#dusk worldbuilds

[duskforged]

Rohalla I: Introduction

Also cross-posted to my ko-fi.

Nestled within a barren world, the Rohalla Valley is no small region, measuring easily sixteen thousand square miles. It consists of a semi-temperate boreal region, with huge swaths of forest, many rivers, and a central lake that has one major river that drains to the sea. As such, it is quite wet, but warmer as one approaches the coast.

Pictured above is the Rohalla Valley's height map, where the darkest regions represent sea level, slowly graduating to the palest region, which represents over fifteen thousand feet above sea level.

For now, that is enough of the terrain, however. Now that the place has been roughly established, it is time to speak of the inhabitants.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the first people to settle this river valley found themselves in a strange world, a far cry from where they had once lived. Many had lost loved ones in the crossing, and many more perished to the elements.

Not all was lost, however, as those that survived began to explore and take root in this new, rich environment. These first folk, who called themselves the Halisa, named the basin Rohalla. It became, in many ways, their home.

On the other hand, stratification between cultural groups began to emerge within several thousand years, between those that wished to remain sedentary at the lake shore and those that yearned a more nomadic lifestyle within the woods that had called to them. Thus, the folk split into the first two groups - the lake folk and the forest folk.

Afterward, several lake folk groups decided to migrate downriver, settling in the bountiful river valley to become known as the plains folk. Some of these folk decided to move even further downriver, residing on the coast and becoming the sea folk.

Within the forest folk, many culture groups had gone deeper into the mountains - not so far that they ran into the barren wastelands beyond, but deep enough that they slowly uncovered the gifts the mountain had for them - precious metals and gemstones, beautiful flowers not found anywhere else in Rohalla, and much more. These people later became known as the sedentary mountain folk.

While there is many blending and merging between cultures, especially as they trade and meet at borders, there is also no small amount of conflict. Whether it be land disputes, blood feuds, or full blown war between city states, not everyone lives in peace and harmony...

[namelessclient]

time for a bit of world building

Species : Mountain Beasts (aka Tennis Ball's species)

Before going straight to the point, what is an "Species" in the dusk au? In simple words, these are like the "races" in the universe, so like in this case, an Species implies there are various objects that share characteristics and culture. For example, Book is from a Species (Archivians), this means there are other book-like creatures that have a wing made of leather and other of paper.

Creatures that are not from a Species, like Pin or Firey, are more unique: no or almost no other creature share characteristics with them.

Tennis Ball, Golf Ball, Book, the writing siblings (Pencil, Pen, Marker) and others are Species creatures.

I hope this isn't too confusing.

The Mountain Beasts live on rocky ground, so they can be found on mountains and inactive volcanic slopes. Their territories extend to slightly higher grounds and periphery of close forests.

They're quite robust, with strong muscles, especially in their legs. They can easily move large rocks or tackle down trees without problems. The thick fur and fat on their bodies help them to survive long periods without food, the climate and attacks such as scratches or bites. Their paws and claws are designed to withstand the texture of the terrain. Their diet consists mostly of meat, but they can also eat some berries and plants.

They're also quite aggressive towards other creatures and even each other. Fighting is the usual way to demonstrate and establish a hierarchy.

Their hybrid nature gives them the best characteristics from both families, like the endurance and resistance of the canines and the strength and sharp claws and fangs of their mouths from felines. Basically, they're apex predators.

However, this mix of families messes with their genes, making them prone to diseases such as muscle wasting and even cancer, and the aggressive nature itself makes them short-lived creatures.

[dkniade]

Would you exclaim (euphemistically or non-euphemistically) using the name of the Archons…?

Actually, how would euphemisms of the Archons work (think gosh or golly for God)…?

Canonical Chinese terms for Morax in Liyue include: 岩王帝君 (Yán Wáng Dìjūn)，帝君 (Dìjūn)，岩王爷 (Yán wángyé), 他老人家 (tā lǎorénjiā, Chinese honourific meaning that old man).

By the way, 岩王爷 and 他老人家 are used by Yun Jin in her “About the Vision” voiceline in relation to her Geo Vision. (In the English localization she calls him Lord of Geo and the old man, respectively.)

Let it be known that in Mandarin, 岩王爷 (despite using 岩 which is stone, localized as Geo for the element) is a homonym of 阎王爷 (Yán wángyé), who’s the King of Hell in ancient Chinese religions. Other terms for this deity in real life include 阎罗王 (Yánluó wáng), 阎罗 (Yánluó), and 阎罗大王 (Yáluó Dàwáng) in Mandarin, and यम (Yama-raja) in Sanskrit (in Hinduism).

(From Baidu Baike page “阎罗王 (中国古代神话中的十殿阎王之一 )” and the Wikipedia page on “Yama (Hinduism)”)

Rex Lapis’ page on the Genshin Impact wiki also states

“His Chinese title, 岩王帝君 Yánwáng Dìjūn, "Imperial Sovereign Yánwáng; Stonelord Sovereign; Rex Lapis" includes the honorific title 帝君 dìjūn, "sovereign," typically added to the names of Daoist deities.”

(The page also has some great discussions on the etymologies of Morax’s titles in the comments.)

Technically speaking, 岩王帝君 in pinyin would be written as Yán Wáng Dìjūn because 岩 means rock or stone, and 王 means lord or king, and thus 岩王 (meaning rock king, stone lord, Lord of Geo if you will) is not one word and would not be transcribed as Yánwáng. (So if anyone could edit pinyin transcriptions of the tile on the wiki that’d be great.)

For 阎王爷, 阎 is also part of the name and 王爷 is the honorific..

…Hm.

(Spoilers for Neuvillette’s profile line after completing Masquerade of the Guilty.)

.

Neuvillette in the English localization of his “About the Geo Archon” profile line calls the Geo Archon Deus Auri (Latin: God of Gold) who has the Authority of Geo. In the original Chinese text, the first is 贵金之神 (Guìjīn zhī Shén, God of Gold), and the second is 岩之大权 (Yán zhī Dàquán). Hmm… 贵金 possibly comes from 贵金属 (Guìjīnshǔ) which is precious metal, referring to such as gold, silver, and platinum… Well, it’s likely a cultural difference between Liyue and Fontaine that resulted in such titles.

Looking at the (English localization of the) diegesis, with the Iudex of Fontaine calling the Geo Archon Deus Auri, it makes less sense that in the English localization, Liyue people would use the Latin term Rex Lapis for him when in contrast the Inazuma people refer to Ei and the Shogun puppet as Raiden Shogun.

I think… It’d make sense for Fontainians or Mondstadters to call him Rex Lapis.

[dirtyoldmanhole]

i was perusing wikipedia for historical gothic architecture similar to nohr's vibe (since not all gothic horror is equal); thistle chapel seems like a pretty metal and visually striking similar edifice considering the dark/black interiors mixed with the golden hue and the dramatic lighting mixed with the signature pointed arches.

(imagine anankos' mask and sun/moon motifs on the ceiling like iago's golden half mask, reminding the viewer there's always somebody more powerful watching. shit would be so creepy.)

but you know a cool visual/architectural element nohr would definitely have that i haven't seen in fanworks? labryinths.

tell me this shit isn't straight out of a nohrian dragon's blood ceremony.

apparently a ton of chapels/cathedrals/castles had labyrinths (walking through them was meditative) - imagine these under anankos-faces, for one. but take it a step further and imagine krakenburg castle deliberately built as a labyrinth to loose the unwary permanently in its depths....

mages dissapearing people who get lost, or setting traps/evesdropping parallel corridors..... the throne room at its centre and most defensible point..... even just as a visual motif for metaphor or background design element, you could get a nutty amount of mileage with this.

[sam-glade]

Happy WBW!! I would like to ask about the ruling class in your world! What is their power based on? Is it for example military power like with warrior nobilities of some ancient societies, or land ownership like in feudal societies, or something else? How is the status inherited? For example by first born, distributed to all children, voted for by the members (like in many clan systems), something else?

Hi Karkki, Happy WBW

Let me roll up my sleeves and get on with some info dumping.

Tl;dr: it's heavily inspired, but not a 1-1 copy of the Golden Liberty system.

As of Days of Dusk, the Sunblessed Realm is ruled by the five princes - hence, it's now more often referred to as the Five Princedoms. The king is believed to be alive, but absent, residing in his Palace in the Clouds. He's more or less revered as a god, but honestly, he does jack shit, only serves as a reminder for the princes that there's a higher power. The princes of course test the limits further and further as time goes on.

The princes descend from the king's closest friends and supporters, who fought off the Primeval Darkness with him about 3000 years ago. Given the longevity of the people, it means a vastly different number of generation between the progenitor of the family and the current head of state. For example, Anthea and Ianim are grandchildren of the First Prince, the White Dragon, the King's closest friend, and they're 100-200 years old. The Prince of the North is also from the third generation, and he's just over a 1000. Other families have anywhere between 5 and 12 generations.

Upon assuming the title of the head of state, the prince names their successor, so that there's no squabble over inheritance. The successor's role is mostly representative - I like to compare it to the First Lady in the US, doing mostly charity and outreach work. They'll also attend all sort of formal events from weddings to openings of new factories. The successor can be the child of the prince, but often is the younger sibling, and in one case the spouse.

In the Southern and Western princedoms, which trade a lot across the sea and are very economy-driven, the merchants and guilds hold a lot of power, and the prince is a figurehead. In the others, the princes have a lot more direct power; e.g. the First Prince's power is nigh-absolute. If she weren't such a firm believer in the Sun King's divine rule, she'd quite likely become a dictator. Fortunately, her religious-like faith keeps her in check.

It's also worth noting that the army is separated from the government, in that it's an institution that spans all five princedoms and it's sole purpose is to kill demons, not fight against humans. However, every Sword is legally obligated to serve their 20 years while their Sword develops, and it's genetically inherited, so direct descendants of the progenitors of the princes' families who were Swords end up serving in the army and rising high in the rank (if only so that other officers gain some favour with them outside the army), thus giving them influence there as well. E.g. the White Dragon commanded the Winged Division, which evolved from his cavalry units, and now Anthea is the commander. There are questions raised about conflicts of interest.

By the end of Prodigal Children, this goes too far, and in the South, there's a revolt, which leads to that state declaring itself a republic, and being ruled by a handful of populist leaders, mostly guildmasters. The West on the other hand tries something modelled after elective monarchy, which has the nobility choosing the successor, so it's not locked to a single family, but still relies on inherited titles. Eventually, it will tend to various flavours of democracy (though 3000 years later, in The Truth Teller, it has again gone wrong, where you have basically one uncontested political party turning authoritarian.

So that's the aristocracy.

Now, for the nobility, it's modelled after the szlachta. The key characteristics are that it's a rather numerous class, and the poorer nobles are honestly not as wealthy as a homeowner in a city, as a rule of thumb, while district governors can are comparable to wealthy merchants, so there's a fair bit of spread. The noble houses usually own a village or two, so yes, it's serfdom. The poorer ones may end up co-owning a village, the wealthier - owning a handful of them. One example we see on page is the Sixth Tree, who don't own a village, but a gun making factory, and that's what pays for their taxes.

The noble titles are inherited by the firstborn or oldest adopted child, though that might be changed by a written declaration.

The nobility gathers at regular intervals for local/regional/state-wide assemblies. There, they vote on various changes to the law, resolve feuds, etc. Yes, they can vote by letter. Technically anyone can veto any resolution, and one veto is enough to send it back to the drawing board, which means the assemblies can drag on for a while. Also, there's a tonne of politicking involved, as you might expect - voting for something just to curry favour, etc. (Side note: I keep calling it assemblies, though I've seen 'parliament' used more often in English. It's based on the idea of sejmik).

The assemblies that involve the princes are the prince-wide and general assemblies, and yes, that puts another limit on the prince's power and what they can put into law. If they try taking too much power away from the nobility, they'll be vetoed. However, being too trigger happy with vetoing them is sure to put you on their naughty list ;)

Finally, if the nobility believes that the prince is really screwing them or the state over, they can call for a lawful insurrection - which is how one of the princes gets replaced in Prodigal Children. It's based on rokosz. Then, they choose the next prince from among themselves.

.

Adding Days of Dusk taglist (please message me to +/-): @acertainmoshke @another-white-void @cee-grice @cljordan-imperium @elshells

@goldxdarkness @poetinprose @sparrow-orion-writes @tisiphonewolfe

[solardee]

Dawn of a New Dream - Chapter 1

Long ago, two races ruled over the earth; HUMANS and MONSTERS.

They did not always get along. Presumptions, concerns, stereotypes caused endless friction amongst the various creatures of the earth, even if they happened not to abide by those two strict categories.

And indeed, there were those caught up in the strife that did not abide.

Deep in the core of the forest Heorte were two such creatures. The woods dense with gnarled tree roots, pulsing steadily with life and magic in every leaf. Sunlight trickled in from the canopy above in a lazy pattern that begged one to take a rest under the branches. 

It was idyllic. It was perfect.

A sneeze rings out amongst the plant life, startling several small creatures from their resting places as a tiny skeleton monster sits up from the roots and scrubs at his nasal ridge. Clad in pink and yellow, a golden crown like a sunrise sitting haphazardly on his skull, the babybones rubbed his sockets a bit to shake off the residual sleepiness in his limbs.

“Huh? Did I fall asleep?” he asked seemingly to no one, small voice echoing in the forest clearing in front of him.

“Well, you weren’t awake,” drifted a softer voice from above. Another skeleton was there, dressed in soft lavender and blue with a silver crown that honored the setting sun. He was leaning against the trunk calmly as he sat on the branch, legs dangling beneath him with a slight sway as if he'd been kicking them out before the other below him had woken.

“Hmf! Well maaaaaybe I just had my eyes closed, Dusk!” the pink skeleton replied, crossing his arms in front of his puffed out chest. Canary yellow eyelights peered up into the apple laden branches, failing to appear as grumpy as the babybones clearly wanted them to be.

Dusk above snorted, lavender eyelights glittering with mirth as he looked down, “Uhuh, so do you snore with your sockets closed for fun now Dawn?”

“I don’t snore!” Dawn shouted back with righteous indignity.

“Yeah you do, you just did!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too, times infinity!” 

Dawn gasped, scrambling to his feet as he glared up at his brother in the tree canopy, “That’s not fair, you can’t use ALL the numbers!”

“Can too~” Dusk grinned, wiggling lightly in place and clearly pleased with himself, “it’s not my fault you can’t count that high.”

Dawn made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a raspberry being blown, and Dusk stuck his tongue out at the other in kind.

“Alright that’s it! I’m coming up there right now!” the pink skeleton huffed, stomping his foot before clambering over to the tree and taking hold.

“Nuh-uh, it’s my turn up here now, the tree agrees with me!” Dusk argued back as he pressed his magic into the branch he was seated upon. The vines dangling from the canopy gently came to life, wrapping around Dawn like a weighted wisteria colored blanket to drag him back to gnarled roots.

“Hey-! That’s-! Cheating!!”

“See? I win, baby brother~”

Dawn struggled against the vines as they pressed him against the mossy forest floor, squirming like the misbehaving toddler he was (even if he was 6 now, far too big to be a toddler in his opinion no matter what Dusk said). With as much determination as his bones could muster Dawn freed his hand from the tangled mess of fauna and smacked it into the base of the tree. Soft yellow magic bloomed upwards, trailing yellow trumpet flowers in its wake on the trunk until it reached the branch his brother sat upon, and then-

“Eeeeek!”

Dusk’s squeal of surprise rang sharply through the forest as he tumbled to the ground below, Dawn’s magic having shaken the branch to knock him off. He collapsed into a soft pile of yellow flora beside the wisteria wrangled mess of his brother. Startled lavender eyelights stared up at the forest ceiling before Dusk twisted his head to lock eyes with his brother, giving him the angriest pout glare he could muster. Dawn responded in kind.

The glaring contest only lasted thirty seconds before peals of laughter echoed through the trees, golden and royal purple apples shimmered in the dappled sunlight from above.

[keftiu]

my last two+ years of mecha roleplaying

a little over two years ago, my friend group got together for a game of Microscope, intent on creating a setting for ourselves that could host at least one (and potentially more!) Beam Saber campaigns. seven hours later, we emerged from a feverish haze with the bones of an indulgent sci-fi mecha world perfectly tailored to our niche tastes: the Pearlescent Expanse, a former frontier province of a fallen Coalition between seven interstellar empires who now feuded over the ashes.

following that, some of us branched out into our own corners of this Expanse. i claimed Aureate, the world of golden deserts and briny seas that had once been the region's capital, now scarred by war and tyranny, and wound up running a Beam Saber campaign of my own, Gilded Sands! we told the story of a revolution being built out of criminals and the oppressed, rising up against both fascist Hellenistic technocrats and the slave-owning exiles of an avian faux-Holy Roman Empire, and had an absolute blast with it - some of my proudest GMing ever, with an incredible crew of players.

i experimented with one-shots that jumped around the timeline: a Scum & Villainy game (Gilded Sands: Cobalt Revolt) about a doomed anti-Coalition rebellion centuries before GS, and an Armour Astir: Advent game (Gilded Sands: A Sign of Zeta) set fifteen years later, as the next war for liberation left Aureate behind for her wider solar system.

eventually, i managed to get together folks for a truly brilliant 4-session run of Kingdom 2e (Gilded Sands: Broken Promise) that played out that next war from the perspective of our fragile young republic's leaders - ending on a bittersweet note, as we won freedom for all in our sun's orbit, but saw our nation dissolved in the hopes of building something less flawed in a time of peace.

getting to explore ~300 years of this planet's history has been an absolute joy, and given it a sense of depth that's made it incredibly real for us.

there's notes on my computer for what the world looks like a century later, where the weight of history and the intrusion of psychic alien energies have made Aureate into a Songs for the Dusk setting, about as far as can be from the militant grit of Beam Saber so long ago.

while i've been busy, my friends have not sat dormant: a Beam Saber campaign on the world of Garden happened largely outside our sight on another Discord server, while a friend had a really good run at Armour Astir last year on the planet Teter. several recent additions are about to try out Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands on troubled Makesh, while (with luck!) i'm playing Mothership out in the turbulent Keshi Rim very soon. Veranova is looking to host some 2400: Inner System Blues in the coming weeks. folks have spilled tons of digital ink on worldbuilding with nothing to do with actual play, creating for the sheer joy of it and for the excitement it brings everyone else on the project.

in short - we're a bunch of autistic nerds who all like mechs and love sharing things with one another, and it's led to a golden age of both collaborative creativity and getting to play obscure indie tabletop systems.

this post is a lot of rambling, but more than that, it's me shouting from the rooftops: find cool friends, make cool shit together, and play games that aren't made by giant corporations!! the Pearlescent Expanse as been an absolute gift for all of us, and we don't intend to stop any time soon - you could do the same!!

[olievu]

if it weren't for second chances, we'd all be alone.

see you in the fabric of the universe. ｡.:*･゜

about me:

hiya! i'm jayden, but you can call me jj. i'm seventeen and i use all pronouns! my interests jump between ghostbusters, the grishaverse, stephen king's novels and other various goodies. one thing will always reign supreme, though, and that is VAMPIRES! i adore them, and i'm in the process of writing a novella about one of my own! i'll post little snippets here occasionally, but most of my writing will be available on ao3 when it's completed.

i'm a lover of dogs, cats, and women; not in that order, and i am a bit of a caffeine addict. if you see me posting things at odd times, no you didn't. i tend to be much more active on my other social media pages, so feel free to check those out! they're listed on my carrd which is conveniently linked below. @ me on twitter with any questions or just to be friends!

nightshade & refuge:

nightshade & refuge is a novella following a vampire called cain on his adventures 'round the globe as an immortal spy. it is currently in the works, but as of today (9 june 2024) all character information has been completed. i'll be posting introductions soon! make sure to check out here for updates!

see also:

[ketavinsky]

prayers, monologues

[marmoladon]

The mother coterie of my Neon Dusk Chronicle (1988), My players are all new to VtM so I made it so their characters are exploring the universe together with them, however, as per Camarilla law they need a sire to be accepted into the society. All their sires are unknown unfortunately as they were all murdered in a music festival massacre in early summer of 1988, but they ended up being adopted by a group of ancillae and a Gangrel Elder who now function as their de facto sires in the eyes of the law.

From left to right on the last image they are:

Edouard (e. 1790), french Gangrel who moved to New York to avoid having to deal with Napoleon and also to cash in on the still expanding riches of the new world. He is one of the longest living vampires in New York City itself and he has been the primogen of Gangrel clan for almost a century. He is also a businessman and despite living in his estate outside of the city he runs the entire blood smuggling business of the entire north-east USA. He was the one to find the fledgelings and decided to use his standing in the camarilla hierarchy to keep them alive so they can help him uncover the mystery of the Music Festival Massacre.

Helena (e. 1916) german Tzimisce who worked as a nurse in the german side of the western front throughout most of the Great War (as she still calls it). She was embraced by a man who was fascinated by her knowledge on human anatomy when she and her pluton took refuge in his medieval castle. Because of the situation, she became a vampire while her comrades were all brutally murdered as a "welcome gift" as her sire put it. Needless to say she wasn't fond of that and ended up running away both from her sire and the brewing new europe-wide military conflict. She moved to Brooklyn, NY where her clan bane started showing as she became more and more tethered to her apartment in an old townhouse. After a couple decades she managed to buy the rest of the building off of mortal hands and opened the Bloody Crescent bar where she resides to this day.

Durga (ghoulified in early 1930s) Helenas right hand(s) woman, a lover and the living weapon that keeps Edouard's business in the region under control. She and Helena met on the ship on which they both moved from Europe to USA and despite Durga being a sunshine loving sweetheart while Helena only showing up on the dack at night they quickly grew together which eventually led to Durga finding out about Helena's Vampirism. As a promise of eternal togetherness she agreed to become a ghoul as she still wanted to have the option of enjoying the sun. She doesn't always have all 6 arms. Depending on the need Helena adjusts the form of Durga from simple human-looking bouncer to a monster with bladed tentacles protruding from her back. She was always spiritual, however, because of vicissitude meddling with her perspective on reality she now 'believes' she is the avatar of a Hindu goddess of war. Not only that, as a vozhd all her capabilities other than physical ones were hugely reduced so now she only speaks with Helena and her other ghouls, while other people only get grunts. She doesn't mind

[lavenoon]

Hey! Do you have any ideas what tasks new recruits in each department would primarily be assigned for the agency?

At the time you asked, not really! But I'll try to throw some stuff out there for funsies!

Field agents, both undercover and the sneaky type, just get low stakes missions at first. Which is to say, more interactions with private people instead of representatives of bigger companies. Approach a civilian on the street and engage them in conversation rather than attend a high class event, break into a private home rather than a huge company building. Easier to cover up mistakes in those cases, and then they can work up towards the bigger stuff!

Some even start out as simple ground support, backup in case of emergencies, those those support teams are usually a mix of senior and new agents, because you can't have a bunch of rookies freaking out at emergencies lmao

Command Center Staff mostly works as control at first - go over decrypted files to double check for mistakes and shadow senior staff before they get to decrypt their own files and get to actually communicate with field agents.

Agents working in the labs will simply be assistants for a while, the labs are always team efforts so it's rather easy to get started in there. Just gets used to taking notes and following orders for a while before you get to work on your own gadget ideas (unless you do that on your own time of course)

Research and development, adjacent to the labs but more focused on testing the gadgets outside of the labs but before field deployment, also just stand back and take notes rather than be the ones to test gadgets themselves, sometimes even from behind a glass wall (in case of accidents)

There's also just increased scrutiny from the supervisors keeping a closer eye on the newbies (and their reports), before that attention slowly fades to a more comfortable level

[duskforged]

4, 5, and 6 on that worldbuilding ask please

Hello, Kasha! Thank you for the ask. For this, I'll largely talk about Anazesan cultures.

4. How does someone propose marriage in your culture(s)? How long do they stay engaged, and what marks the marriage?

In Anaseza, marriage is usually asked by someone to another person, who may ask their ancestors or living relatives for input before agreeing or disagreeing. It is frowned upon for anyone under the age of 21 to become betrothed, but it can happen, especially among the nobility.

Generally, an engagement lasts three or four years, and it's regarded as scandalous to marry before then. The marriage is marked by a wedding, which consists of vows, followed by either a binding ceremony (if they are forming their own family) or a transferring ceremony (if one partner is joining the other's family), then a bonfire, which might include feasting, dancing, etc.

Occasionally people may exchange their weapons with their partners', but they will not do so for a long period of time.

5. What weather-based customs exist in your culture(s)?

In Anaseza, none come to mind. More northern cultures of the continent may have what we call siestas - closing down at midday due to the temperatures.

6. What customs surround death and burial? Are the people of your culture(s) even buried?

In Anaseza, it is very common for the dead to be burned on a pyre, and their ashes placed on, near, or under the ancestral altar if applicable. One may also scatter the ashes, but burying them or putting them into water is said to bring bad luck.

Burying the dead is also regarded as bad luck in many Anasezan groups, especially if they died violent or sudden deaths. They have deep connections with flame and sky, and burning the body essentially allows their spirit to escape.

(Spirits are, of course, a nebulous research topic - spirits themselves tend to follow the traditions set by their people, rather than following a particular set of so-called scientific rules.)

[dkniade]

Oh I think I understand now

So theoretically, if I were to look into a particular Genshin questline, or event, or character story, which one should I go for based on the types of stories/characters I seem to like? I guess in the context of Genshin I personally prefer shorter storylines instead of long quests, but maybe it’s that I’m picky or something

[systematicallycapricious]

Some Ergo Lore!

Disclaimer: I’ve been staring at both this and my cacophony of assorted AoN notes for too long, so if something doesn’t make sense in it, just let me know and I’ll do my best to clarify it.

(Additionally, stuff like the metaphysical aspects of how Evokers work and more on how they’re used for research are still in the works, so I’ll likely be including those in different lore docs later on. /o/)

[sam-glade]

Happy STS!

So. What's an Elemental Dancer? And will we see more of them?

Happy STS on a Wednesday, Elli💜

Swords to protect, Crystals to heal, Elemental Dancers to build and repair.

That's at least how it's told in the old tales in-setting. The truth is, Elemental Dancers aren't well understood during the times of Days of Dusk.

While Swords wield weapons and have magical powers and Crystals have healing powers, the powers of Elemental Dancers are much more varied and often subtle. Their abilities are neither offensive nor directly life-saving, and often go unnoticed.

They include things like manipulating existing materials (e.g. Renna of the Sixth Tree, the infamous gunsmiths, can ensure that there are no faults in the metal she casts), talking to animals (Catnip), imitating sounds, exceptional skill in acrobatics...

There are of course non-Gifted people who can almost match this level of mastery, but the more common explanation is that someone is channelling an appropriate Element to achieve such exceptional things. Their abilities, as with Swords and Crystals, correspond to the Element they channel (Matter for manipulating materials, Air for singing among other things, etc.). There's ongoing debate whether Elemental Dancers have an Implement (similarly to healing Crystals and Swords' Weapons), and there are tales of a suspected Elemental Dancer's favourite tool breaking upon their deaths, but people love to spin excited tales, and there are few objective accounts.

Since Elemental Dancers are not registered and kept track of like Swords and not always as famous as Crystals who are beloved by their communities, it's very hard to tell how many there are, though estimates say that no more than 5% of the entire population is Gifted by Fate.

They are named after the King Consort known as the Dancer, who is credited with singlehandedly creating the Chambers of Gold and the King's Palace in the Clouds, among other architectural wonders. Other famous Elemental Dancers include the Weaveress - the spouse of the White Dragon, best known for making the four legendary cloaks from this fairy tale.

By the time of The Truth Teller, Swords are unheard of, Crystals are rarer, and most Gifted (now referred to as Knacked) are an evolution of Elemental Dancers, channelling their powers through Implements - small items of sentimental value, such as a whistle or a pen and a ntoebook.

The only fool-proof way of telling apart anyone who's Gifted from those who aren't, is to measure the ambient energy around the person - every* Gifted will increase the readings when they use their powers.

*no, not every, of course there's an exception, because of how individual powers work. But there's only one known exception, so it's a valid statement, right?

[bonbonnit]

Here's more Brewhaven concept stuff! The star of the show, Dusk! and he's well... himself. When thinking of what to do for the Magically Queer Zine (go check it out ! https://qtinanimation.carrd.co/) I really wanted to lean into the community aid and resistance, perfect for the vigilante figure Dusk would be.