#sso worldbuilding

[jorvegian-goddess]

Characters I'm gonna rewritten or just remove for my SSO rewrite:

Remove Darko - he just makes no sense and Sands is more interesting

Everyone in Dino Valley except Nic - again they are useless and I can't figure out how to make them useful; also Igor is just creepy and I don't like him The Goldspurs - I might keep one or two but the rest can just disappear they're useless

Ms. Drake - actually GED itself can just vanish it's useless already have a "secretly" evil company à la Dark Core don't need two

Everyone in CHILL - again I forget they even exist or if they do anything important they can just begone The Rockwells - bye bye you are useless The Winterwells - see above

Rewrite Pi - again she does nothing past the side quests and is just a stereotypical witch (also the golden apple is stupid); actually I'm gonna just rewrite the witches in general because having too many poorly designed and explained magic system pmo Justin Moorland - why the fuck does he go with the Dark Riders??? like seriously it makes no sense Kalters - I'm gonna rewrite the fuck out of them to the point they won't really resemble the OG version Jasper - again lots of wasted potential and give him some depth beyond grumpy old man who hates his daughter's family cause she died Madison Hightower- one of my favourite NPCs she deserves some respect Loretta and Tan - they can still be bitchy but bitchy with a heart and some other characterization The Buttergoods - honestly I'll probably just remove all except Scott and just rewrite him till he's barely recognizable (also buttergoods is a dumb name imo) The Baroness - once again wasted opportunity; also the fact that she straight up kidnapped and held Linda hostage is just brushed over

[jorvegian-goddess]

There is still a strong Christian presence but it's mostly in the larger towns/city. Smaller communities have shrines to local natural spirits (ex. spirits of the forests). Every stable belonging to a believer of Aideen has a shrine in it, decorated with horseshoes, braided hair, photos and treats.

Aideen is the only named divine being, but there is a very strong belief in other, more local spirits. Some are given names, others are not. Although Jorvegians have a bit of independence streak, there is also a strong sense of community - especially during holidays and winter times. It's very common for something as simple as a store opening or a barn getting put up/fixed to turn into a public gathering. Jorvik City is the only large city on the island. It's also the most multicultural area.

Most locals live on the island their entire life; those who do move away will begin to forget about it after a year or so if they haven't returned regularly. Public transport is well developed and most towns and even cities are designed/being redesigned to be pedestrian/horse friendly. It is so common for towns or shopping centres in the larger city to have horse corrals or stalls. The use of horses and other livestock in agriculture is still prevalent, especially on small farmers.

What kind of headcanons do people have about living on Jorvik?

Like what kind of tradition do you think jorvikians have?

How do you think religion work? What are common school subjects? What kind of food is common jorvikian meal? What would make turist go "thats wierd", "thats interesting" or "thats cool"?Ect, ect.

I love to hear what people think Jorvik would be like.

[dustymisgestaltsso]

thinking about my Ysgalon setting and the concept of it coexisting in a setting with Jorvik and I think that would be just neat. like. Jorvik is all about horses and shit and Ysgalon has a fundamental lack of horses outside of the wild-and-tame varieties of a true species of wild horse native to the island country, which isn't really all that suitable for riding anyway.

On Ysgalon [Ysgal, as the native Ysgalin call it], centaurs and humans are part of the same population, can have children together, and have a culture founded on partner sports that human and centaur teams work together to compete in. It's their national pride- driving, steeplechase, stunt riding, reining, etc. If you can compete, it's beloved.

A steeplechase team in action, work in progress sketch.

I love the idea of centaurs from Ysgalon coming to Jorvik and enmeshing themselves into the culture. Sure, they can't and wouldn't want to ride horses, but Jorvik has so, so much infrastructure that is public use that a centaur athlete or hobbyist would probably love to use. Not to mention, despite being largely reclusive and shrouded in mystery, the Ysgalin Wardens would probably have common ground with the Keepers of Aideen.

Also interesting to think about is if a centaur born on Jorvik from Jorvegian-Ysgalin parents could be a soul rider or druid and how the fuck that would end up working. Soul steed they can't ride would be an interesting dynamic....

I know this means nothing to anyone but it's my blog and I'll worldbuild on it if I like and who knows. maybe you guys will find something interesting.

[starshinedragon]

SSO Upgrade Idea: WEATHER AND SEASONS

To improve the realism of the game and help a lot with immersion.

I. WEATHER -> New weather types: 1. Sunny (sunlight, basically what we have now) 2. Cloudy (shadows of the clouds moving on the ground) 3. Rainy (downpour and muddy roads, hoofprints) 4. Stormy (rain, wind, lightning and thunder) 5. Windy (tree canopies and horse's mane and tail moving) 6. Foggy (shorter distance you can see) 7. Snowfall (heavily snowing and cold) 8. Heatwave (mirages, rippling hot air, strong sunlight) ->Weather types by season:

-> The weather is written for each day separately, according to season. When you log in, you get a newspaper in your mailbox for the day, where you can see the forecast. -> The weather always applies to the season you turned on in each area. If you change it, the forecast in your newspaper will change. -> Dino valley basically gets back the cold effect: it will not be permanent, but only apply when the weather is snowing, which will basically be 80% of the time in Dino.

Effect on your horse: -> The Jorvik Warmblood starter is both Hot and Cold tolerant. -> All of the magic horses are immune to slowing effects. -> Neither the Starter or the Magic horses are immune to additional effects.

Slowing effects -> The two main slowing effects are "Hot" and "Freezing", if you don't use the appropriate horse, they won't do the fastest gallop. -> Winterdale and Summerplains basically don't have the weather effects, only if there is that specific weather happening (snowfall or heatwave). -> Heat tolerant horses are the southern breeds (like the Arabian). -> Cold tolerant horses are the northern breeds (like the Fjord).

2. Additional Effects: -> Heatwave: any horse you ride in heatwave weather for at least an hour will want to drink (loses the watered buff you get at daily care) -> Snowfall: if you ride a horse in snowfall it will become hungry (need to feed it, since it lost the fed buff. -> Rain: spend and hour in rain and you will need to brush your horse again. -> Storm: spend an hour in a storm and you need to pick your horse's hooves again.

II. SEASONS

-> Basic state: --Harvestlands basically looks like early autumn (except Goldenhills) --Winterdale and Dino valley like winter --Spring Valley and Jorcrater as spring --Summerplains as summer. -> The season will not have an effect on your horse (unlike the weather. -> Toggle on Seasons: --In the autumn you can turn on/off autumn environment in Spring Valley and Summervale. --In the winter you can turn on/off winter environment in Harvestlands, Spring Valley and Summervale. --In the spring you can turn on/off spring environment in Harvestlands and Summervale. --In the summer you can turn on/off summer environment in Spring Valley and Harvestlands. -> Winterdale and Dino valley can only be winter environment because magic reasons. -> Jorcrater can only be eternal spring because magic reasons. -> The Lone Star area is always a desert, but spring and winter can be applied. -> You can’t turn the darkness off above Pi’s swamp, Morrinweald and the Old Morass (magic). -> Ashland and Drakon Valley are always just dry with little to no plants.

[amelias-calamity-quintet]

I saw an open tag for this from both @pelicanpig and @ixtaek and figured I'd give it a go.

1. How many works on AO3? 6, but definitely more on the way

2. Total AO3 word count? 851,802, and it's going to jump up again tonight with more GoS importing. Have I mentioned I haven't been on AO3 for even a year? To be fair, I'm importing my Wattpad catalogue as it goes through edits.

3. Top 5 fics by kudos:

The Legend of Zelda: Mark of a Hero | Part 1 - Hyrule

The Legend of Zelda: Mark of a Hero | Part 2 - Farona

On Your Mark - A MoaH Pre-Story

The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy (oh, the irony. To do this list with my Wattpad stats)

Bookmarked - A MoaH Myths Compendium

4. What fandoms do you write for? Currently only uploaded for LoZ, but I'm planning to import some from SSO and Myst here shortly once GoS is all brought over. And still really only actively for LoZ.

5. Do you respond to comments? I do! And usually with behind the scenes notes. Though if that stresses anyone out, I'm happy to leave them off.

6. Fic with the angsty ending? Only three of my fics are "done" (Part 1 of MoaH doesn't seem like it should count), so On Your Mark by technicality.

7. Fic with the happiest ending? Goddess of Secrecy, of which the last 8 chapters should all be imported by next Wednesday so y'all can read it too.

8. Do you get hate? I have not on AO3, I have on Wattpad, so it's been a nice change of pace switching over.

9. Do you write smut? I do not right now, but who knows where we'll be in the future.

10. Do you write crossovers? If Links Meet counts, then yes! And absolutely open for more.

11. Ever had a fic stolen? Thankfully no. Kinda surprising considering how big GoS is on Wattpad.

12. Ever had a fic translated? Not a fic, but a fanwork, yes. I developed an oracle deck (I only wrote the manual, I didn't make the card art) and a TTRPG for the SSO fandom and I had folks translate those. I think the deck got over 10 different language translations in, it's been a minute though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? Not exactly, I don't think what we did for Lost Legends quite counts, but I would definitely be open to it.

14. All time favorite ship? Eh, indifferent. I will usually write the implied ship of a fandom (i.e. for LoZ, Zelink) and I will usually be invested in making it a good relationship, but romance plots don't super interest me to write over everything else there is to tell in a world.

15. WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Not yet uploaded, for SSO, I doubt The B Team Druids comes back fully. I plan to import it for easier record keeping than it currently is on my SSO blog, @writingonjorvik, but I doubt it sees continuation. I can see plot for it, I don't see a lot of motivation resifting through SSO lore.

16. Writing strengths? Oh, I'm going to regurgitate what I've been told, but folks seem to love my characters and my worldbuilding, so I'd say they must be pretty good.

17. Writing weaknesses? Plots and scenes. I don't think either is bad, but they are just serving their purpose as a throughline to give some sense of forward progression and place so the characters can faff about with the worldbuilding.

18. Thoughts of mixed language dialogue? From what I've heard, it's more accurate to how bilingual people actually speak, so I'm all for it even if I have to translate it myself.

19. First fandom you wrote for? LoZ. Goddess of Secrecy was the first fic I wrote and it totally didn't go to my head it getting popular in high school

20. Favorite Fic you’ve ever written? MoaH is probably the actual answer as a series, but I would be remissed to not say GoS. That fic made me as a writer, I owe so much to it. MoaH's just proof of that labor and learning.

And I'll go ahead and tag a few folks while I'm at it: @karama9, @drsteggy, @mistresslrigtar, @sillylildude, @nocturnalfandomartist, @abbyz-elda, and @zeldadiarist if you'd like to give it a go. And anyone else that would like to play as well.

[writingonjorvik]

The After Stories

So I was musing to myself about how I thought narratively the Soul Riders were most likely to be set up as more cyclical characters for what I think the next major story arc is most likely to be, what I called the Witch Wars arc in this ask response, and I ended up doing more than the Soul Riders, so I figured I'd share those thoughts.

I'll start with the Soul Riders since I've put the most thought into their arcs, also they're the most important characters right now, so it makes the most sense. I really only think one of the Soul Riders should be in the next story arc as a major character, for a number of reasons, though I doubt that'll be the case. I'm also following the assumption that, based on what we've been told in plot about severing the connection between Pandoria and Jorvik meaning the Soul Riders will lose their powers, that after Garnok is defeated, the connection Aideen created with Pandoria is cut and they don't have magic, or they only have whatever magic is left.

Easiest first, Lisa. I think Lisa is going to return to her music career and take time to recover. Personally, I think the writers need a step back from Lisa. She went from being what I had always thought was the leader of the group in SSL (and in the books) to her country redesign and her being largely the party healer. And I think there is a really good story arc to have there. Not to lean into the trope that metal and rock are symbolic of rebellious phases, but I think there's a story you can tell about the eras of Lisa's music genres being reflections of her stages of grief, the more punk genres being her rage followed by her return to country music as acceptance, a connection with her mother, and a way to maintain that connection as she processes that grief. I think a lot of folks will conflate stadium & pop country with classic country music which does also hold a lot of punk values which sets her up for a return, but I also think a step back from Lisa post all of the crazy would give her time to recover and take that symbolism and make it material. So I think she should take a more minor role in the next story arc.

Second easiest, Linda should not be a major player in the Witch Wars arc. Firstly, Linda is arguably the Soul Rider we've spent the most time with. It makes sense why, she's an easy lore dump character, but that also is a reason why in it of itself. If Linda is always our source of worldbuilding, there isn't an opportunity for other characters to provide information that feels relevant, and also it takes that opportunity away from the player character to discover in their own exploration. But the biggest reason I think is that Linda has probably had the least amount of time to pursue her own personal goals. There is absolutely a story there to tell about how major achievement is a personal scale, you don't need to achieve the world in order to be successful, but I don't think that's a story SSO will tell and it also falls a little flatter when Linda is part of the team that did save the world from Garnok. But comparably, Linda has the least amount of achievement to her name. Like, imagine being able to see the future, not to mention be unquestionably intelligent, with very clear goals of going to university and pursuing your interests and expanding your skills as a writer, saving the world and then watching all of your friends' dreams of reality come true. Visions made material. Lisa's music career, Anne's success as a dressage rider, a model, going on to be a vet, Alex being set up to take over a culturally significant organization (which I'll come back to), and you. Seeing all of it, and never getting there. And then the visions start to go away. There was already the moral question of could Linda use her powers to cheat, not that she would, but I imagine the guilt of the idea probably prevented her from pursuing entry exams because, she could. See the future to see the exam answers to study perfectly. And the fear of it prevents her from applying. And now her powers are leaving, she has the chance to be honest about it again. To provide she was more than her role as the Moon Soul Rider. She deserves to take it and come back to the story a more fulfilled person.

Alex has a good opportunity to be semi-present. She has been set up to take Elizabeth's place and with the defeat of Garnok, there's finally enough breathing room to do so. Yes, I'm sure the druids will be thrown into more ordeals with the fallout of their magic, which leads into the Witch Wars and pursuing answers there, but someone has to take up the mantle now that the chaos of Garnok is passed. And we were told that was Alex. It's a huge responsibility shift for her too, one she's going to have to learn on the job. I'm sure she'll receive help but it's not like she can go to school for how to be the leader of a magical organization. And it's not like her predecessor is there to guide her. There's also the existing tradition that she's breaking by taking Elizabeth's place as the Lightning Soul Rider becoming the Keeper's leader, where the Sun Soul Rider would normally take that place. But these are unprecedented times, the druids are losing a major part of their magic, so maybe it's time for a change. I think that sets Alex up well to be both present in the story, as the leader of the druids supporting us, the PC, going to learn more about witch magic to help the druids, but also take a step back. She has to stay in Valedale now, be a present leader and coordinator. But of course, it's Alex, she's bound to show up for big confrontations.

Which leaves Anne as the last Soul Rider. And I think she remains present. She's the Soul Rider we got the least amount of time with, but she also has the least reason to settle down. She still has a lot of grief to process from her imprisonment. And, as I said in my last post, I don't think we will kill the Generals. They might die in losing Garnok as like, their life source, but I don't think we will kill them directly. I'll get more into them later, but at the very least, I think Darko survives and Sands dies. And that right there sets Anne up perfectly. In a post Garnok world, in a world without magic, and the man chiefly responsible for her imprisonment is still out there. If anyone is going to be desperate for her magic back, it's Anne. There is still an angry part of her that cannot rest, and so when magic starts to fade and the PC pursues answers with the witches, Anne is right there. Not to mention, if we do get a new quadrant of the map, portal magic would be great for teleporting in and then reconnecting physically after main story shenanigans through North Link. But particularly after we've seen Anne proving she's not only back, but she's among some of the most powerful Sun Soul Riders in history, losing that would be devastating. Anne pursues answers about magic, and is our primary ally moving forward from the original cast.

Also in all of this, the Guardians. We don't know if in losing their Soul Rider powers the Guardians survive (I think they will), but we don't know if the Soul Riders will be able to talk to them. Like does Aideen's Gift maintain itself. Of all the Soul Riders, Anne probably has the most experience of not being able to talk to her horse, and so I see her thriving in this condition of still being able to connect with Concorde in a way none of the other Soul Riders can because of her time working with Concorde as a foal. And I see that causing a rift with the Soul Riders too as suddenly Anne is the odd man out again, and now that their grief in losing that particular connection is broken, there is some true feelings coming out about how they expect Anne to help in a way she only ever got resistance or correction for feeling with Concorde.

Quick ones off the list next:

Fripp goes to sleep. I don't know if he dies, I think he probably like. Does whatever Aideen did and fades into the magic of the world. I think he comes back, but without the connection to Pandoria, he can't maintain his consciousness without more magic. It also gets him off the table for the same reasons I think Linda should back seat, he knows too much and that takes away from the player's ability to discover.

Avalon dedicates himself to supporting Alex in taking over the leadership role. He's more confident now and speaks up for her against the rest of the council and commits himself as her primary ally and mentor within the druids.

Evergray is going back to the North with us. Without a connection to Pandoria, he is still a magic researcher. Possibly even tasked with finding another connection back to Pandoria, which leads to whatever he was doing in the North. He also has the most connection with witches there.

Rhiannon is also going back to the North. She's a Warden, she knows more about magic outside of the Circles from her proximity to the witches, and the Wardens aren't, kinda aren't, are something other than druids. Not to mention, if the connection with Pandoria cuts off magic and possibly losing Aideen's Gift, Rhiannon is the most set up to help reestablish this connection. I think it will, it's Aideen's Gift to Jorvik, it was her own magic, but there's a plot there to connection with the Wardens.

Ydris leaves. I know he's the game's Internet sexy man, but we've honestly seen very little of him since Fripp's recovery and we know his goal is to save his home. If the connection is broken, Ydris goes home to Pandoria. He can return in a later arc, with I think what would be fitting, a redesign of his original model since time is soup there, but I see very little for him to do in a witch arc unless he can't make it back home, which does have potential in him being a begrudging ally as he's made like. Semi-human from being cut off from Pandoria.

Mrs. Holdsworth and Sive are obvious, it's called the Witch Wars arc, they would be joining as major characters. Great opportunity too to introduce Marzipan from concept work from forever ago here as our young witch companion.

I think Justin should get a baby arc just to give him a better ending. He should go train with the Wild Whispers before going to train with Herman.

Speaking of Herman, he comes back briefly because his brother, Coyote, is in northwest Jorvik, so that gives us a connection into the not magic stories and exploring the cities there. Also, that sets up CHILL to come in with GED and we can have that semi-mundane arc too.

On to bad guys!

GED first, there's no reason why these guys wouldn't be back or even thriving without DC competing with them. They're low stakes bad guys, they've been basically run out of southwest Jorvik, they're very likely to be back in a new region.

I already said it, Mr. Sands dies. Look, his wife is dead, the devil he made a pact with dies, and he was human. There is no reason that he survives unless we get the redemption arcs I've discussed before happen, which are not remotely set up in the story. The man is death flagged, I don't make the rules. Turns to dust, bye.

Darko survives. I think having Darko be less present now means he can be set up to do the whole take over the vacuum when Sands is gone. Maybe he sees the writing on the wall, this is a kids' game and Garnok is going to lose. So he stops trying to go for Sands and bides his time. And when that happens, guess who steps in. A magic inventor with the remnants of resources to continue to be a problem and no competition anymore to do so. The rest of DC is goons, now he gets to horde a black market of magic to himself. DC dissolves, all the assets relocated before charges could be pressed. No charges to press on a dissolved company, the leading members of the board dead in a freak accident of their own making, there's no one there to hold responsbile. And Darko wasn't a General, he was just their inventor, conveniently missing from records, assumed dead, ready to be a main antagonist in the next arc under a new evil corporation.

I don't think all the Dark Riders die. The least likely is Erissa. She has gone through so many iterations just to finally get released, Erissa survives. Escapes capture even. Blends in, disappears, starts whispering into powerful ears. She becomes a problem. She also looks like a kid, they're not going to kill her for a slew of age rating reasons.

Because that's the thing, the Dark Riders aren't human. They're different kinds of aliens, by our best guesses. From different worlds too. Katja's ice world and Sabine's dark star are not the same places. If anyone survives the break from the pact with Garnok, it's these four.

Jessica is iffy, she is arguably the least developed. Of any of the Dark Riders to team up with Darko, I see it being Jessica. She reads as having a need for control, and suddenly cut off from her magic, either from being more injured than the others or the loss of the portals powered by Pandoria's magic, I think a reluctant deal with Darko for some scraps of magic to survive, that's where Jessica lands.

Katja leaves. She does not care about people. Of anyone in the story to become a permanent cryptid, it's Katja. She just goes back to being the Ice Witch of Icendell, if not through that portal. She's here because of her pact with Garnok, I see no reason for her to stay. She isolates herself until she can recover enough power to be a menace again.

Sabine is difficult but I see her as the character the community most wants to have a redemption arc (for various reasons), as well as the story setting up the most for a redemption arc, but I don't know if SSO would go there. Sabine has a riding club, she's made connections, however trivial to her now, on Jorvik. And something else, she's discovered a new kind of power, one she could never possess on her Dark Star home. People, control over people, working together to achieve more power. There is no civilization to control back home, it's a world of beasts, hunters, predators, there is no civilization, nothing to control, just survival. There are here. And so while I see her probably still being fairly narcissistic about it, I also see a story where Sabine recognizes that she can only have that kind of authority if she protects this new home. Very Greed from FMA kind of character twist. So she is a partial ally then, but it opens the door for more opportunities of, maybe not altruism, but more potential for good.

I think that's everyone who's a primary NPC. But let me know who I missed. Or if you think otherwise.

[jorvikzelda]

✨🌿💞💝🍭

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

It already got a lot of attention (=way above average) but I kind of think jorvikpov/Moments in Time 52, Elizabeth’s death, deserved more love than it got. Both the jorvikpov describing the night before her death and the one describing the night after got more attention. (In fact, the one about the night after is currently the jorvikpov with the most notes.)

🌿how does creating make you feel?

To me it’s less about how creating makes me feel and more how not creating makes me feel. Creativity is the core of my being and if I don’t let it out in a thousand different ways I just feel empty. I write and I draw and I crochet and I bake and I cook and I play music and I write music. If I don’t, I get The Itch, which is when my entire body and brain starts crawling and I need to DO SOMETHING. The something is pretty much always something creative.

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

So far the most important thing to me has been creating a consistent theme (vibe, if you will) that I can keep coming back to over the course of the story or chapter. If I’ve got that down, the rest tends to come pretty naturally.

💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

hold me like you’ll never let me go. I thought of it as a mostly wholesome little thing and then I posted it and realised there was… more hurt in it than I had realised when I was writing it lmfao.

Also honestly ever jorvikpov ever! Someone always manages to leave a tag that surprises me in some way, be it a different interpretation than I had intended or something that makes me realise I’ve been accidentally running with an underlying theme that I could keep developing or an extremely accurate check of what I’m trying to imply.

Highest on the unexpected list is the SSOBlr Best Writer award for jorvikpov. I know the awards were controversial but I still feel so honoured and surprised to have won. I in no way expected jorvikpov to become so appreciated when I started posting it and I’m still kind of in disbelief about the award. I’m still operating under the assumption that it was an extremely close vote where I just barely made it to first place. (Anything else would almost feel unfair. I didn’t vote for myself and it wasn’t out of principle.)

🍭why did you start writing?

I don’t really know, because I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write. I’m pretty sure I’ve made up stories for as long as I’ve been able to read books.

I started writing for SSO specifically because my mental health was at an all time low and I wanted to move to Jorvik and have all my issues be magically fixed by horses. This is obviously impossible, so I did the second best thing and started writing about the small, magical (figuratively and literally) moments from second person perspective. And then I caught brainworms of the highest degree and started writing other things than jorvikpov.

[jorvegian-goddess]

Ok I think I FINALLY have some semblance of a proper magic system for my version of SSO. It's still in the rough stages but I'll share what I have so far. Soul Rider magic is a mix of elemental, Pandorian and equestrianism based magic that (typically) uses runes The main Four Circles are: - Moon Circle: visions, invisibility, illusions - Sun Circle: light manipulation (shields, orbs, shards) - Lightning Circle: electrokinesis, enhanced speed - Star* Circle: empath, healing, regeneration *debating changing this to something else but we'll leave as star for now There is an elemental connection to the circles: Moon is more powerful at night/around or in water, Sun is at it strongest during the day/around light or fire, Lightning is strongest during storms and Star when connected to the earth. There are other circles and Soul Riders associated with them based on more elemental magic (earth, fire, etc) but are not the focus of this story yet. The Druids can also use similar abilities along with limited elemental magic but they are much more restricted in their application and rely more so on runes and potions and less on innate abilities. Soul Riders can only use their magic after bonding with their Soul Steed (not Star Breed that's a stupid name), but there is one exception (Ali) and if the bond isn't done properly there can be severe consequences. Bonded steeds can use magic as well but it more broad and less refined compared to their riders, who use runes for more specific magic. Soul Riders/Dark Riders/Steeds are the only ones who can be in Pandoria for longer periods of time but they will still be affected after too long. Witches and Druids practice the same magic but are different in their application/allegiance: Druids are bound to following Aideen and the Soul Riders while Witches are more flexible and typically help any who asks (for a price of course). That's all I got for now! I'll add more as inspiration hits me.

[lukas-crowsong]

so... do jorvik's records even know elizabeth is dead?

how much are the druids allowed to talk about the fact that elizabeth died between dimensions by cause of magic. since she was killed does that warrant a police investigation? ("oh no guys its fine leave it be it was just some emo twat who works for an evil corporation hellbent on destroying the world we're handling it")

did the druids instead fabricate some mundane lie? how do they explain the lack of a body or call to emergency services? how does it not turn into a homicide investigation??

what if to her non-druid neighbours elizabeth is just... gone and missing. (for some reason it was difficult to find info on swedish law, but) in the uk, courts make declarations of a missing person's death, a main rule being it must be seven or more years after they're confirmed missing if there's no other evidence.

so my question is did the druids even acknowledge legally that elizabeth is dead. how the hell did the druids handle this hello sse i need unnecessarily specific explanations

the soul riders mourning elizabeth while the rest of jorvik goes about its day ^

[neim-batteries-not-included]

three points to make here

hello and welcome to is neim being gay or experiencing sso much gender envy

someone teach me how to make these I would. Sell my soul to you if you did

*frantic sounds of note taking. for. worldbuilding purposes*

THINGS I NEED TO FUCKING KNOW: Why every fuckin trans man or nb person I know who binds is like “oh binders are the worst, you can’t breathe in them, I know someone who broke a rib once”,

And meanwhile over in historical costuming, we are fucking eating, sleeping, swordfighting, riding horses, and feeling great like this:

(credit: Jenny La Flamme, The Tudor Tailor, Verdaera)

Like is there NO overlap between people who want to bind and people who care about accurate 16th century clothing reconstruction techniques?

(I, okay, maybe it is kind of a niche interest, but…. REALLY? Anyone who’s made a boned binder, PLS SPEAK TO ME)

Keep reading

[ro-sso]

What is the name of the hermit's place???

like it has a name when you go there??? what is it? hermit's home?? no what the fuck is it called

also i was going to do session 4 today but i forgot because dnd happened awnyway

[starshinedragon]

Hello, I'm Starshinedragon and this blog is about:

In this blog:

-> SSO Rewritten: The story of SSO written by me, from arriving to Jorvik to defeating Garnok. Inspired by Starshine Legacy, Season Riders and early SSO lore. Continuing the canon ingame story SSE will probably never finish.

SSO Rewritten 1st Part: Winterdale https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/736955792328146944/sso-winterdale-fan-written-main-storyline?source=share

SSO Rewritten 2nd Part: Springvalley https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/716459529087401984/sso-rewritten-springvalley?source=share

SSO Rewritten 3rd Part: Summerplains https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/726343248992419840/sso-rewritten-full-story-series-summerplains?source=share

-> Pandorian language (fanmade) -> Jorvik maps (fanmade, speculation) -> Worldbuilding (e.g. magic) -> Fan arts -> Fan Theories and Story Analyzations -> Memes ofc

Have fun and thank you for checking out this blog!

[wordwalkers]

isn't your sso name Eveningstorm? did the sso or the ww name come first?

Ha, ah, someone caught that. Yeah, Amelie Eveningstorm is my character name in SSO. It came first (2011), books started in 2016. It was originally a filler name, but ended up fitting in with Daendra’s culture.

[moderncivilization]

Im going to go crazy with sso over the break

[dapplesndruids]

I love your take on that bit of Pandorian history, describing civil wars and smaller communities being formed in the aftermath of “The Great War”. I have something to add to that - what if - because we know this war took place generations ago - there are now different ‘breeds’ or ‘races’ of Pandorians; because those smaller communities formed after the war, it would make sense that possible mutations (whether purely magical or magically induced for survival) began arising in those groups. To give an example of this, take Ydris - he looks extremely human, besides his rather uncommon height and heterochromia (although that is of course possible in humans, but is implied to be an uncommon trait in the game). The point is, his basic bodily structure is very similar to that of a normal Earthling if you will. However, there is a generally accepted headcanon in the community that Pandorians also have other forms (some say they can switch between looking more ‘human’ and their more fantastical creature-esc forms). Rather than any kind of transformation occurring, a headcanon of mine is that there are different breeds of Pandorians - some who look more human and some who favor a more animal-like form. Those communities that consist of those who posses the more animal-like form could be forced to hide away, not able to blend in with others as easily as Ydris (or Marzarin if we ever get to see her in-game) was able to do when coming to Jorvik. 

And YES, someone else who mentioned Jorvegian Sickness! We’ve already seen some of this in-game with Ydris, as even simply being exposed to the Earthly ticking of a clock was enough to severly weaken him and even cause a level of pain. Ydris, as you said, also has to keep that ‘bubble’ of Pandoric energy around himself and his circus in order to keep himself safe and sane while trying to inhabit Jorvik.

Essentially, reality is a toxin to Pandorians - the passing of day and night and the concept of days and weeks passing is somehow extremely harmful to them and their psyche.

Today I offer A Collection of ✨Pandorian Headcanons✨I Have Living In My Brain. Tomorrow? Who knows

*note* I cannot take credit for all of these headcanons!!! Some of them I have just picked up through my many scrollings of tumblr over the years and I literally can’t remember where they originated from / their original creators as some are just well accepted or super old. So if people know their ops please let me know!!

Pandorians have their own forms. My favourite headcanon is when people design Pandoria OCs as Humanoid Entities like it’s just finger licking good. I’ll have a healthy helping of that ty. I want tiefling style, firbolg, Avatar, animalistic ocs pls. I want different races of Pandorian with different cultures and aesthetics and attributes. I also like to think pandorians are Tall. Maybe that’s just me.

Pandoria and Jorvik are inexplicably linked through their realities sitting on top of eachother. And when levels of high energy (like LeyLines) are sitting vertically parallel it mixes their energy flows. People who can harness this mixing of energy can then use it to create rips between the realities (gates/portals/cracks etc). I have stranger things brain rot so I’m kinda going off those vibes. Jorvik sits on a huge ass LeyLine where there is high levels of parallel energy so it’s a melting pop of the two dimensions.

Pandorians can get “Jorvegian sickness” just like how Jorvegians can get “Pandorian sickness”. It’s basically just their bodies reacting to not being in their correct reality for prolonged amounts of time, and not being able to adjust to the different energies of said dimensions. Kinda like radiation poisoning. I read an article posted here like… a year or two about the ACTUAL science behind this and it’s super fascinating!! Ydris (and other Pandorians such as my oc Wren) can exist in our realm by creating bubbles of Pandoric energy around themselves to protect from this illness. Wren uses an infused Pandoric crystal earring as her portable container for this energy so she can constantly walk around with Pandoric energy around her. Her caravan and the circus are also bubbles of energy / safe havens.

Before Garnok Pandorians had thriving civilisations - castles, buildings, villages etc. However Garnok destroyed so many of these communities and spread Pandorian life thinner and thinner. The residue of these forgotten civilisations crumble in the inbetween as seen when we travel between Jorvik and Pandoria.

Things get pulled into this “InBetween” space between realities - sometimes real things, sometimes copies of real things. Reality and energy is highly unstable here and is volatile due to the mixing of energies. This is where a lot of lost things go. Sometimes trees, buildings or sometimes just your missing socks.

After Garnoks initial attacks across Pandoria, the people of the realm tried to fight back. It was a horrendous and long war against this evil tentacle cathulu ass boy, that the Pandorians would eventually loose to. This “Great War” decimated their populations and resources and brought a new era of fear and hiding to Pandorians. Multiple smaller cival wars would break out between communities over disputes in land, boarders, food, resources etc. Everyone was desperate and looking out for themselves. This is why Pandorians are so sparse now a days and always in secrecy wearing masks. Bit of Pandorian history there ;))

Not all Pandorian’s have magic! It’s much like on Jorvik where some are just more adept at controlling and manipulating energy to their will. You can be born with great power that is passed down in generations and can be strengthened with training. But there are also smaller practices of “magic” that anyone can learn with enough guidance and training. Ydris is just a VERY powerful Pandorian - which is one of the reasons he managed to sustain himself on Jorvik without getting sick, and travelled there in the first place. If everyone could do it, Jorvik would have become a safe haven for Pandorian refugees.

That’s it for now!!!! I’d love to hear peoples opinions on these as I’m always open to discussions about Pandoria 😩 we know so little which leaves SO much room for the imagination!!

[writingonjorvik]

Can We Discuss Retconning?

Yo it’s my birthday so fuck the update schedule. Here’s a short piece because who knows how long it’s gonna be until I have time to do one of these again with my book.

Ok, here’s the thing. I’m super fucking meticulous about worldbuilding. Like I’ve writing books inside of books for my book. Nonsense levels. I’m not quite Tolkien bad, but I trend towards his kind of worldbuilding. Needless to say, I like building worlds, and I go deep into it. But also, it’s incredibly important for me to be on top of worldbuilding. Having inconsistencies in my world means having inconsistencies in my plot. This is true for all storytellers though. And this is where we come to retconning.

Retconning, for anyone unfamiliar, is a term used to mean retro-actively changing cannon, or the official series of events and facts of a setting. It’s a tool used to fit plot holes or inconsistencies, or introduce character elements that weren’t there previously to match the direction a story wants to go. Typically, retconning is used in on going series, like TV shows, serial books, and video games. And it’s not always done well.

Now, I’m not opposed to retconning. SSO’s actually done some retconning well. Easy example would be when the player meets Tin Can. Originally, the player picked Tin Can up from Jorvik Stables, before Harvest Counties was released. After that release, Herman brought Tin Can from Horse Island. Since Horse Island has been largely removed I don’t know if the dialogue has been changed again, but this is an example of retconning in a good way. It wouldn’t make any sense why, at probably about level 13-16 when you get this quest, Tin Can was at Jorvik Stables and we just couldn’t see him all this time. So this detail is changed so suspension of disbelief isn’t broken. Changing the biggest city in Jorvik from Jarlheim to Jorvik City makes sense after seeing the size differences between the two.

However, SSO has been doing this massive core story retcon that isn’t implemented well. And that’s changing the leader of the Soul Riders. 

Now, I think it makes total sense to do one retcon. In the original games, the leader of the Soul Riders was Lisa, but since so few players have access to the Starshine Legacy games, there’s nothing in SSO to found this. Logically, based on story conventions (largely the fact that we met her first and she’s been the defacto leader of the Soul Riders as long as we’ve known her), it should be Alex. And for a while it was. While this retcon was big and perhaps irritating for long term fans, it makes sense for bringing in new fans and having a contained story unit just in SSO. What does make sense is to then retcon again to Anne.

Arguably, this could because I don’t see Anne as a leader (you cannot be a person that values so strongly your independence and also be a strong leader. Leaders need to work on teams, and these two traits don’t fit together). This could also be that this will be the second time this retcon has happened. But largely because it puts too much of the story on its head. By the time you get to the Anne rescue, you should have been playing SSO for at least 6-7 months, with minimal time skips and playing everyday. Likely it’s longer. For some of us it’s been almost 8 years. Either way, you cannot build characters for that long and then retcon such integral character traits and facts about your story.

And look, it’s not just Anne. SSO does this a lot and then they don’t fix it. Things like Pi talking about Moorland getting an update before the first Moorland overhaul. If that dialogue is still in there, new players are always going to be thinking there’s new stuff coming to Moorland. Things like waffling heavily on reincarnation and who does it, on Starshine’s personality, on the Bobcats.

Like I said before, there is nothing wrong with retconning. But it’s important to make sure that the changes you make are believable. I do not believe based on the world and facts SSO has provided that Anne should be a leader. And anyone who was ready to play the rescue mission at its release will not have played through a retconned story that suggests Anne should be the leader. They will have played through the original presented story where Alex was the leader.

Look, retconning is a powerful tool and it can be used to good effect. But you have to make sure it supports the player/reader/viewer’s view of the world. It cannot break suspension of disbelief. One of the biggest hurts SSO has is its inconsistencies in its world, probably because it has no writing team. Easy and free solution; get a couple of interns or hardcore cannon fans and hop over to World Anvil. You can set up a complete internal wiki for writing story for developers and have a great resource for fans to make sure they are prepared for cannon. I realized we have Jorvikpedia, but it would be nice to have something straight out of the dev’s books we know as cannon.

And it’s my birthday, so go preorder my book.