods tell me we're in strictly "fade to black" territory, though I could probably be convinced to bootleg some racier stuff.

Spicy pagetop :shifty: :oops:
Excuse me, you're going to
what
?
I'm going to
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Post Post #81 (isolation #22) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 2:40 pm

Post by Pine »

There's a "no role at all" for the romance question, and "neither" for the preferences question.

Also, y'all are not required to put in as many choices as you're permitted - if you want to just put in a first option, that's okay.
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Post Post #83 (isolation #23) » Fri Mar 13, 2020 5:03 pm

Post by Pine »

Results time!

Image

I'm afraid our first category was hotly contested, with a narrow margin going to the colony serving as a haven or penal colony for magic-users. I'm going to side with that plurality here. The other two would make excellent stories, but I think having magic as a relatively rare force everywhere except our colony provides a lot of juicy story elements.

Image

This one was a bit easier, made more so when combined with the education question (not depicted). The basic reading/writing/arithmetic option and an apprenticeship in a trade were in a dead heat, so I'll take them. A write-in voter suggested silversmithing, and I like it. Our boy was apprenticed to a silversmith instead of working his uncle's ranch (ranch was a clear winner too). That brings us back to the above chart. Wealth acquisition works, but magical training and education (the highlighted bar) don't. So let's scroll down to the magic question.

Image

Tight competition here too, but it looks like a moderate gift is dominant. So our boy was sent away from the ranch to apprentice with a silversmith in town, but when his power began to manifest itself at the age of thirteen, his apprenticeship was transferred to the academy of magical arts. Let's look at skills. This graph is a mess to screenshot, so I'll transcribe the results. The numbers on the left are first choice/second choice/third choice/fourth choice.

4/4/2/3 Interpersonal
2/0/1/3 Academic
2/1/2/3 Firearms
1/2/6/5 H2H
5/3/3/1 Duplicity
3/6/4/1 Wilderness
4/3/0/4 Engineering
0/2/2/1 Business

So, let's distill that down a bit. Let's give 4th choices one point, 3rd choice 2 points, etc.

35 Interpersonal
13 Academic
18 Firearms
27 H2H
36 Duplicity
41 Wilderness
29 Engineering
10 Business

Interesting! While Duplicity, Interpersonal, and Engineering were leading first choices, Wilderness was overall the most popular, with 2/3 of you putting it in your top three. Let's re-order those...

41 Wilderness
36 Duplicity
35 Interpersonal

29 Engineering
27 H2H

18 Firearms
13 Academic
10 Business


That gives us three broad groupings. Firearms, academic esoterica, and business sense are not strengths. He has a modest capability with gadgets and melee combat. His strengths, however, are in surviving on his own and manipulating others.

This gives me the impression of a rogueish, perhaps mocking ne'erdowell. In conjunction with his academic interest but low achievement, he's the restless type, who probably coasted through his magical education on his gift, excelling with his power but shirking the broader education they sought to impart. He got into a lot of fights, perhaps fell in with a bad crowd, and was kicked out of the academy at seventeen without graduating. Why was he kicked out? What happened next? What subsequent skills did he gain? That will be the focus of our next survey, which I'll put together in the morning, because I was on toddler duty all evening and am tired.

Before we go, one last subject to hash out. This one's an easy one:

Image

The role of romance is straightforward. We're just going to see what happens, but it's likely to be a factor eventually. He enjoys the challenge of courtship, but likely isn't ready to settle down. His rogueish nature has led to a number of passing dalliances, but he is not quite a cad. His preferences are a bit less simple - straight and omnisexual tied for first choice, but a broader palette won out decisively in the lower ranks. I'm going to interpret this as a distinct preference for the ladies, but at the end of the day, his motto is "I'll try anything twice. Three times if rum is involved." Who knows what will happen?

See you in the morning with the next round! My aim is going to be to have that one up for 36 hours, wrapping up Sunday night (EDT).
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Post Post #89 (isolation #24) » Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:28 pm

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Okay, I definitely lied to myself, and stayed up into the wee hours writing the next one
and watching
Grey's Anatomy
in the dark
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Post Post #91 (isolation #25) » Sun Mar 15, 2020 10:14 am

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Headed to dinner with my folks, will finalize results and put up the next round when I get back. Last chance to add input!
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Post Post #94 (isolation #26) » Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:35 pm

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Results! Let's start with names, so I can start using them.

Spoiler: Suggestions
Alesstine
Sacremento
Magifesto
Narnia
Abra Cadra
New Haven
Wombatico
Loren Ipsum
Xanderfall
Wikanda
Lunar Isle
Antasia
Magic Island, Pigwarts, Kaazam, Magus, Land of Witches, Bald Mountain, Land of Chernabog, Fantasia
Tabmow Erid
Praesidio
Nomlas
Haschelton, Novaya Koldungrad
BigPPEnergy (This was the one thing I did not want to do btw)
the name would be based on the landmark, this isn't an actual suggestion, but moreso, the name should be based off of said landmark
Barden, New Barden, Old Barden, Bard's End, Allicia, Calamity, Calamity's End, Storgbarrow
Crysis
New New York
Illyria, Elterluna, Thayris, The Colony, Greenvale
O'Malfrea, Tal'Umer, Dasonica, Dor Fresen (assuming most of these come from an OG founder)
Mystica. Magic Land. Sorcerers Archipelago. Magic Archipelago. The Wizardry Islands.

There's a lot of really useful stuff in there! After I issued the question, I decided that I'd draw from this pool of ideas to label a number of things in our world. I'm going to start working on a map, but we can put a name to many major locales.
>>The name of the distant empire, origin of the colonists, is hereby Elterluna. Its capital is Tal'Umer.
>>The name of the nearby nation is Thayris, whose inland capital is Tabmow Erid. Its nearest major port is Dor Fresen.
>>Our colony's name is Antasia, and its capital and principle city is known as Haven. The significance of that name will be explained below. The archipelago is also known as Antasia, but it is more commonly called the Sorcerer Isles. This was originally a derisive nickname imparted by imperial sailors, but it was proudly adopted by the locals.
>>The protagonist was raised a few miles inland on the third-largest island, outside the town of Calamity. It was originally a settlement called Fort Alesstine, but a child was born who was gifted far beyond her ability to control it. She accidentally caused an off-coast earthquake, and the resulting tsunami which out much of the town. Most of the settlers survived, and they rebuilt in a more protected harbor, naming it for the calamitous circumstances of its rebirth. The quality of the harbor in combination with a bountiful hardwood forest has caused Calamity to become a major center of shipbuilding and industry in the Isles. The ruins of Fort Alesstine are considered haunted, and stand a few miles down the coast.

There, now that we know what to call things, let's move on.

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You folks were ALL over the map with this one. As there was no clear consensus by any stretch of the imagination, here's what I've got for you:
A century and a half ago, the combined edict of the Emperor and Empress of Elterluna decreed sorcery to be a crime against the natural order, and they commanded that all sorcerers be driven from the country. Those Elterlunians who had the gift were either deported, went into hiding, or were executed by imperial mage-hunters. A great exodus led by the Archmagus Allicia, greatest sorceress of the age, fled the country in a hastily-assembled flotilla to seek friendlier shores. Every port they called at turned them away, whether out of fear of the mages' power or in fear of retaliation from the pursuing Elterlunian navy. The vagabond fleet finally eluded their hunters and landed on the shores of Thayris. The High Prelate of Thayris received Allicia's petition, seemingly on his deathbed. He was preparing to turn her away when she offered to heal his wasting illness. Her success led the High Prelate to grant the refugees an uninhabited chain of islands off of the Thayrissi coast.

In the decades since Allicia's time, the Antasian colonists have thrived. The concentration of so much sorcerous potential has been passed down through strong bloodlines such that the gift occurs in not one in thousands, as elsewhere, but in one out of every fifty Antasians. A generation after the sorcerers' expulsion, a new ruling pair sent expeditions to find their wayward mages and make peace with them. While the use of magic is still regarded with suspicion in Elterluna, it is no longer banned. The Antasians were incorporated back into the fold, and live mostly in peace with the empire, left to mostly govern themselves under the lax (but lucrative) eyes of imperial viceroys.


Magic was outlawed in the homeland a century ago. All magic-users were deported, fled, executed, or went into hiding. The nearby "host" nation was sympathetic, and allowed the founding of a colony off of its shore. When the homeland found out, they decided to let it be and sent colonial viceroys. Magic use remains outlawed in the homeland, but colonists can use it freely. As the ancestors of the colonists were virtually all gifted, the rate of magic use is very high. The "host" country does not ban magic use, but all sorcerers must be licensed by the state[/area]

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Ugh, you guys are determined not to make this easy on me. Fortunately, I quite liked a write-in, and have incorporated it to spice things up:
In his final year, the protagonist was eager to pursue his own independent work, and chafed at the restrictions placed on him by the masters of the academy. He needed restricted spell components, and was disinclined to wait for the glacially-slow approval process. He tamed and released a pack of dire wombats to cover his burglary of the headmistress's private stash. He might not have been expelled for this, given the innovative use he put the components to, but he was also caught selling some of the more exotic gemstones, spices, and monster body parts to make a small fortune. It didn't help that he'd also slept with the headmistress's wife, but he was never clear on whether she knew that or not.


Our boy's turning into a real scalawag, I hope you're happy. The remainder of the questions were about skills. These are once again visually-messy, and easier to discuss express numerically.

Image

See? Messy. Once again, I assigned 1 point to a 4th choice, 2 points to a 3rd, etc.

Wilderness Survival

20 Hunting/Tracking
22 Ropework/Camping
35 Beast Lore
32 Herblore/Healing
35 Geography/Navigation
20 Trap-making
24 Animal control magic
14 Weather control magic

Duplicity

37 Deception/Lying
28 Impersonation/Disguise
26 Pickpocketing/Sleight of hand
16 Lock-picking
28 Forgery
29 Stealth
13 Compulsive magic
29 Illusion magic

Interpersonal

23 Negotiation/Barter
28 Insight
23 Performance
12 Leadership
25 Street smarts/Intimidation
37 Persuasion/Suggestive magic
30 Sound and language manipulation magic
25 Telepathic communication

In this case, I feel the numbers speak for themselves. Broadly, our boy is blessed with a silver tongue, enhanced to preternatural levels with judicious use of manipulative sorcery. He also has a penchant for more mundane feats of legerdemain and trickery, though he prefers to convince or beguile rather than the more brutish applications of the craft. He has spent considerable time in the wilds, and is self-reliant. He has traveled the Isles extensively, and is likely an adept sailor.

That's all for tonight, I'll try to work on the next survey first thing in the morning.
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Post Post #96 (isolation #27) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:56 am

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The new survey is up!

I anticipate this to be the penultimate survey, concluding tomorrow night. The last survey will go up Wednesday, and I will aim to fill in some world details over the weekend with the first story page on Monday.
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Post Post #97 (isolation #28) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:58 am

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Remember, when there are checkboxes you can select more than one. If you like two of the choices, pick them. If you loathe one specifically, select everything but that to effectively downvote it.
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Post Post #98 (isolation #29) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:02 am

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No Pengu he cannot have a dire wombat pet >_<
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Post Post #103 (isolation #30) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:06 am

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You're all fired.
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Post Post #106 (isolation #31) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:44 am

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Oh my jebas. I totally did.

...it stands, because that's actually a pretty cool name.
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Post Post #109 (isolation #32) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:02 am

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It was more seriously considered than you might think.
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Post Post #110 (isolation #33) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:04 am

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"The authorities are trying to round up his illegal dire wombat farm"

Really, McMenno?
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Post Post #118 (isolation #34) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:54 pm

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His house is made out of bricks of wombat poop, which is feasible because they poop cubes. Lately all the wombats on his wombat ranch have been pooping out all of the non-cube platonic solids but not cubes, so he can't repair his house. What sort of enchantment is causing these non-cubic wombat droppings?
Haschel, this is why we can't have nice things.
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Post Post #120 (isolation #35) » Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:08 pm

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In post 116, Jingle wrote:@Pine: In cases like the above linked image where some of the single answer submissions are cut off, could you include them in a plain text spoiler? I hope that I'm not the only one enjoying some of the more ridiculous answers, but in the event I am I straight up don't care about other people's opinions and want to read them anyway.
In post 117, xofelf wrote:
In post 116, Jingle wrote:@Pine: In cases like the above linked image where some of the single answer submissions are cut off, could you include them in a plain text spoiler? I hope that I'm not the only one enjoying some of the more ridiculous answers, but in the event I am I straight up don't care about other people's opinions and want to read them anyway.
I want them too please.
I'll do this in the morning. As of today, I'm off of work for at least a month.
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Post Post #124 (isolation #36) » Tue Mar 17, 2020 3:00 am

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Post Post #126 (isolation #37) » Tue Mar 17, 2020 4:35 am

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I was excited to see responses jump from 19 to 35 overnight, but it was mostly Haschel pushing his wombat poop agenda fourteen times.

Also, in a wild coincidence, I’m typically this post while Pinecone’s watches Frozen 2, and Olaf mentions that wombats poop squares. So I think that’s where he got it from...
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Post Post #128 (isolation #38) » Tue Mar 17, 2020 5:31 am

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Post Post #134 (isolation #39) » Tue Mar 17, 2020 11:39 am

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Oooookay

Let's move on. I'll close the poll in an hour or two.
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Post Post #136 (isolation #40) » Tue Mar 17, 2020 11:46 am

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Seconded. If only we knew some mods.
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Post Post #138 (isolation #41) » Tue Mar 17, 2020 11:51 am

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Not my skillset. Go bug Kison.
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Post Post #153 (isolation #42) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 8:32 am

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Spoiler: Write-Ins
There is also a Dionysian style race os Satyrs who are thought to be mythological until they are encountered for *insert plot point here*

Dire wombats exist; they hate most humans

Humans aren't civilized, they're basically mindless animals cultivated as an experiment by an enlightened Dire Wombat empire.

Civilised society is highly mixed, but humans (or another group) have established themselves as the dominant race. Likewise, there is decidedly an underclass race whose labour and disenfranchisement the empire depends on

There is a continent of sentient wombats.

Reclusive Human societies, perhaps humans considered unclean.

Bird people

Classic leads 9 to 8 over interspeciated, but the write-ins largely support an interspeciated world. This one was kind of tough, as it was effectively a tossup, but splitting the difference seems to be creating the most interesting outcomes, so let's do that.
The world is highly interspeciated, with the races living together in societies which range from modestly mixed to thoroughly cosmopolitan. Not all species can interbreed, but half- and quarter-races are not uncommon. There is, however, a caveat - Elterluna is fully dominated by humans. Hundreds of years ago, it was a variety of independent race-nations, which were gradually conquered by the Elterlunians. The human states they overcame were incorporated fully after a generation or two, but non-humans were given a modest amount of autonomy but no real political power beyond their borders. They remain largely mono-racial, and are overseen by imperial governors. Non-humans are allowed to travel, live, and work elsewhere within Elterluna, but they are explicitly second-class citizens with limited rights.

While we're on the subject of imperial culture, this has been brewing for a while - Elterluna is jointly ruled by a co-equal Emperor and Empress. When an Emperor dies, the female nobles in the empire elect a new one from the male nobles, and vice versa. The two hold absolute power - provided they act in concert. Any command by one may be rejected by the other. Three times in an Emperor or Empress's reign, they may exercise absolute power. This mandate, known as a Royal Warrant, overrides all other laws, commands, and traditions, and can do anything except change the manner of governance, which may only be done by both rulers issuing a Warrant together. This power includes vetoing the election of their new opposite number, though clever electing nobles have used this to waste a ruler's remaining Warrants by nominating inept or detestable Emperors or Empresses. This has, of course, been turned back on the electors just to spite them.

This pattern of co-equal opposition and "three times in a life" has filtered down to many aspects of life, and most government institutions are led by male and female co-leaders with the same rules. Imperial governors and viceroys are likewise appointed in pairs - men by the Empress or her designee, women by the Emperor or his representative. Married couples also traditionally have a similar arrangement, though the practice of arranging marriages by the opposite gender has fallen by the wayside following a Royal Warrant several generations ago.


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Spoiler: Write-ins
Spells are created in a way similar to real-life engineering

No structure, you are limited by your imagination and control of power, your intent is what matters. But you are limited to only being skilled in certain categories.

Earthsea-type, verbal magic system

Based entirely on math and an understanding of the underlying forces of the universe where implementation is derived as a function of understanding. Truly unlimited in theory, but practically incredibly difficult to tailor.

So vague, the reader isnt even sure if magic actually exists or not.

soft magic system all the way yeet

Okay, so the consensus is for a softer, more flexible system of magic, allowing our protagonist (and you, the audience) to do pretty much whatever you like within the boundaries of his portfolio. I have to say, this troubled me a good deal, as deep down, I am a believer in Sanderson's Three Laws of Magic, but designing an intricate system with codified rules, limitations, and costs is a fairly massive undertaking for a project like this. I decided to go with a middle ground, giving you the flexibility to do what you like without completely giving away the farm.
Sorcery in this world is a mysterious and changeable thing, bound to the bones, blood, and soul of the practitioner. A born mage has the power given to them at birth, though the ability to use it consciously rarely manifests until the onset of puberty. "Schools" of magic, including the Academy at Haven, focus on teaching students restraint, wisdom, and the mental flexibility required to control and manipulate their power. Untutored mages often have no idea what they're doing and become raging torrents of energy, spewing uncontrolled energy and peril about them until they are stopped, on way or another. Most of these prodigies merely burn themselves out or cook their brains to mush, but many literally explode, sometimes taking others with them. The worst of these cases have triggered major magical catastrophes, such as struck the town of Fort Alesstine. This kind of disaster is what led to the joint Royal Warrant expelling sorcerers from Elterluna generations ago.

Expressing magic in a safe way requires both self-awareness and passion, the ability to precisely frame in the mind what you are asking your power to do. The use of magic is tiring, but simple fatigue does not act as a hard limitation. Much more pressing is that the use of sorcery literally drains away some of your spiritual essence, draining the practitioner of their very humanity. Sorcerers call this reserve of spirit the Vitae, and it is known to recover rapidly, especially with rest. The truth is that it is not well-understood, and no one knows their limits until their find them. The effects of light use of power are hardly discernible, but as the practitioner draws more deeply on their Vitae, they are at risk of increasing physical and mental effects. Practically-speaking, this will manifest as a lowering of the protagonist's skills in contrast to the magic he uses. If he uses too much persuasive magic, his empathy and insight will suffer. Control the weather too much, and he may begin to suffer from bouts of hypothermia on a hit day or heat exhaustion in winter. Charm too many animals and he may begin to act like one. A warning sign may be the presence of headaches, nosebleeds, or blurry vision. At the extreme, this sort of thing will result in blackouts or uncontrolled bursts of power. If he is lucky, he'll merely pass out. If unlucky, he may enter a fugue state where he loses all conscious control, essentially becoming a vindictive avatar of sorcery with wildly unpredictable results.

The first lesson budding mages are taught is that magic is not the solution to all of their problems. There are many which only magic can solve, but one must always consider the cost to their Vitae, and not to use their power frivolously.


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Spoiler: Write-ins
Bear, Lord Byron had one and so should our protag

Snake!

I know that if I don't say "dire wombat" I'll be disowned by the meme squad but I'm also putting down DRAGON because nothing fits our boi better than the term "DRACO in leather pants"

SNAKE(also bears are cool)

Bat

Red Panda

Really? Non-dire....Dire Wombat

Snek

I'm a little shocked you didn't put fox as an option. Sentient Sapling.

Give that man a goddamn alligator

Tiger

Four Hamsters

Whew! Let's do something a little less heavy. Fine. Wombat wins. The protagonist has a familiar/animal companion, Bear the wombat. The protagonist can use magic to alter Bear's size, and often keeps him the size of a large housecat. Naturally, he is roughly the size of a large dog, but at need he can be grown to the size of an actual bear or as little as a squirrel. Happy? Bear the resizing wombat. He poops adorable little cubes. Every so often if he's feeling cheeky, he leaves behind a dodecahedron, because he's a goddamn magic wombat.

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Spoiler: Write-ins
Subpolar

Varies by town due to weather mages doing their thing

Desert, tundra

DESERT

Due to the influence of magic climate is immediately variable with conflicting biospheres frequently directly adjacent (a desert and rainforest within the space of a mile because of magic causing clouds to skip portions of the sky, for example.)

Temperate oceanic

Temperate because I'm awesome.


Taking into account the write-ins, temperate is the winner here, but let's not be boring.
Antasia and Thayris are in the southern temperate band of the planet. However, the climate of the Sorcerer Isles is highly variable. The influence of generations of sorcerers and active experimentation in weather control magic has permanently skewed normal weather in the archipelago. Most islands have their own biomes, ranging from desert to rainforest, ice-bound to lush. The island Haven inhabits is particularly diverse. The city is maintained in a state of perpetual early autumn, with summer's heat lingering but not intense, with occasional cool gusts of wind. Haven's climate sorcerers are engaged in a constant battle to maintain this, fending off expanding desert to the west, a wild rainforest to its north, and snowy taiga to the south. Some, however, say that this is not the result of the sorcerers battling wild magic, but rather a covert war between factions of the Academy's department of Weather Magic, or perhaps an elaborate but friendly competition between its senior professors masquerading as a war pretending to be wild magic. Who's to say? These climate zones do shift over time, and there is at least one rogue storm, known as the Eye of Nomlas, rumored to have a rudimentary sentience and a grudge against sailors, which wanders the region wreaking havoc.

Calamity sits in a subtropical zone.

Question Six wrote:The story needs to begin with our protagonist in some sort of dilemma. What kind of situation is he in? Be creative, feel free to make multiple suggestions.
Spoiler: Write-ins
His house is made out of bricks of wombat poop, which is feasible because they poop cubes. Lately all the wombats on his wombat ranch have been pooping out all of the non-cube platonic solids but not cubes, so he can't repair his house. What sort of enchantment is causing these non-cubic wombat droppings?
One of his hamsters got lost
The plot of Super Mario Sunshine. Magical doppleganger framing him for largescale graffiti and vandalism and a lazy/inept legal system assuming his guilt until he fixes the entirety of the problem regardless of hard evidence clearing his name.
Our protagonist has found himself in possession of a frankly astonishing amount of coconuts and he has to make a profit off of them or else he's wasted a whole lot of time and money, and our boy is just not sure where to begin, what with his lack of business acumen.
Our protagonist is fleeing from a group of merchants and their guards who he tried to use persuasion magic on but failed miserably.
He’s lost some money gambling, and now owes a criminal a serious favour to pay off his debt...
i will think about this later & discord you
He awakes to the beating of drums and blare of trumpets that would signal a battle but outside his home all is actually quiet and peaceful.
The protagonist needs to cast a spell to get out of a dilemma that someone more creative than me will suggest, but he does not have the runes for that spell nor does he have the necessary materials to create such a rune.
Dire wombat attack
A dragon is demanding tribute
His sibling is missing
His house is made out of bricks of wombat poop, which is feasible because they poop cubes. Lately all the wombats on his wombat ranch have been pooping out all of the non-cube platonic solids but not cubes, so he can't repair his house. What sort of enchantment is causing these non-cubic wombat droppings?
Out of toilet paper in a pub and their animal companion who was sent to help has been gone for awhile.
The protagonist, with his knowledge of beastlore and decent magical abilities, ends up being hired by a mysterious person to investigate a series of disappearances involving a magical creature.
He's essentially Aladdin/Robin Hood in the sense that he's someone who enjoys stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Unfortunately, his pickpocketing has caught up to him and we start off with him evading the local Mage Knight Brigade. Will he get caught or will he manage to get away? Who will he bump into that will shift the status quo? Will there be an event. WHO KNOWS SO MANY POSSIBILITIES AHHHH
Acting as a nature guide/navigator for a group of bandits/pirates. Except he is infiltrating the gang and leading them right into a trap by the local authorities. Maybe he nicks something of theirs on his way out as "payment".
Despite his charm, our protagonist is deep in debt to the sorcery mob boss. If he doesn’t get enough money to pay him off in time, he’s gonna be a sheep
His village is destroyed in a hurricane built by an evil wizard with high magical talent. The protagonist sets out to earn money so he can rebuild his village and then fight the wizard and his minions. His sister later turns out to be the wizard's right hand man, who had grown disillusioned with the structured nature of village life and wanted to explore her magical talent.
In a prison cell
Judging by his character, barfight ensues when a covert trade deal for rare ingredients goes wrong. Think "drug deal" kinda thing.
The authorities are trying to round up his illegal dire wombat farm
Thayris is buying the help of numerous talented mages, especially from Antasia, for a shady operation that they didn't reveal the details of.

Okay, this is a bit of a mess. Picking and choosing, combining a few...

The story opens with...You know what? No. You'll find out! The details will come out in the first few chapters of our story about just how screwed the protagonist is.
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

Act 3, Scene 1 of
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Post Post #155 (isolation #43) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 8:33 am

Post by Pine »

New survey (the last before we get started) to go up later this evening.
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #159 (isolation #44) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 9:28 am

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Special mention to “Give that man a goddamn alligator.” Definitely my favorite write-in of this cycle, and it saddens me that it’s so wildly impractical
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #161 (isolation #45) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 9:39 am

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As with bears, an animal that large and fierce would cause problems I don’t want caused and solve problems I don’t want (easily) solved. For example:

“Barkeep, may I have an ale?” “AHHHH A BEAR! RUN!”
or
“Give me all your money! Wait is that a bear? AHHHH A BEAR! RUN!“
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #163 (isolation #46) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 9:42 am

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Maybe :]
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Post Post #167 (isolation #47) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 1:52 pm

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"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #169 (isolation #48) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 1:57 pm

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"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #171 (isolation #49) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:07 pm

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Same limitations as there are on all magic
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #172 (isolation #50) » Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:09 pm

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Ah, so, it's important to note that
intent
will matter. So if you're shrinking Bear to enter a community and be civil etc, that would drop your ability to intimidate, maybe bluff etc. If you're enlarging him to fight, you'll be losing some of your control and finesse.

I'm playing it by ear
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Post Post #176 (isolation #51) » Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:25 am

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I’m working on it. These days off are annoyingly busy. Now I’m expected to be productive with things I’ve been putting off. Like dishes. Or childcare.

I just spent four hours helping my dad chop firewood.
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #182 (isolation #52) » Sat Mar 21, 2020 10:40 am

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Thank you all for your patience! While this last survey is live, I'll be sketching out maps, planning the opening scenes, and making additional notes about likely areas we'll be visiting, NPCs we'll be meeting, etc. This will be live for 48 hours, and then we'll dive in with the story.

Enjoy!
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #184 (isolation #53) » Mon Mar 23, 2020 5:05 pm

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Compiling responses. I've got a fairly clear picture of the results, but the write-up will have to wait until morning.
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Post Post #185 (isolation #54) » Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:11 am

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Adren's race was one of the most interesting response patterns we've had, so I'm going to freeform it a bit. Adren's ancestry is mixed - 1/16 Water Dragon, 1/8 Satyr, the rest multiracial human. Yes, Water Dragon, not Copper. I decided to get away from the D&D dragon model and go with more elemental magic and creature types. This setting uses the five classical elements of China, complete with their cycles of opposition and alliance. These categorizations hold true for many magical creatures as well as many kinds of spellcraft. Our boy has a somewhat diverse portfolio of gifts - illusion is usually water-based. The soothing components of suggestive and manipulative magic are also water, while the inflaming parts are fire-based. Unless very crude, they tend to be mediated by wood magic (which also covers living thing in general). Animal manipulation and telepathy is mostly wood magic, while weather manipulation can involve any element (depending on desired effect) but is most often fire and water mediated by earth.

Getting back to dragons - dragons tend to follow one of two models in this setting. Many are reclusive and keep to themselves, growing to great strength and size in the isolated parts of the world. Their hoards grow through the efforts of supplicant humanoids living in their shadow, and through the payments offered by scholars, rulers, and philosophers who seek their wisdom. More than one has set themselves up as an information broker or spymaster. Some of these dragons encourage cult followings. The other major brand of dragon is the kind who uses the sorcery they all possess to shapeshift and blend into mortal culture, intermingling and enjoying the fruits of civilization incognito. It is a mark of prestige for a ruler to have a draconic advisor, though few possess the gold to hire one or the social graces to befriend them.

Adren's great-great-grandcestor was one of this latter type, a wanderer who liked to join the crews of ships on exploratory missions as a navigator. On one such voyage, ze took a liking to the ship's captain and seduced him, leaving an egg behind. That line of Adren's ancestry has always been consumed with wanderlust, and Adren is constantly running across distant cousins ze didn't know ze had. On the other side, Adren is almost purely Thayrissian, save for a satyr great-grandfather.

Physically, Adren has a pair of stubby, ridged horns on the side of zir head, often covered by flowing curls of leaf-green hair. On both shoulders and down zir left arm and hand are a network of fine blue scales. At need, Adren can will these scales to thicken and harden to roughly the durability of chainmail, which has saved zir life at least once. Ze often flaunts this openly, but does not hesitate to conceal it with sleeves and gloves should the need for anonymity arise. There's a lot more I could say here, but let's have it come out in the telling.

Image
So above I was using the neutral pronouns ze/zir etc. This one was pretty decisive, and I've got to say, that's pretty cool. MS.net is heartwarmingly open, and I love you all :] Adren is in tune with the currents and eddies of ambient magic in zir local area and express zir gender differently on any given day. Sometimes he chooses to use male pronouns, sometimes she presents as a woman, others ze expresses as neither - or both. Ze/zir is an accepted general default.

I have been in tune with the fact that I will have limited perspective when writing this character, and I have already been reaching out to trans and genderqueer members of the community to touch base with them. If you would like to help with this, please open a dialogue with me.


Bolded suggestions will be incorporated:

Spoiler: Physical Traits for Adren
Their ears are the largest known of their species, without competition.
His left hand has spasms where he flashes the middle finger for no reason.
they have color changing scales up and down their left arm
(Just blue, though)
Freckles
Three eyes
talking wart
Their eyes change colour according to the emotion they're trying to convey
(Mood)
His eyes change color with his temper
(Mood)
Has a face that inexplicably reminds everyone who sees it of a dire wombat
Jittery, always bouncing around with energy
medium length beard
Missing half of his left ear
Thousand voices, could greatly alter his voice to make it sound drastically different and is able to mimic practically anyone
(A toned-down version of this. Adren's mimicry is not perfect, but ze is good with voices)

Spoiler: Behavioral Quirk for Adren
He cannot perform unless there is drink in his hand (or so he claims at least)
Whenever he says anything even remotely close to a pun, he stops the story to waggle his eyebrows and repeat the pun to make sure people got it.
They only refer to the protagonist and other characters by various changing nicknames, only calling them by their actual name when introduced
(A toned-down version of this. Uses nicknames frequently, but not compulsively)
Prone to going on long tangents about obscure subjects.

WIsh they had four eyes
abundant flatulence
They can never keep their hands still, whether they're strumming on a lute, or just rolling a coin across their fingers, they're constantly fidgeting. They claim it's due to being sensitive to all the potential stories people are brimming with.
Plays guitar upside down while dancing....upside down
He likes things that come in 3s
(A mild form of OCD)
Laughs like this hehehehehehehehehe
Doesn’t end conversations properly
witty
laughs when nervous
L'esprit de l'escalier. Always knows the perfect witty reply to anything, but five minutes too late.

<<Adren's background secret will come out when it comes out>>
====================
Spoiler: Protagonist's Physical Traits
When he talks, smiles, etc it is through the left side of his mouth only. Why? That is unknows. Perhaps his charisma is buffed/debuffed by use of him full mouth. Perhaps the right holds the power for his magical incantations! We shall find out soon.
He has the stupidest goddamn sideburns you've ever seen. He grew them as a teen and refuses to shave them because that would be admitting they were a poor choice in the first place.
(Let's just go with muttonchops, yeah?)
A scar in the shape of an M on their neck that they refuse to explain how they got

Very tall
One eye
massive dong
I mean...yeah

Heterochromia
Big ol nose
Is a werewombat
Protagonist has hairy hands - they braid the hair
Can see well in the dark

Spoiler: Protagonist's Behavioral Quirks
He would pickpocket anyone and anything, and is successful more often than not.
Is uneasy around ducks.
They talk to their sword/dagger/other weapon constantly. Like it's not a magic sword or anything, and it's actually a pretty weak weapon (and rarely useful), but they love it and constantly talk to it. Preferably they also named it something really silly, like "Mr. Stabby" or "Grabthar's Hammer" even though it's not a hammer
They eat *a lot* of food
Wish they had five eyes
always adjusting his balls
He's a nervous laugher.

Eats wombat shit (sorry Pine)
Is very energetic
Protagonist idly hums when they think

They can't tell the whole truth. They can only speak in lies.
Always know what phase the moon is at

<<The protagonist's background secret will come out when it comes out>>
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

Act 3, Scene 1 of
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Post Post #186 (isolation #55) » Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:22 am

Post by Pine »

The main event!

Protagonist name suggestionsBob
Tom Bombadil
Adam Steinberg
E'kkla Zynn
Soragard Adelaide
Lazarus Muhammad
Eragon Backstabber
Elijah Hosea
David Tenet
Hiraki Amirichi
Bill Underwood
Donald Trump
Ali Negal
Jerome Banks
Xavier Zachstralkita
Pine Mellow
Tai-chi Qui-gon
Anakin Skywalker
Keith Holland
Alexander Bellarusa
Ronald Karamcat
Z. Gratigny
Aladdin Karadeniz
Jose Reyes
Adren Malachai
Gonzu Gonzu
Evan Star
Floyd Panther
Coleman Stalling
Hiroyuuki Kirigaya
Ivan Czar
Mike Allen
Noah Arc
Oorok Oathbreaker
Qatar Secant
Samuel Philemon
Uther Arthur
Benjamin Franklin
Valorim Hawthorne
Wu Zhe
Yolondo Sheyzian
Zig Zag
Drummel
Felicitous
Renfew
Liffon
Leckson
Defew
Zormith
Nomlas
Greg (No Last Name, just Greg)
Jeremy Silverhawk
William
Nomlas
Don Glover
Rowan(this has been my internal name for him for ages)
Calderan Bane
Ilyan
Baylor Dreck
Kleo
Protagonist-Kun
Idk
Womlas
Wait, it’s not Adren?
Adren
Chaddius
Gemma, Indigo, Fawly
Adrian. Because we need to have this be even more confusing. ;)
Steve
A Protagonist Named Slickback. Yes, the whole thing. Yes, every time.


Yikes! That's a lot. Granted, 41 of them came from Ircher *side eyes*.

Drumroll please!

Image

Spoiler: Finalists
Rowan
Ilyan
Fawly


Go vote on the protagonist's name! A surname will be selected to match once the first name is chosen.

The first story update is due roughly 24 hours from now. See you then!
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #194 (isolation #56) » Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:33 am

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Post Post #196 (isolation #57) » Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:51 am

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I'd rather not. Knowing the person involved, it was likely a joke in poor taste and not intended to be offensive. They also checked agender and genderfluid. I had to look up the meme myself just now to realize that it was a dog whistle and not merely silly.

You know who you are - please take this seriously in the future and think before you act.
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Post Post #202 (isolation #58) » Sun Mar 29, 2020 3:33 am

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Post Post #204 (isolation #59) » Sun Mar 29, 2020 11:40 am

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It’s far more terrifying to envision Jingle as Carol/Cheryl/Carina

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I’m getting my ducks in a row for the first story updates, doing background stuff. I’m drawing some maps tonight, Chickadee did a great portrait of Adren that I’m eager to share, I just want to be ready to go to a regular schedule once I start.
"Cry havoc, and let slip the wombat of war!"

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Post Post #206 (isolation #60) » Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:59 pm

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It's not abandoned.
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Post Post #217 (isolation #61) » Fri Jun 19, 2020 9:55 am

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I've been going through some shit. This is still on my radar, it's going to happen.
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