Ah …
Math always confuses me.
Recent Forum Posts
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » Fun with Hexadecimal
I'm getting back into the writing groove and I thought that it would be helpful if I shared a few cheats in writing for the tened and Fellowship. In particular their use of hexadecimal math.
0x1 "One" 0x5 "Five" 0x9 "Nine" 0xD "Delt"
0x2 "Two" 0x6 "Six" 0xA "Alf" 0xE "Geth"
0x3 "Three" 0x7 "Seven" 0xB "Ylelkh" 0xF "Zig"
0x4 "Four" 0x8 "Eight" 0xC "Gam"
Numerical Constants
sqrt 2= 0x1.6A09E6
Golden Ratio= 0x1.9E3779
e= 0x2.B7E151
pi= 0x3.243F6A
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » Details about the Tened.
(Yeesh! How did I miss this?)
Early scripts could have easily borne a striking resemblance to cuneiform, and simplified over time to something closer to the Futhark runes. An idea I had for how they wrote down numbers would be a combination of dots and squares in 4x4 grids.
Hey everyone! I thought that the Curse page needed a major rewrite, considering that information was spread across both this page and Writer's Guidelines. So I've recompiled everything onto one page and divided them into sections to address every single aspect of the Curse.
Because I'm afraid of coming off as presumptuous, I've kept every word of both articles, and added missing bits of info that I've gathered from various discussions and stories I've seen. However, I have no real idea of how accepted these ideas are, so I've put all my additions in underline. If nobody has any objections, I'll remove them in a week. Eventually, I'd like to clean up some of the old text as well and polish the whole article. But I'd like to hear if anyone has any comments or critiques.
A Change of Hart
Hart Break
Hart Breaker
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » How the curse effects ARs
I suggest that it depends on how they're cursed. If they're born cursed, they just stop aging at around 9 (varies a bit individually). If they're not born cursed but grow into it, then they revert at puberty to their default age (more noticeable) like anyone else coming into the valley.
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » Details about the Tened.
Amiga and me have been pondering many things. One idea he came up with was what would their written language be like? He was thinking perhaps Sumerian cuneiform? use their Using claws rather than other tools (usually) if marking in clay or with ink!
I had decided myself that the other two curses could show up in children. It doesn't make much sense to me why the curse isn't supposed to effect children; as I recall, the initial reason back then was to sidestep the issue of how children could be effected by a curse that would have turned them into "sex-crazed bimbos".
In my head-canon, TGs do have their gender swapped (and experience some innate sense of wrongness for it), but only gain the ability to shift at puberty, and even then most of them rarely use it because of how uncomfortable it is (although some are more gender-fluid and sex-positive than others — not that medieval peasants would have the vocabulary for that).
ARs are trickier, though, because in most of the stories I read with them, they tend to present themselves at age 12 to 15 — about the time the curse manifests, which would seem to suggest that it just stops their aging process. The only other story I knew with an AR main character was To Snare a Rabbit, where the AR lead character stayed as a ten-year-old, though I had taken that as a preferred form rather than a default one, similar to Goldmark always being in near-feral form. I was thrown when I was reading elsewhere on the wiki about a default age of 9; this rose the question of whether the curse hits them at their default and stops their aging, or whether it reverts them at puberty to their default.
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » How the curse effects ARs
As I see it, like the animal form, children of two TGs might be born already cursed, never knowing the change (seeming immune). Mages might be consulted to check human born children for an active or dormant curse condition. (Though at what cost?) If ARs are born cursed, they might not reach the normal puberty stage reverting a few years, instead stopping their aging closer to 9. Though this would depend on the AR parents getting their age pushed up long enough to get pregnant (the pregnancy holding the mother's age until birth).
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » How the curse effects ARs
Ah. Ok. I am still a bit confused. But once the curse takes effect a person can shift - looking older or younger at will.
I understand that some kids are born with the animal curse if either of their parents have the curse. And Cat and Mouse suggests it's possible for animal kids to shift. What I'm curious about is two things: if this also applies to TG and AR parents towards kids, and if cursed TG and AR kids are also able to shift.
If I don't hear anything conclusive, I'll assume it's possible but it depends on the individual. Just wanted to know if there were any pre-existing examples to look at.
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » How the curse effects ARs
More details: Misha and Caroline's children will be Born a fox a otter or a human (and be effected by the curse at age 14).
in discussion MK Discussion / Realms of Wonder » How the curse effects ARs
They are effected like all children at puberty - roughly 14.
Children born in the area of the curse are usually mixed. Most are born human and are effected at 14. Some are born with the animal version (ie born a wolf or a leopard).
Hey, right now I'm working on a story about kids interacting with ARs in Metamor Keep, and I have a couple questions:
- It says on the Curse page that ARs tend to default to an age of 9. On the writer's guidelines page it says that they stop growing at a certain age, and can shift between ages at that point. Does this mean that ARs are effected by the change earlier than TGs and animal morphs? Or does it mean that, at age 14, they revert to their default age (9) and can shift up or down in age?
- If a child is born cursed, are they capable of shifting? Or does that only happen when they reach puberty like other children?
We can make a list of non-guild masters too but I'm specifically asking about guild affiliated masters (and perhaps later, journeymen), whether active or keeping their distance from Kuna in the year or so since WA.
I noticed certain issues with this map. First, it separates the continents compared to the previous maps. Where once was an isthmus is now a strait. Either one map or the others have to be changed, or the landscape has changed for some reason. Misha is leaning toward the changing landscape idea. In this case we have to decide when it happened and why. Was it something recent or far in the past? Was it natural geologic forces or artificial (magical or other) forces? If artificial, who was responsible?
Second, the southern Fan Shoar rivers are branched backwards. Look at any RL continental map and you will see that the rivers don't branch as they approach the sea, they converge from multiple sources to a single channel. Only at their outlet might they branch out where sand and mud are deposited into multi-channel deltas (Nile is a great example of an outlet delta)
Here is a proposed map!
Here are some thoughts Indagare has on Fan Shoar.
Fan Shoar
Fan Shoar is one of the five continents of MK's Earth. It is located in the northeast quadrant of the world map, north of Irombi and the Central Sea and east of Yamato, Khumar, and the Oriental Coastlands.
History
If Irombi is the cradle of human civilization, Fan Shoar is where humans first spread. How long ago this actually occurred is not known, but there are many ruins, and some are seemingly only a thousand years younger than those found in Irombi. Most creation myths involve ancestors that migrated out of some underground realm to the surface or other form of migration from somewhere dangerous.
Climate
Fan Shoar has a huge range of environments from the arctic north to the sub-tropical and tropical south.
-Starfrost Tundra: The northernmost area of Fan Shoar, this land is continuously frozen except near the coasts and south. Various structures of ice and snow exist in the forms of pillars and arches, though there are rocky outcroppings and caves are oddly common. The closer to the center one gets, the colder it gets. Some crystals form in an area where the highs never reach above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. These are known as everfrost crystals and they emit cold and a chilly, bluish light. The further in one goes, the colder it becomes and the colder the everfrost crystals are as well. Tales say there is an area where it is so cold people are frozen alive.
-Balewinter Timberlands: To the immediate south of the Starfrost Tundra is an area of tiaga. Tribes of nomadic wanderers calling themselves the Kupuni roam the area. They use yurts and reindeer, though in winter they occasionally build igloos. Though they chiefly hunt or fish they are more than willing to engage in trade, usually for anything fire-related. In return they are happy to provide everfrost crystals and the furs and skins of rare, northern animals.
-Stormwing Forests: South of the Balewinter Timberlands, this area has a temperate rainforest climate (similar to the Pacific Northwest). The Tigmest people make this place their home. They build cedar longhouses whose windows and doors end up looking like faces and which are flanked by totem poles. There are eighteen tribes and each one has a particular animal they feel a connection to and which forms the base of their totem poles. The Stormwing Forests has many rivers and lakes as well as rises and waterfalls. Salmons make a yearly run on the waterfalls. All the Tigmest tribes are matrilineal. They do occasionally war against one another, but will unite against common enemies.
-Greymist Mountains: Forming a long line to the southeast of the Stormwing Forests, the Greymist Mountains are fairly low but still present a reasonable challenge to climb over (about the same as the Appalachian Mountains). There are many breath-taking scenes from the mountains, though they are also home to some dangerous creatures and few people tend to live on them permanently.
-Watakimari Confederacy: Stretching from the Greymist Mountains to the northwest to the Yajiit Sunlands and the Okelamala Swamp, the Confederacy is a more or less unified area. There are many mounds built in the shapes of animals (though this is only obvious from above) and several sites of cities. The people of Watakimari are matriarchal and have a strong base around the many rivers that run through their lands and specifically the three great lakes near the center of it. The area as a whole has a temperate climate, though the areas closer to the Okelamala Swamp and Yajiit Sunlands are much warmer and more subtropical.
-Yajiit Sunlands: A more appropriate name is unlikely to be found. There are areas of prairies on the outskirts with golden yellow flowers and inside is an area known as the Rainbow Desert which resembles the US southwestern desert with its many outcroppings. There is a large canyon there as well. Within the Sunlands are the Xablan who build their homes on the sides of cliffs. Particularly impressive is the city of Taxal located on the western end of a bay. It extends from the western bay to the Skystone Mountains in the east.
-Skystone Mountains: Home to the Phisqantinsuyu Empire. It stretches north from the Watakimari Confederacy to south where the mountain range ends. The empire paved roads and uses stone almost exclusively in construction of buildings. The mountains themselves are beautiful and are named for the fact that there are actual flying islands around it. These areas seem to defy gravity, though the reality is they are being held up by naturally-forming crystals imbued with properties from the Elemental Plane of Air.
-Okelamala Swamp: Nearly due east of the Yajiit Sunlands and on the other side of the Skystone Mountains this swampy area holds many secrets. It is named after the people living there, who build their homes among the trees and live off the bounty of the swamp. It is most like the Everglades in nature.
-Katzl Empire: Just south of the Yajiit Sunlands, it extends west to east from the Central Sea to the Keystone Mountains and as far south as the Tinikawar Rainforest. Centers of worship and power exist in the form of step pyramids dedicated to the sun. They have the most advanced astronomical records of anyone in the world.
-Tinikawar Rainforest: Taking up a majority of the southern portion of Fan Shoar, this rainforest is home to many different tribes. It is also home to a large river which links almost all of the region. It is named after the legendary Tinikawar Empire which once ruled the area but which has long-since fallen. Vine-covered ruins can be found in many places. The tribes of Tinikawar share many cultural similarities and trade with one another (and some outsiders). Major cities still exist on the coasts, though there’s no centralized government.
-Qwixota Plains: The southernmost tip of Fan Shoar is covered by a vast prairie. The Quixota tribe roams over it on their horses. They have many settlements made out of baked clay located near watering holes, but most are not continuously settled except during the fall and winter months. Anyone wandering in is expected to care for the buildings and any crops for as long as they stay.
People
The humans of Fan Shoar have darkest skin that has a ruddy look to it. They are about average height. Their hair is usually strait and black with iridescent sheens of blue, purple, or red; facial hair is uncommon.
Much like in Irombi, Humans are the only civilized sentient race that is native to the continent, but other intelligent creatures do call the continent home. Particularly common are elementals of various sorts as well as talking animals (scholars speculate this is due to the influence of some outer plane). There are also rumors of lizardfolk, frogfolk, and birdfolk in the Okelamala Swamp and Tinikawar Rainforest though they’ve yet to be verified.
Fauna
Fan Shoar is home to a wide variety of fauna which largely resembles the animals of North America and South America.
Civilization
The people of Fan Shoar are different than their counterparts in RL Americas during the Middle Ages; being the second home to humans, much knowledge has been lost but there has also been much retained. Horses are common as are llamas.
Shamanistic magic is highly developed in Fan Shoar, though it is different from that of Galendor. It includes much more alchemy and the use of familiar spirits (generally small, elemental beings that take on the shape of an animal) is common. Shamans in Fan Shoar can produce a wider variety of effects than most in Galendor can accomplish because they can also detect raw magic and regularly treat with elemental spirits who are sometimes considered members of a given empire or tribe and who often align themselves in defense. Extreme care is taken when dealing with any extraplanar being, however, particularly those from the Heavens and Hells.
Most of the civilizations in Fan Shoar are matriarchal; men are given honor and respect, especially as talented crafters, artists, warriors, and shamans, but lines are traced through the mother and kinship is reckoned stronger when it is through the mother and her relatives. Similarly, men move in with their wives and must prove their worthiness as a husband before any marriage proposal is accepted.
Religion
Much like in Irombi, their closeness with spirits allows the people of Fan Shoar to understand the capabilities and morals of celestials to a great degree. While they do not see Daedra worship as innately evil, they are fully aware of the dangerous nature of most of them and treat them accordingly. They far more likely to worship the Aedra and Eli (whom they call the Great Spirit), but pay due respect to Daedra when needed. Shamans, particularly, tend to be capable of sensing the Daedra at work and will offer something that, effectively, is a very polite request for them to stay away.
OH! My apology i forgot about Rois!
And you are always welcome in MK.
Rois is default 'taur, but her taur form was not caused by the curse. :)
I've been lurking for a few years myself. I'm not dead yet. ;) Like Kamau, I still watching the mailing list and such.
I'd like to get back into writing here again, I just need to figure out how I can do that.
