TBNES - 2: Forging The Dawn

Applying:

Forging The Dawn takes place a few generations after The Waking shattered the world and broke the people of the earth. Already, memory of the war has turned into legend, and the husks of the great cities are ascribed to ancient gods and not the works of men. In only a few more generations, the only ones who will know of the old world will be the shamans who still manage to talk to those beings on the other side.

As such, while I intend to accept as many players as I feel I can handle at any one time, there will be an application process wherein I hope that players can work together and with me to create cultures that fit the feel I hope to accomplish within the setting. Ultimately, I hope that we can work together to create a cannon universe for a future RPG, one with a deep and complex history as can only be created by NESers.

To apply, simply fill out the below:

Culture name: The name by which your people know themselves.
Race: What race. Please chose one of the five provided (I’ll be willing to let players create their own races, but only if you can convince me of the need for your particular race.) The Dey are currently unplayable.
Location: Where on the map do your people live?
Society: What shape does your society take? how is it organized? how are they ruled?
Religion: What are the beliefs of your people? what religious codes do they follow
Economy: What is the basic economy of your people? (If they are a mountain people, what foods do they eat? etc)
Country names: Future names for polities that spring from your ancestral culture
Person Names: Given names
Place names: names for geographic features or areas on the map.

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In your application, please keep in mind that this is a living world, with a history to it. Therefore, emergent cultures likely have had some form of influence on them, no matter how minimal, by extant cultures. Even nomadic cultures that enter the area have to have a reason to finally settle here. Other than that, you are free to enter how you want.

Important Note:
Forging the Dawn is a fantasy fresh start designed to create the history of a world which will eventually be used to create an RPG setting which will be sold for monetary gains. Participating in this NES, while it will offer some rewards when the RPG is released, will not entitle you to a portion of the proceeds, nor make you an employee of the company producing it.
Additionally, I need to confess having been very inspired by Lord of Elves ruleset for Noisome Silence in creating these rules.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions. I am often on #NES, and will do my utmost to answer you.

The World We Live In:


The Dreaming:

The Dreaming was the period of beginnings, when the world emerged from the froth of creation before splitting into two reflections. On one side was the mortal world, mundane but much more solid than the spirit world. On the the other was the spirit world, eternal, chaotic, and brighter in many ways than the mortal world. From one to the other flowed the Great River. In those days, the boundaries between the worlds was softer and travel between the two was easy. In fact, many had no knowledge that there were two world. Humanity and the five spirit families co-existed peacefully, and many would not have known that the world was in fact two. For uncounted millennia this peace existed, humanity prospered and nations and empires rose and fell. but beneath the surface, an insidious threat grew.

The Nightmare:

Since the beginning of time, the Spirits of Essence had ruled benevolently over the denizens of the spirit world, administering the chaos as much as it could be, and keeping the peace between often discordant spirits. Over time, however, the Great Spirits of Essence grew jealous of the powers of the other spirits, and began to believe that all power should reside within the dominion of Essence. This imbalance triggered a great war. Many great spirits were destroyed or changed, their light lost from the world forever, and for a while, Essence ruled unchallenged. Man and spirit were enslaved, their very being changed and warped to reflect the unfathomable whims of their masters. But hope was not lost. Many spirits of the other families survived the purges, and many humans rebelled against their demonic masters. An alliance was forged and war, known as the waking, was waged. The Earth was scarred and many humans were physically changed by their alliance, gaining a closer affinity to a spirit family. Eventually, though, the war was won, and the Great Spirits of Essence were expelled from creation itself, their powers split amongst the remaining families. Perhaps the biggest scar of the war, however, was the sundering of the spirit world from the mortal world. Though travel between the two was still possible, difficult rituals and complex pacts were required, as opposed to the easy travel of the past.

This is all the fading past.The shattered world is slowly pulling itself back together, the disunited tribes of man and spiritkin pulling themselves up from the abyss, from the shattered ruins of ancient cities.


Spirits:

Spirits exist in many different shapes and forms, but can be classified to a certain degree. While many may cross into reality from the Spirit World or back, only spirits with considerable power can do so at will.

The weakest of spirits are called sparks, very simple entities generated by a concept or object in the physical world. When manifest, they tend to appear as motes of light of a color reminiscent of their origin: As such, fire sparks tend to appear as glowing motes, while a Joy spirit may appear as a multicolored flashes of light. These spirits are generally not intelligent, and dissipate with the end of their creative force. These spirits can only gain in power and intelligence by joining with, or consuming, like sparks (Or spark within the same family – A fire spirit can consume or join with a lightning spirit or love spirit, but can NOT absorb a water spirit. Sparks who manage to break this rule become very dangerous entities.) Sparks cannot travel into reality without being called by a Shaman.

The entities known simply as spirits are generally associated with locations or concepts. Spirits tend to come into being by sparks congregating in great number becoming a single entity. These spirits run the gamut of consciousness and power from barely greater than a spark to immensely powerful. However, no matter how powerful these spirits are, they are unable to break the bonds that bind them. As such, no pain spirit can give up the opportunity to cause pain, nor can a hunger spirit resist consuming. As a rule, these spirits have individual names, have agendas, and can be bargained with or befriended. These spirits tend to look in some way like what they represent: An animate flame, a woodland animal, a shrouded figure. Spirits may generally cross into reality at will, but this requires much effort which most are only willing to expend under dire need or when a great anger spurs them.

The highest class of spirits are known as Marids. These are spirits that have grown far beyond their purview. While there a limits to how they can use their power, these boundaries are usually infinitesimal compared to the power they wield, as most are so powerful and intelligent they can find all kinds of loopholes in their bans. Marids may cross boundaries in reality at will.


All spirits belong to a spirit family, each with specific common attributes, though by no means common ideals or personalities. These families are associated with an element, and, after the waking, an aspect of Essence.

• Afrit: Spirits of fire and intellect
• Undine: Spirits of water and relations (charisma)
• Djinn: Spirits of air and agility
• Huaca: Spirits of Earth and strength
• Aether: Spirits of essence, long since banished and their domain split between the other families.

Mankind and the Spiritkin

Humanity was dragged wholesale into The Waking without truly comprehending the enormity of the event. Nevertheless, many of the spirit families took populations of humans, either to protect them or to use them as soldiers in the war. Those human populations in close proximity to a spirit family were changed at a fundamental level by the spirits, and have since come to collectively be called Spiritkin, though they see themselves as different from each other as from common humans.

Races:

• Humans are still the most numerous of the known races.
• Orcs were used by Afrits and so are generally more intelligent but also qmore volatile than humans. Their skin varies from light blue to deep bronze and red, depending on the area.
• Elves were humans taken in by Djinn, and thus are longer lived and are more agile than humans.
• Dwarves were patronized by Huacas and as such are stronger but squatter, than baseline humans.
• Loreley were humans who lived closely with undine. Generally very affable, Loreley tend to be nomadic traders and merchants. Their skin tends to blueish, with softly colored hair.
• Dey were stolen by Aether spirits to use against the subjects of the other families. They appear insubstantial, as if a strong breeze could knock them over, but display a great strength. Generally hated and reviled for the sins of their fathers, Dey live in isolated communities in the far reaches of the earth, but sometimes the art of being swells their blood veins and the only way they can let the energy out is by doing something that is greater than anything else. Those who travel far tend to become wandering musicians, artists, thieves, and advisors to the highest kings.

These are by no means the only races, but simply the more common ones: However, no known Non-human race has emerged from any spiritual contact but that during the nightmare.

Within these racial boundaries (and often times spanning many) there are myriads of peoples, languages, cultures, and appearances. Not all dwarves will be stronger than humans, nor all orcs more intelligent.

Souls and Death:

There is an immense difference between the Soul of a mortal being and a spirit. A spirit is born of and grows from the environment around it, while a soul is completely pure.

In death, all souls flow through the great river to the Sea of Dreams, which is found between the spirit world and the mortal world. The Sea of Dreams is an ocean at the heart of the spirit world made of the stuff of souls. It is pure and incorruptible.

The great river has five cataracts, waterfalls that wash away aspects of mortality from the dead.

The first cataract is Being, which washes away all the memories of the dead. Beyond that point, the souls of the dead will not recall anything from their life, though their personalities are intact.

The Second is Water, and beyond it, souls lose the abilities to assert their will.

The third is Air, and beyond it, souls, if brought back to Earth, must wear an artificial body of clay, dirt, and flesh.

The Fourth Cataract is Fire, and passing through it strips a soul of the reasonings of mankind. Souls that have passed beyond Fire and brought back to earth are immensely powerful, immensely malevolent beings that can be bound to the will of a powerful mage, as they have little ability to reason.

The fifth and final cataract is Earth, and it strips the soul of the strength that bound it to earth, and beyond it souls are pure and wash into the Sea of Dreams where they are eventually reborn.

Entire aspects of magic revolve around speaking to and enslaving the souls of the dead before they reach the sea of dreams, but practitioners of necromancy are reviled and hated throughout most of the world.

Stats and Doing Things.:

Stats will remain, until such time as I see fit, a simple affair detailing only in relative terms your military and economic might. The focus of this NES will be overarching cultural themes and affairs rather than the nitty-gritty numbers involved in what happens. As Lord of Elves put it in The Noisome Silence:

Spoiler :

The goal of this NES is to follow the trends of cultures, civilizations and ultimately kingdoms or nations or something resembling them. The NES should ideally run the gamut between a medieval stasis fantasy world and an environment of clans, tribes and great lineages. Stylistically I am looking for a blend of “A Song of Ice and Fire” and “The Silmarillion.” North_King's End of Empires but with elves. Accordingly the focus is less on the minute details of “How much did the Mountain King in Al-Gharzot spend on this turn's infrastructure project compared with the overall GDP of the Empire Al-Gharzotia and previous projects” and more on “In the waning years of the third age the Mountain King Hed-Ythrustag commissioned a great project to enhance the wealth and prosperity of his citizens, the dwarves of Al-Gharzotia.” Style, story and a focus on theme is the focus.

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Stats will look something like this:

Culture Name: (Thurandal Orcs/Thomas.berubeg)
Economic Strength: (Insular/closed) - Relative strength of your economy to that of the world
Economic Description: (hunting and herding, occasional fishing from coastal groups) - Simple description of your economy
Military Strength: (Powerful) - Relative strength of your military to that of the world
Military Description: (light cavalry with minor spirit support) - Simple description of your military
Cultural influence: Decaying, Susceptible to outside influences - How influential you are to your neighbors
Cities: (Nurn Torgis, Nurn Alban, Nurn Ghottan) - Important cities

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When sending orders, please remember that the initial turns of the NES will span centuries, if not more.

Magic

Magic in the context of the sending orders is pretty vague. Most magic, aside for necromancy, is performed through the intermediary of Spirits, who agree to perform tasks for individuals or stats they feel a bond or duty to. In that light, almost anything is doable, so long as you can find and convince and appropriately powerful spirit, or one of the right domain, to act for you. This is very much a faustian bargain, though, as many spirits require some form of payment or promise to act in the mortal world.

Map:

Stats

Corunan Orcs/Seon

Laozi Loreley/Immaculate

Vauvra Human/ Awesome

Kojai-Ishi Dwarves/Decamper

Dunak Dwarves/Merciary

Narned Elves/ Bonefang

Seuridil Marwolaeth Elves/Defacto

The Night Sky:

The night sky is very different from the one that we are familiar with.

A large moon travels the sky on a monthly cycle of approximately 30 days, and many have informally begun to keep track of it’s predictable cycles. Larger than the earth moon, it is known to have a strong effect on the tides of Eran’s oceans.

Sharp eyed observers will see that the moon is accompanied by a dark shape, observable only because it blots out the stars behind it. Very rarely, the dark shape passes in front of the moon and can be determined to be a circle, smaller than the moon. When this happens, keen observers note that the moon appears to be crying blue tears.

In the southern sky, though moving ever north as one travels south, a dark red cloud can be observed, seemingly reaching and grasping for the stars around it.

Seven stars stand out from the rest for shining more brightly and for visibly traveling through the night sky, though their path appears erratic to the Eranbound observer.

Flora and Fauna:
The Flora and Fauna of Eran, aside for some major exceptions, is very similar to that of earth. Rainforests abound with colorful birds and venomous reptiles, and the rivers teem with fish and aquatic mammals, and the savannahs are home to numerous large mammals and, in a great exception to earth, a number of large pack birds, filling a number of Niches, most notably the carnivorous ones (the Lions, Hyenas, and wild dogs that hunt in the african savannahs are missing here). The Vauvran Straight marks the ecological boundary for these great birds, and on the western side, more familiar animals can be found.

The agricultural package known to the people of Eran is also very similar to earth, with wheat, barley, and rice all domesticated within a relatively small area, geographically. In addition, the fruit known to the people of Eran would be familiar to us, though so far tropical fruits are the only known ones.

The Dog:
The Dog was domesticated long ago and is here also the best friend of both Man and Spiritkin, Nearly all people know and have dogs. Laozi dogs have been bred to be medium sized animals, very comfortable with the ocean and able to hunt fish effectively. nearly all Olanglaut have at least one or two aboard as they are calm companions on even the roughest seas. Corunan and Dhessareib dogs are small, quick, and lithe, adept at hunting the various poisonous snakes that make their homes in the rice paddies of their masters as well as hunting the vermin that make their homes in their grain stores. Vauvran breeds tend to be larger dogs, steady and loyal, though vicious if they beleive that their owner is threatened. Vauvran dogs are often used as guardians for the tombs. The dogs of the Guardians are very similar in size and temperament to Vauvran breeds, but tend towards a silvery color and an unnatural intelligence. Narned and Jashari dogs are of the same stock, with long legs and coarse spiky fur to discourage bites from venomous reptiles and insects. The Dogs of the Dwarven people are well adapted to the mountainous environment, agile and quick. Most of these dogs have a double coat, and are as much at ease in the warmer lowlands as the coldest peaks. These dogs tend towards a very strong herding instinct. Of the people of Eran, only the Seuridil Marwolaeth do not make use of dogs. Instead, serving the same niche, the Seuridili have large cats, domesticated from the social cat breeds that on earth died out during the early paleolithic. As such, these cats are much more social than the domestic house cats that inhabit the rest of Eran. At ease on the high branches and passageways of Seuridil villages, these cats are companions, guardians, and hunting partners to the elves.

Magical Flora and Fauna
Coming soon.

And Yall's free to post!

There is going to be a game by one of the NES'ers ?!? Awesome !!! Best of luck for the future.

Feel free to post applications sans the map, and choose a location later.

Perhaps you should post this thread on the New NESes thread?

I for one am very excited about this and intend on posting a template as soon as possible.

Post implying interest. Will edit later

We now have a map in the third post!

So I’ve created some pretty bloodthirsty tribes in a lot of NESes recently so this time I’m going to try and do something different.


Culture name:

Laozi


Race:

Loreley


Location:

Largest of the northern islands.


Society:

The Laozi are ruled by a monarch. The monarch holds absolute power but seldom exercises it. The cities and towns are expected to provide some small tax to the king or queen but for the most part govern themselves.

Despite a monarchical governance apparatus, there is relatively little social stratification within Laozi culture. A village headsmen or headwoman is chosen to represent the monarch within the village and the village in court, by popular decree, though their position is not considered higher than his or her fellow villagers. Their role is to represent them, not to govern them directly.

The Laozi are highly socialistic by nature, though not by law. They believe in private property but because their society values humility and compassion so highly (see religion) they are constantly sharing of their wealth with their neighbors or those in need. This is not an organized affair but rather one that naturally arises.

The Laozi live in extended families including several generations in either wooden longhouses or at sea on barge-like houseboats. Nomadic travellers may come to live with a family either temporarily or permanently and in this way become part of the family. Families or individuals may feel that it the ebb and flow and balance of energies around them call them to a new place and so both families and individuals are highly nomadic. In this way the residents of a particular village or area may change by as much as 20-40% every 3-5 years. This trait also helps ablate regionalism as all Laozi, regardless of where they live, consider themselves part of a larger whole, even if they feel distant from it.

Laozi are by nature and by faith pacifists, and only rarely do battle, and never amongst themselves. They have been known to abandon areas overrun by more aggressive neighbors but on very rare occasions their monarch will organize a spirited defense. Because this only occurs in the most dire of circumstances, when it does occur, the whole of the nation goes to war as one, with wide-scale conscription of both manpower and resources accepted by all.


Religion:

‘Balance of Streams, Tides, Sands and Winds’:
Fundamentally venerate the sparks and spirits of the two world and the underlying energies that guide them. Attempt to balance their various influences and live in harmony with these energies and forces.

‘Path of Balance’:
The ‘Balance’ teaches that there is a flow to the world, to its energies, its spirits, its people. Even weather and animals feel this flow and move to embrace it, to flow with it. Like the gentle ash or birch, the balance invites its followers to bend with this flow, not to resist, and thus not to break under its immense energies. The way of non-resistance is the ‘Path of Balance’.

‘Balance of Non-Self’:
By following the path, one learns to accept the flow around oneself and to place oneself in harmony with it. The second step is to act without self, one’s actions should be in accordance with the harmony of the worlds and because it is harmony, does not require self for action. Through Balance of Non-Self, one seeks to remove one’s struggles, anxieties, ambitions, imbalances, from one’s actions. This means one will act with humility, moderation, and compassion. This doesn’t always mean that one’s actions will be easy, but it does mean that one’s actions will be most in harmony with the worlds. Non-self means one will act with conscious (though selfless) thought and effort but without struggle.

‘The Spring’:
By balancing oneself with the flow and by removing one’s egotism, one not only acts in a manner that is an extension of the world’s harmonious energies, one can serve as a spring of its force, channeling its creativity and inspirations. A bed of sand that seeks not to shape the flow of water, that seeks not to force the stream to go this way or that will be gently shaped by the water, and upon that bed of sand the stream will imprint its harmonious ways.

The ‘Balance of Streams, Tides, Sands and Winds’ is fairly decentralized, with most of the population following its basic teachings, which include things like non-violence, not eating animals that feed their babes by the teat, practicing the ‘Art of Balance’ (similar to Tai Chi), and attempting to live a life that embraces balance, humility, and compassion.

Dedicated monks live as wandering ascetics, do not eat any meat (including fish), meditate extensively, and are dependent upon the goodwill of the population for their shelter and food. They also serve as the spiritual guides of the population, leading them in discussion and exercises of non-being, non-thought. They also develop ‘sayings’ similar to the kōan of Zen Buddhism which are often inscribed and hung from walls in Laozi dwellings.


Economy:

Laozi day-to-day life is closely intertwined with the sea or water and most of the population lives on the coasts or near small rivers and streams. They farm seaweed, keep fish traps, and raise fish in shore-side pens (feeding them scraps and grain to fatten them). They dive for clams and albacore. They are excellent sailors and trade extensively along the coasts.

On shore, the Laozi plant grains, vegetables and fruit. Their orchards, usually under shared ownership, are often planted in such a way as to also serve as public parks and sites of harmony and natural beauty.

Laozi raise chickens and trap wild fowl and birds but despite the presence of sheep and goat in their homelands, neither raise nor hunt these or other wild mammals, eating them only during periods of desperation.

In addition, Laozi agriculture includes the growth of cotton for textile and various dye plants for coloration of clothes, as well as in painting and for coloration of ceramics.

Additionally, they pride themselves on their lacquered woodwork and Laori woodcraft is some of the best in the realm, with the creative force arising from humility and non-being, they are often composed of natural scenes or soft wave-like patterns.

In addition to woodwork, the Laori are very accomplished potters and makers of ceramics. Imbued with creative artistry for the sake of artistry itself, these works are often both delicate and highly prized.

Mining is mostly limited to open pit or alluvial salvage; the Laozi either do not know the principles of shaft mining or simply do not engage in it. Their blacksmithing and especially weapon smithing is relatively poor. What little metal-working they do practice is primarily used for tools and jewelry. They also operate open-pit mining for soil dyes.

And while the Laozi are poor makers of weapons and do not generally use or know of armor, what they lack in martial crafting, they make up for in knowledge of medical herbs and lore. Many foreign courts and armies will import a Laozi doctor if they can, knowing that their medical lore is second to none.


Names:

Just choose some Asian sounding names, preferably sing-songy sounding.

Will play as orcs in the mouth of the river with the large lake on it.

Will choose coloration and details based on my mood.

The elves of Fisnaar
The island on the lake.

I'll have a climate map up relatively soon, but, as a note, the cradle is pretty much just north of the equator.

Culture name: Vauvra
Race: human
Location:

Society: The Vauvrans are a hard working people who value innovation and rational thinking. They tend to be friendly towards other peoples, but will also fiercely defend themslves and their way of life when threatened. They are ruled by an elected council of five statesmen, believing that absolute power is what led to the events of the Nightmare and the Waking.
Religion: The Vauvrans believe that the spirits of their ancestors guide them in their everyday lives and that those who make a positive impact are rewarded after death with a place in Paradise.
Economy: The Vauvrans, located on the coast near the Vauvran Strait, enjoy a key location to trade between the islands to the north and the vast majority of the mainland, so their economy benefits heavily from this. Further, they also take pride in the flora and fauna that lives only in and around the strait that shares their name, such as the snow kelp, which is white in color with a slightly sweet taste and is often ground up into sea salt, as well as the Vauvran Salmon.
Country names: Aquinthar, Swerona, Molarcia, etc
Person Names: Apagetos, Marieke, Lagem, Zai, Axogox, Marfo, etc
Place names: Vauvran Strait

This looks fun. I'll take the large river delta, ill fill everything else in when I get back home in a day or two.

Applications for turn 0 are due on the 3rd of August.

I'll be sure to write something by then, Thomas. Berubeg man.