Some Snippets from The World: Yeola-Camay

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gestaltist
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

Post by gestaltist »

A lovely story. Made me think of the two grumpy old men in the Muppet Show whatever they were called.

I have a few questions. Based on what I know of the World so far, I would assume the hills are really conversing, and it isn’t a mere metaphor. So... what language do they speak? How do they communicate? They also seem to be able to understand the languages of the various peoples that roamed about. How?

And another one that I have been meaning to ask for a while: any specific reason you decided to use the word „dwimmery“ instead of magic or sorcery or some other more popular term? - I hadn’t even known it existed before I started to read about the World. And as a followup: is „dwimmery“ the same as „thaumology“?
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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gestaltist wrote:A lovely story. Made me think of the two grumpy old man in the Muppet Show whatever they were called.
Statler and Waldorf. They were two I had in mind when that story came along. Mostly, though, an old recording of "That Old Gang of Mine" -- couple old(er) guys sitting around gabbing about the good old days!
I have a few questions. Based on what I know of the World so far, I would assume the hills are really conversing, and it isn’t a mere metaphor. So... what language do they speak? How do they communicate? They also seem to be able to understand the languages of the various peoples that roamed about. How?
I am not entirely certain that it is the physical mountains that are talking, although that is a clear possibility. After all, gargoyles and trolls can talk -- just scale that up by several orders of magnitude and you're in the neighbourhood of mountain speech! I'm thinking it could be a couple of the (lesser) Powers, those mighty beings who came into the bounds of All That Is shortly after the Creation. For the most part, their jobs were to give form to the created order; the greatest of them did this by taking the shapes of what we now might call goddesses or gods, the lesser ones often took the shapes of great beasts or monsters. Most of the Powers that came into the World act(ed) in accord with the Plan and most of them went home again; some rebelled entirely. Still others kind of have their own agenda going on. These mountains could be a group of friends that came into the World, did their bit and kind of went native, having taken the shape of great mountain-beings and then never went home again. In any event, they've been there a very very long time indeed!

As for what language do they speak, I'm sure they may still recall the language they knew when they themselves were created. What they speak now in the guise of two elderly mountains I couldn't say. If Ents take a while to say good morning, I'm sure these old Mountainfolk take a while longer to say much of anything at all -- it may be centuries before they even realise it is morning! When your earthly life is measure in the tens of millions of years, rooted to one spot, you kind of lose track of mere trifles like centuries and myriades.

As for understanding, they clearly have gaps in their knowledge -- they know what the thing is that was built on the summit -- a "watchtower" -- but they don't know what it's for. I suspect that, being living beings of the World themselves, language is part of their worldly experience. While I doubt they would have known the languages of Daine or Troll millions of years ago, I'd suspect that once such folk moved into the territory, they'd kind of pick up bits and snatches as they go. Mountains are pretty good at listening -- after all, they've got a lot of time on their hands and really nowhere to go. So they listen to the rumbling complaints of the Plates below and agonies of the volcanoes far away, and they listen to what news comes to them on the wind and through the water. Yes indeed, your average mountain knows many things you or I may not think they'd know about!

For what it's worth, I suspect that not all mountains are Mountainfolk -- clearly these three (Amath, Gahalt and Zahair) are so terribly ancient they must be Powers that came into the World from Outside. But I think that the younger mountains, those that have grown up since the fall of Pangirtanea, are just great masses of stone. No living beings are they, no Power inhabits their deep roots. Most of them anyway. It's entirely possible that some of the younger mountains may harbour some powerful being on errands of his own...
And another one that I have been meaning to ask for a while: any specific reason you decided to use the word „dwimmery“ instead of magic or sorcery or some other more popular term?
Just liked the sound of the word. An early name for the Lord of Shadows is/was Dwimmerdwere which amounts to something like "Dread Sorcery or Illusion". Both good old English words! And there is also something to be said for nòt using the same terminology everyone else uses. After all, magic in the World is not quite the same as magic in D&D!
- I hadn’t even known it existed before I started to read about the World. And as a followup: is „dwimmery“ the same as „thaumology“?
I am fortunate in having found at our local used book shop an amazing mathom of odd English dictionaries -- dictionaries of old words and of older dialect words. If you can find "Beauties of the English Language", for example, you'll find a lot of the archaic words I tend to use in there. That's one of the wonderful things about English: why call something merely "magical" when you can just as easily call it dwimmersome?

Thaumology is a bit different. It involves magic, true, but itself is not magic. I think of thaumology as kind of parallel to technology. A piece of technology is a useful article that is the result of the application of art and science to a problem -- hence a tool like the bobby pin. A piece of thaumology is a useful article that is the result of the application of art and dwimmery, of magic, to a problem -- hence a tool like the pegopansophicon.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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Great answers. What you said about mountains not only helped me understand the World. It also helped me understand the World of Twin Suns better, as well.

Regarding nice-sounding old words. My personal problem with this is that I want my descriptions to make sense in both English and Polish. This kind of restricts me, as it is hard to find equivalents of these nice antiquated gems of vocabulary - I am always missing either the English one or the Polish one. So I stick to the normal vocab.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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gestaltist wrote:Great answers. What you said about mountains not only helped me understand the World. It also helped me understand the World of Twin Suns better, as well.
[:)]

And of course, thanks for asking all these questions! They are very helpful for me as well!
Regarding nice-sounding old words. My personal problem with this is that I want my descriptions to make sense in both English and Polish. This kind of restricts me, as it is hard to find equivalents of these nice antiquated gems of vocabulary - I am always missing either the English one or the Polish one. So I stick to the normal vocab.
Ah. Is there no literary / antique register in Polish? Are there no little used Middle or Old Polish words you could bring out of mathomdom? Question: do you always have to have this kind of thing going on bilingually? For example, could you use a deep English word (like dwimmery) but paired with an ordinary Polish word for "magic"? And then vice versa, a deep Polish word for something else paired with an ordinary English word?

I don't know anything about Polish. Except paczki! I've found that this deep well of old and dialect words to be a great strength of English. Find the strengths of Polish and mine them to similar effect!

Like: she roached down the bacon from the rafters for the big randybooze, but twas reasty and unfit for the dogs.

Brought to you by the word alderkexiest and the phrase gainbite of inwit.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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elemtilas wrote:Brought to you by ... the phrase gainbite of inwit.
Remorse? "again-bite of conscience"?
("remorse" = "re-biting" anyway, so …)

elemtilas wrote:Brought to you by the word alderkexiest ...
Cannot find "alderkex" nor "alderkexy" nor "alderkexiest".
What is it, and where did you find it?

elemtilas wrote:
gestaltist wrote:I have a few questions. Based on what I know of the World so far, I would assume the hills are really conversing, and it isn’t a mere metaphor. So... what language do they speak? How do they communicate? They also seem to be able to understand the languages of the various peoples that roamed about. How?
I am not entirely certain that it is the physical mountains that are talking, although that is a clear possibility. After all, gargoyles and trolls can talk -- just scale that up by several orders of magnitude and you're in the neighbourhood of mountain speech! ....
Have the mountains themselves had any history of roaming about?
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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elemtilas wrote: Ah. Is there no literary / antique register in Polish? Are there no little used Middle or Old Polish words you could bring out of mathomdom?
Sure there is an antique register. It is quite fun, too, because it is so heavily latinized. (Down to the word order: a typical way to make your speech sound antiquated is to use SOV instead of SVO - Polish is rather non-configurational.) I even used to have an etymological dictionary that had a lot of these old words.
Question: do you always have to have this kind of thing going on bilingually? For example, could you use a deep English word (like dwimmery) but paired with an ordinary Polish word for "magic"? And then vice versa, a deep Polish word for something else paired with an ordinary English word?
That’s a good point. The problem lies with my perfectionism. If I decide to use an antiquated word in Polish, I want to have one in English, too. And it quickly becomes tedious. Also, I feel that you get more bang for your buck with it because you use IE languages in the World anyway, so you can actually use these words for conlanging.
I don't know anything about Polish. Except paczki! I've found that this deep well of old and dialect words to be a great strength of English. Find the strengths of Polish and mine them to similar effect!
Do you mean „paczki“ (packets) or „pączki“ (delicious Polish donuts)? I guess the latter. Where do you know them from?

Well, I do mine the strengths of Polish: for one: a broad range of phonemes that I can distinguish (e.g., my fluency in Polish + knowledge of Eastern dialects + fluency in English = I can effortlessly distinguish all of /s sʲ ɕ ʃ ʂ z zʲ ʑ ʒ ʐ/ plus the corresponding affricates.) Another one: the aforementioned non-configurationality of Polish makes it very easy to conceptualize various grammatical constructions when I am working on a conlang. Etc.

On the other hand, I think that English does have a much richer vocabulary due to its history. Also, antiquated Polish is strongly associated with the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its culture. This might be the reason why I feel that old Polish words don’t fit into my setting, I suppose.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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Enumeration of Sharma Master Zaamzalon: I am Zaamzalon, and am accounted wise by many. Why this should be is beyond my ken, for there are many wiser heads than mine! Many disciples seek sharma; and they must not be turned away; for if we turn such seekers away, should we not also turn away our children when they cry for their dinner, or our dogs when they whimper for a friendly pat on the head? The way of wisdom is a simple way, but not an easy way; for the seeker must put aside all desire. I have nothing novel to teach; for what I teach is already known to every disciple and seeker, for it is said that all wisdom is written in the hearts of Men. Even so, having set aside the desires of the self I gladly and willingly teach what I may to any who ask.

First, a man whose mind flits from one desire to another and who longs for the objects of desire lives, dies and is born again to those desires. One who has mastered desire and who has the ending of desire, one who is filled, that one will find that his desires fade away. Even as a river flows into and is lost in the Sea; the sage become free from longing and melts into the all. Indeed, the one who knows God becomes God.

One time a disciple proclaimed that if only he could change the hearts and minds of all people in the world, then all people could be filled and at last find Rest. His master said to him: why does thou seek to cover the whole world with leather? Is it not easier to simply wear sandals? . . . . . .

Gospel of Hippophilos to the Scythians . . . ii. During the night, Miriam and Heoseph heard a noise upon the roof, and a cloud of soot came from the hearth, and they were in a maze at this. Then they saw standing in the hearth and the dust therefrom a bold fellow dressed in pantaloons of leather and a tunic of red wool and a peaked cap of red fox fur. He wore a cloak of hides and skins of various animals; and he had upon his back a great sack made of hides, and from it he took three casks, according to the prophecy of Sarathustras: one filled with gold, one filled with incense, one filled with ointment of myrrh. The great red fellow said to Miriam, the mother of the child: “I come from far distant lands to the north, being a messenger of the king, Sientocleues by name, and having seen a great star in the south, I have followed this star to this land, for an angel of god came to the Sharma Master and instructed him to prophesy to the king, and said: ‘Send thou to the child that shall be found born in the city of Betlem of Heudea, and give thou him three gifts: gold, incense and ointment of myrrh. And the mother, a fair maiden called Miriam, will give thee a royal gift. And for this reason I am here, lady, for to give these gifts and to serve thee in whatever manner thou may please.”

iii. The lady Miriam gave unto the messenger of Sintocleues this gift: one of her robes and one of the robes of her child; and these the red fellow called gifts most regal. The red fellow placed his gifts into the sack and left through the hearth, as he had arrived, and returned to his own country. When he had arrived, he opened his sack, and gave unto the king, Sientocleues, those gifts that the lady Miriam had given him, namely, the robe she wore and the robe her newborn son was wrapped in. When these things were revealed to the king and people, and when the messenger had related his adventure, they all gave much devotion to the lady Miriam and to her newborn son Heosas; and the gifts of lady Miriam became the very greatest treasures of that country. And howsoever long they treasured it, it neither rotted nor burned; and many who believed and touched it were cured of their ills. . . . . .

Gospel of Judas . . . vi. Judas awoke and came to his senses, and found himself in a dark place, filled with firelight and sharp sounds of metal striking metal. When he could see, behold, he saw a palace inhabited by demons of every shape and description. And he walked towards the parapet of the high tower and saw the preparations of great armies arrayed below in a great city of red stones and black iron; and in the far distance, he perceived a great gate made of black iron which even at this distance loomed more forbidding than the black cloud of the tempest. And behold, he heard footsteps approach from behind him. “Judas of Capernaum, son of Simon the tanner.” Judas was surprised, but confused, saying: “Who are thou addressing? For I am the son of Simon, a fisher of Tiberias.” “Nay, my own son, for thou are spawned of Simon the tanner of Capernaum, who slew his own brother in a rage, and then compelled his brothers wife, Miriam, the daughter of an incest, into marriage with him. Thou have been a thief and a scoundrel since thy youngest days; and now thou have betrayed and slain the Holy Fool according to my plan, and, lo, this was foretold by a magus of Capernaum. Thou are mine for all time, o Judas the Betrayer!” “How can this be? For my Master has taught me otherwise!” “I am thy master, and thy father, for thou are well formed in my own image.” Three demons were summoned and came then, and clapped irons around his wrists and ankles, which burned his flesh black; and they led him to the courtyard, and then they spat in his face and beat him with the fist. And others struck him with the palms of their hands; and they stripped him and chained him to a cross. Judas pled with them for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears; for they mocked him, and told him what had been done to his Master. “Thy Master is dead and buried, o Betrayer! And all thy hopes are as dust! Even now, we prepare to invade the Middle World; and then storm the very gates of Heaven; for behold, the plans of the Most High are shattered and in ruins; and all the victory shall be ours!” They left him, then, and he despaired of all hope. And after a long time of confinement, Judas bethought him of his Masters word, and cried out: “Master! How does thou forsake me now?” In that moment, a great shout and clamor went up from every demonic throat, and a thousand drums echoed the tattoo of doom in that place, and the Dark One prepared to lead the attack. In that instant the black iron gates were opened; and the horde departed the city. . .
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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From a dream last night:

We came from the same mother on the same day, my brother and me. He came first, and I followed him right after. If I was accounted fair, he was at best very plain. Everyone says my eyes are the deep green of leaves in summer, my face and nose were long and narrow, my hair and feathers were the russet of autumn leaves; they say his were the black of midnight, his face and nose broad, his eyes the cold blue of a deep mountain lake. It was no secret that he was turghun, born of a union with a Hotai, one of the monsters that tunnel under the mountains, that raid in the night. Our mother died giving us birth and took with her the secret of who our fathers were. She even took with her our names; though people called us Bloodwolf and Nightwolf.

Like any twins we were inseparable. When we were little, we played and slept together; when we got older, we ventured out together. If he found some dark cave to explore, I’d be right behind him; if climbed the tallest tree I could find, he’d scramble up the other side of the trunk. And yes, if he jumped off a high place, I’d tumble down with him! Our love for adventure led us to lives as hunters and trackers. It is well known that among all Daine, turghun make very fine hunters of Hotai. And of those, my brother was surely among the best! And we had taken trophies to prove it: when out on the hunt, we always wore the helmets we took from our first prey. Mine was bronze and in the shape of a snarling wolf head and painted black and grey and dark red; his was iron and made to look like the head and beak of a raptor, its teeth ready to tear flesh from bone. Our knives were Hotai made, straight sided and heavily reinforced; not like the graceful leaf shaped blades we made. They were heavy, but good for punching through the tough skulls of our intended prey.

We weren’t the only Hotai trackers in the wide world, though. Many days travel to the south were the fair lands of the Teyor lords. The fair folk, the elder children. The lore of our people sings of their mighty deeds in ancient battle as well as their compassion for all wholesome living things. They are the stoutest of friends; but if crossed may be the most dogged of enemies. I’d never seen one, though have heard they sometimes come up as far as Alna, along the Great Road, to visit our distant kin there. And anyway, we rarely had occasion to go so far south, being busy enough with keeping the rogues at bay close to home!

* * *

It was during the hottest days of midsummer that we had wandered south, beyond the Road. At the time, we thought nothing of wandering so far from home; but it’s truly said that these things don’t happen without reason. We stayed some time in those lands far from the marshy bottomlands of home. News came early one morning that the daughter of the queen was taken in the night by marauding Hotai and who will get her back if not the best trackers of the North? We set off immediately and followed their trail, the slight footprints of a frightened girl and the hobnail shod prints of at least three raiders, all moving swiftly to the south and west, towards the looming mountains.

Who can know what designs are in the dark and stony hearts of the twisted folk? Or why they must include a Daine child? The rolling fields and pastures of that country gave way to woodlands and foothills and we wasted no time in speculation. We soon caught up to them where they were camped for the day in a deep thicket. We hid a short distance away. Two were snoring, the child chained to one of them, shivering; the finely woven raka wrapped round her waist was torn and stained. A third was making his rounds on the far side of the camp from us. We didn’t see any others.

We nodded to each other silently: once the sentry came round again, I would bring that one down while my brother would leap to the attack on the other two. We’d be walking home in triumph with the queen’s daughter between us before noon!

My aim was good that morning and the sentry fell face down in the leaves with my arrow stuck right between his gleaming black eyes. Too bad the arrow snapped in half as it crashed to earth. If the sound had awoken the others, they would not have had time to defend themselves, so quick was our attack on their camp. The child only whimpered, but she seemed to recognize in us trackers sent to find and bring her home again. She closed her eyes as our knives plunged into the chests of her captors. We found the key to the chain round her neck and freed the girl.

Ah! And then we sang our victory! All Daine are fond of singing, and whether it’s a successful hunt or a battle or the birth of a child or the death of a loved one, we sing it out. And now we sang out our victory over evil. We stood nose to nose, wingtip to wingtip, my green eyes staring into his blue and we belted out our song. The words came fast as the beating heart in the excitement of battle and loud as the roar of thunder. Long was our singing and we never noticed the little girl tugging at our wings and our rakas until we were done and thumping each other on the shoulders.

It was then I noticed them. Tall, fair faced and wingless. Radiant beings indeed! I had only heard of this in tales, never thinking I’d see with my own eyes such beautiful warriors in green; shimmering silver were their helms and white bronze their swords. But it was the bows that gained and held my attention most strongly. And the arrows that were held drawn in those bows. And those arrows were pointed at us, at Bloodwolf and Nightwolf of all people! And these were no Hotai raiders, seeking revenge. These were surely the fair folk, Teyor warriors, Hotai trackers just like ourselves! . . .
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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It took me a moment to realize that none of their arrows were actually aimed at Bloodwolf. All nine of them were aimed right at Nightwolf. I held out little hope that they would understand our rustic speech, after all, the folk of Alna understood poorly enough and they were kin to us! In the North we have little need for the high tongue of the Teyor and few learn it well; I tried what little I could muster.

I wrapped my arms and wings round my twin and held him close as I could, shouting so our attackers could hear me clearly: “Brother to me is this one! Us both you must kill if one you will slay!”

Their leaders spoke quietly among themselves, but they were behind me and I couldn’t make out their words apart from one: Yarrow, their word for Hotai. We killed all the Hotai here in the camp; what could they mean to accomplish by threatening my Nightwolf?

He could see them plainly and spoke quietly in my ear: “I wondered if this day would ever come my love. Perhaps this singing was our last singing together. At least it was loud and long!”

“What do you mean!? What are you saying?”

“I can see as well as you that no white bronze will pierce your eyes this day, nor seek your beating heart. I don’t know the speech of Teyor well at all, but even I know the significance of that one word. And I know you heard it, too. Yarrow. They know what I am.”

I cut him off sharply: “You are no Hotai! You are Daine. Like me.”

“I am half Hotai. You are my own heart, and know me best. Do these hunters know the difference between Hotai and half Hotai?” With some difficulty he broke my grasp and pushed me gently from him. The warriors shifted their stance slightly, tracking his every move. Nightwolf spoke, haltingly and with many false starts, to their leaders: “The hunters of Yarrow you have caught! See? Three have we slain; three this child stole and three we followed. Truly said: half Yarrow am I; yet equally true: Daine am I, of our mother born on the same day. His heart is mine and my heart is his. Maim and slay will Yarrow; children will they seize and steal; here I stand, half Yarrow stops the maiming, rescues the stolen. Truly said: here half Yarrow speaks of wrongness of ill aimed arrows!”

He looked directly into the grey eyes of the leader. There was a long silence, yet before he could speak, I saw one of the warriors, perhaps a maiden of Teyor kind, lay down her bow. She stood herself between my brother and the arrows of her countrymen. She bowed deeply before her lord and spoke. I could only get the bare gist of her words: “You know I am your keenest tracker, lord. You know how well I can follow their trail no matter how well they conceal. You know I foretold we would find exactly three Yarrow in this place. And look, three dead Yarrow are at our feet. This man of Daine kind has not the Taint in his heart; I know I could never track him as I do the evil ones.”

The Teyor lord stood silent some while. He signaled with his hand and instantly all the bows were relaxed and their arrows placed in their slings; yet none of the vigilance of the warriors was relaxed! He spoke then: “Very well. Bind them! The child will be taken to her home.” He looked into my eyes, perhaps sensing my concern for the one we had come to rescue. “For news has reached even to us wandering in the northern marches of a lost child of Daine kind. The half Yarrow will be judged by the king and council. We will go now.”

Without hesitation, we were bound by our arms and wings, firmly but not harshly. Our weapons and helmets were taken from us and we began the long trek south. After three days walking, we came to a loudly singing brook. Beyond I could see two white standing stones, a gate perhaps, on either side of a broad path that led down to the water. Binding cloths were wrapped around our eyes so that we could not see. We were led across the shallow ford and up into the path beyond. The path was smooth and there were no roots or stones to trip us up and we found that our captors guided us expertly.

When we tried to talk to one another, we were reminded not to speak. Sometimes we would hum or whistle tunes to each other. And they couldn’t stop us lying next to each other at night. In two days, we came to a place where there were many voices of Teyor. If our visit had been less perilous, it would have been a joy indeed just to listen to them talk or sing! We were brought into a cool place, of well wrought stone. Dark it was, and when our blinders were removed, it was clear we were being held captive and awaiting our fate. There was nothing to do now but talk. I explained what I could understand of the Teyor lord’s speech and asked again what my brother meant about wondering if this day would come.

He smiled and looked into my eyes, as if to say is it not as obvious as the crooked nose on my ugly face? What he said was simply: “We all know the stories of the great Hotai trackers among Teyor kind. They hunt and destroy evil without mercy. I am half Hotai and if their king makes no distinction between half and full Hotai, then my love, you and I will be parted ere long.”

I could scarcely keep back my own tears. I could only whisper: “I do not wish that. That parting is too soon!”

He put his arms round me: “I do not wish that either! Do we not have many more lands to explore, new people to meet, more victory songs to sing?” I couldn’t help but smile through the tears. “We have not even ventured beyond the mountains into the lands of sunset! I wonder what kind of folk live there on the other side of the world? If our feathers are dark and we are tall, do you suppose they are short and their feathers white?”

I couldn’t help but laugh in spite of myself. “That’s silly!” was all I could manage in reply; I couldn’t think of anything to match it with.

“No, I do not wish that either; but this is our story and we must rise up to sing our part as best we may. If I am to be taken away from you, I will go with a peaceful heart.”

My brother lay down at my feet and slept. All my life I thought I knew a hearty and brave hunter, a fearless boy; terrible with the girls, but steadfast with his friends; and now I am met with one who is already prepared to wander the grey lands beyond our world. He will never say goodbye, but I could feel a deep strength in his farewell. I whispered only: “You may go with a peaceful heart; I do not know if I can my love.”

* * *

Many days passed and I lost count. Our captors fed us well and gave us every opportunity to bathe and walk about, though never freely and never without many eyes watching us. And always we would go back to the strong room of stone to wait another day for our fates to be decided.

One morning tall guardsmen came. One bore strong bonds of woven leather and bronze links. I stood, placing myself between them and Nightwolf. But he touched my back with his hand and stepped forward. “Come, dark one. It is time.”

“Time for what?” I asked.

“Not for me to know the sayings and workings of the High Council.” He turned to look back at my brother. “Come now, dark one.”

He turned to me, the slightest of smiles playing about his lips, wrinkling the outsides of his tilted eyes. He took my hand in his: “Remember tavan, little one, I go with a peaceful heart.”

The guardsmen bound his wrists and led him from the strongroom. He called back to me: “Sing down the ravens, my love!” And then he was gone. I gasped and collapsed to the floor as if he’d been slain in front of me. I could only weep.

No word came to me for several days; I did not know what was to become of Nightwolf.

One day guardsmen came and asked how I was faring, under the circumstances. I said: “My brother lives; my heart beats yet.” They seemed startled: how could I know that? I turned away from my captors. How can a brother not know this about his other half? And then I felt it: a cold, icy thing piercing my breast. I looked down, and could see only the white skin of my chest. I felt the hot pain next sear through my body. I collapsed and looked up at the radiant guardsmen through my tears. I could only scream at them in wordless rage: the beautiful folk with the lilting voices ever raised in song had stolen my brother from me! I sobbed for a long time.

I heard the door of the strong room open. “Come out,” they said. “It is time.” Were they going to murder me as well?

* * *


No, it was worse. They took me to the entry hall of the stone building and there was the body of my brother. My other half. It was wrapped in a dark red cloth, the color of my own hair and feathers. One of them I heard saying evil things can not be buried in our city. It must be taken out and burnt. My brother was no evil thing! I shouted to them: “I will take him and go!”

They did nothing to hinder me.

I lifted my brother in my arms and carried him from the place of his death. I passed by many Teyor folk on errands of their own, going here and there. Most paid me little mind, though some paused to watch. I suppose they saw few Daine kind anymore; and fewer still mourning a death. And then I came to a broad space in their city, a green lawn surrounded by tall buildings of wood and stone and some, it seemed, made of living trees. I heard it then, a bird calling in the distance. A raven. All thoughts of taking Nightwolf from the Teyor city left me, then.

I laid him down on the grass in the middle of the lawn, and unwrapped the red cloth. I removed his raka and rolled it up under his head. I washed his wounded chest with my own tears and hair as best I could; then took off my own raka and rolled it up next to his. I hardly knew what I was doing, standing naked in the middle of a city of Teyor, my dead brother at my feet.

A few curious onlookers stood some distance away, watching. I paid them no mind. I whispered: “You may go with a peaceful heart, but I shall not!” Silently, I cursed the beautiful radiant people that my kind had loved so dearly since the youth of our race. I crouched down and began to sing:

aio leth and tehariyo
aio leth and tewariwariyo!
and darrionh hannh damomaneris
an gurthani damomaneris sulliyo!


Welcome are you, o ravens;
welcome are you, o carrion birds!
Our bodies your meat;
our deaths your feast!

So deep was the sorrow, so hot the rage I took no notice of the crowd around us. Someone shouted: “What are you doing? You can not do this within our city!”

Suddenly their cries of anger turned to dismay as the sky darkened and a bitter wind rolled down from the snowy mountains far away, bringing a song of death into an undying land. “What magic is this?” I heard some cry but I kept singing down the ravens. These Teyor would learn how a Daine warrior dies and the feast he lays out!

The wind died, but the overcast sky remained. And then I heard the sound. Thousands of wings flapping; ravens circling; calling to one another: “A feast, a feast! Let us now to the merry feast!” I looked up and saw them circling overhead.

I lay down next to my brother, arranged my folded raka under my head and pushed my hair away from my face; I grabbed his cold hand in mine and stared into the mass of wheeling, calling birds above us. Those gathered around looked up in terror, still asking each other: “What is this magic he has called down upon us?”

At the last, I felt a kind of peace surround me and with one great effort of will, with a strength I was unsure I had in me, I willed my own heart to stop.

It did. The ravens descended upon us in their hundreds and thousands. The sound of their rustling feathers and cacophonous cawing faded in my ears. I went into the grey lands beyond our world.

My macdan, my elder brother went first, and I followed him right after.
Last edited by elemtilas on 01 Nov 2015 17:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

Post by eldin raigmore »

elemtilas wrote:Enumeration of Sharma Master Zaamzalon: I am Zaamzalon, and am accounted wise by many. Why this should be is beyond my ken, for there are many wiser heads than mine! Many
….
cover the whole world with leather? Is it not easier to simply wear sandals? . . . . . .
Gospel of Hippophilos to the Scythians . . . ii. During the night, Miriam and Heoseph heard a noise upon the roof, and a cloud of soot came from the hearth, and they were in a maze at this. Then they
….
and many who believed and touched it were cured of their ills. . . . . .
Gospel of Judas . . . vi. Judas awoke and came to his senses, and found himself in a dark place, filled with firelight and sharp sounds of metal striking metal. When he could see, behold, he saw a palace
….
attack. In that instant the black iron gates were opened; and the horde departed the city. . .
Wow.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

Post by gestaltist »

elemtilas wrote: Gospel of Hippophilos to the Scythians
This is absolutely hilarious. [:D]

EDIT: When you speak of sharma, though, all I can think of, is this.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

Post by Lambuzhao »

eldin raigmore wrote:
elemtilas wrote:Brought to you by the word alderkexiest ...
Cannot find "alderkex" nor "alderkexy" nor "alderkexiest".
What is it, and where did you find it?

First, Wiktionary is next to no help. As Mr. Elemtilas duly warns, one needs to find more obsolescent resources. We need to find the Encyclopedia Set that has the volume with the article about Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius, or that VHS tape from The Ring that we can nudge the margin of until the flies escape and other heretofore hidden ineffable vistas are made manifest. At least, I think that’s what has to be done.

It does offer this:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kecksy

but IMHO this word does not describe things that make elderly folks retch. But who knows?
The quest, she continues.

If you look at these sites:

Dawson, A Study: With Critical and Explanatory Notes, of Alfred Tennyson's Poem The Princess
https://books.google.com/books?id=PLU8A ... al&f=false



Orchard Halliwell-Phillips, A Dictionary of Archaic & Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases ..., Volume 2
https://books.google.com/books?id=sdIRA ... ry&f=false




Nodal & Milner, A Glossary of the Lancashire Dialect, Part 1
https://books.google.com/books?id=s8kFA ... ex&f=false



Marston, Parasitaster, or, The Faun
https://books.google.com/books?id=Kj28A ... ss&f=false

Urban Dictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... fid=708255

You will get more of the meaning.
Kexy can mean ‘dry’,’brittle’, ‘sapless’, and also ‘sterile’or even ‘sexually bankrupt’. It’s not a far throw to include ‘worthless’ or ‘useless’ or 'thirsty' in that semantic net. It is my hope that so far this brief excursus has not been, to take the current meaning thus far, of a kexy nature.

But Mr. Elemtilas’ use of the etymon *alder- makes for another interesting possibility. Apart from gerontological cachexia, there is another use of kex, elderkex, that is, the dried twigs of the alder tree. These were used like a torch or candle. So, alderkexy might take on meanings such as ‘bright’, ‘brilliant’, or ‘illuminating’.
I hope that, if I take the final possible meaning as true, this brief excursus has been at least a little alderkexy.

Nevertheless, whether the meaning of alderkexiest may include all of these, any of these, or none, it is certainly the sole provenance of dear Mr. Elemtilas to tell.



Strange to tell, the peoples of Tirga have their own use for a similar word. There, many languages have a word related to or descended from kexen. Now, this word describes an artifact which has both an agricultural and a religious significance.

Well nigh into the centuries of Middle U.G.R., when the Ekhœri Grain-Lords came down from the Steppes of Yabvadiki riding their sturdy Gawwim, and conquered the fertile watered lands of Tra’ya and the Dakru Territory which embraces the Sea of Bow (1350s t.y., if I remember rightly), humble farmers made kexen from sheaves of reeds, dried corn-stalks, cattails, bamboo, or whatever sturdy dried long stems were available. The kexen was immortalized in the symbol-writing of Æwan Ansō thus:

http://s1078.photobucket.com/user/Lambu ... o.jpg.html


Pronounced kyū, and clearly related to the symbol 疆 kyō meaning ‘boundary’. It also gives their general shape, though these symbols were often reduced to something looking like 車 ‘wagon’. In the manner of scarecrows, these kexen were used apotropaically to keep evil spirits and superstitious thieves away. Furthermore it is believed that these kexen also absorb and entrap weaker illwights. They are still made today, and in the Kyuu Ceremony held a few weeks before Quincocial Solstice, the kexen are collected and burned, sending those trapped dæmunim to the labyrinths of Infernity.

The more prominent significance is as a religious symbol, a sort of cross of crosses of the style and form of the long extinct and almost entirely forgotten Jerusalem Cross:

http://www.saintmeinradgiftshop.com/ima ... /55100.jpg

This symbol has been appropriated by the practitioners of the religion of Ozayughadism. According to the inestimal collaboration of historians Ingrè Ghalkrefander and Iatreus Hostis A by no means Concise History of the Lands of Platypfuzia, Ozayughadism is a somewhat lineal descendant of Christianity, but with influences of Samaritanism, Sufism, and Baha’i. With the Nomalization of the lands of Tirga, and the retreating of the ancient Polytheisms to isolated pockets like the Leaden City of Carga Nor, and the Town of Illusion beyond the shores of Lake Zahaas and the Smeuse of the Great Blue Wood of Orou, Ozayughadism spread to a great many of the Nomes and organized Territories of Rozwiland, Yawbeth Major, and Vdao ed Zahaas,
This cross of crosses allows adherents to contemplate the Sempiternity of the Sacrifice of Hozù, without having to endure the zajdaçò delas rosas (sic. saltatio flagellationis) which Ozayughadin monks and monksters regularly performed in the ecstatic seclusion of deserts and cavernal covens.
The religious kexen quickly took on the apotropaic nature from the agricultural kexen, the religious symbol of course is prominently placed in all manner of homonim dwellings and structures to thwrt the hordes of Dæmunim, Ingiblin, Grævelorum, Hri-Hra, Yaksikas, and the various minions of Bao Ru the Lord of Wars. In fact, it was used to help hunt down agents of Him of the Dazzleheaded Countenance (i.e. Bao Ru) in human form. For, it is said, when one of his fell servants came under the shadow of a kexen, they would begin to retch uncontrollably, hawking forth balls of dust, empty cicada shells, ‘green queenies’ (if you have ever been around geese, you know what sort of yucky suprises ‘green queenies’ are), and, eventually, all their innards, as if they had been exorcized with the dreaded evectam entrañas incantation of which the evil Antiprophet Gath D’Neier, among others, made use.

Wonderful things, kexen.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

Post by Lambuzhao »

elemtilas wrote:
First, a man whose mind flits from one desire to another and who longs for the objects of desire lives, dies and is born again to those desires. One who has mastered desire and who has the ending of desire, one who is filled, that one will find that his desires fade away. Even as a river flows into and is lost in the Sea; the sage become free from longing and melts into the all. Indeed, the one who knows God becomes God.

Does wisdom give you wings? If so, be careful, for winds blow harder the higher wisdom draws you to fly.

Does wisdom weigh you down, like an anchor? If so, why not let it? Perhaps it's better to keep your feet on the ground.

- Signou The Explications of Giang Xa



Gospel of Hippophilos to the Scythians


Also perhaps a Gospel to the Narnians...? (via Father Christmas)

Holy-Royal Šventaklavas, pasigailek mums! :lit:


[hr][/hr]

Gospel of Judas ...[/quote]
A very sad reverse pieta.

For some reason, the loneliness and reminds me of the Crucifixion in Godspell

and the Crucifixion depicted in this little film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEjrTCRABMI

:wat:
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

Post by elemtilas »

[tick]

Archaic Empires

It has been noted by Daine and Teyor alike that the spiritual, intellectual, and political life of Men is wavelike in nature. The highs of elevated culture and political life and deep spiritual work are tempered by anterior and posterior periods of gradual rise and gradual decay punctuated by intermittent periods of darkness and stagnancy.

The Archaic Empires are the, often fabulous, "golden age" cultures of Man that pre-date the historical ancient empires of the World -- the Reman, the Ehrranean, the Sandhian, the Helladian. In the primary world, "history" is only about three to five thousand years old on account of there being no known written (i.e. historical) records before that time, and as far as we know there was nothing "historical" going on before that time. Even so, there are ancient accounts of earlier cultures and empires (like stories of Atlantis); and tantalising evidence, often buried under fathoms of water.

In the World, these old stories describe generally factual early realms. Atelante is one, though there is no easily recoverable evidence for it, it having sunk into the Ocean of Sunset some seven to nine thousands of years ago. Another was Punt, which disappeared under the waters of the inflooding of the Hospitable Sea some 5000 years ago. After this time, the sea became called Black or Inhospitable in the West (in the East, it is called the Puntic Sea). The survivors of this catastrophe are known to later history as the Aryans (lordly people) and the Shemans (radiant people); they are well known for having created and propagated tales of gods splitting the skies asunder and of deep water floods and of narrow escape and the harrowing ordeal that ensued.

In the Eastlands, Hoopelle, Ania and Anadyr were all archaic empires. Of them, only Hoopelle survived into the younger years of the current age of the world, though it was well and properly sacked by invaders (curiously enough, the far distant descendants of those same Aryan Punts) in the third century of the present age.

Some speculate that people from the stars came here, perhaps escaping from some catastrophe in their own realms, and settled among the Men already living here and this explains the greatness of those ancient lands. Others aver that the Daine were largely responsible for civilising early humans and that these archaic empires are a result of this education.
Ania
Formerly an archaic empire in the far north and east of Eosphora, the Kingdom of Ania once held sway over much of the territory now called the Eastlands. At present, it is confined to the small peninsular beyond the Wall of Arnult III.

Before about 12000 years ago, the only (known) inhabitants of the Eastlands were Daine and Teyor. In about that time, Men first arrive in the neighbourhood and settle in the region, forming what are now known to history the Archaic Empires of Ania, Anadyr, and Hoopelle.

In the year 855 of the present age, the Anians launched a massive invasion of southern lands. In this war, Ania was entirely victorious, conquering Anadyr, Yllem, Teleran and most of the small kingdoms in Hoopelle. The invasion was helped by a plague that struck the eastern kingdoms (in 862), and nearly devastated Yllem and Teleran. Within a few years, the plague reached Anadyr and very nearly wiped it out. By 869 it had reached Ania and devastated that land as well. All told, nearly three quarters of the Men of those lands lay dead from that dread disease. The Rumen escaped unharmed because they had little outside contact during this time. This Age of Invasion, as it was known in Hoopelle, ended by 890 or 900 because of the dissolution of the Anian state.
Anadyr
Anadyr was one of the archaic empires of the Eastlands, the others being Hoopelle and Ania. The Anians and Anadyrans are almost certainly kindred folks. Though related, they were frequent rivals, their realms at almost constant low level war.

Between 1572-1560 before the present age, there was a civil war in Anadyr.

The Anadyran realm was definitively conquered in 855 of the present age by Ania, and never recovered thereafter, though a remnant of the people survived the invasion. Of those survivors, the vast majority were destroyed by the plague that reached Anadyr in 869. After that time, the country was largely abandoned and became known generally as the Unnamed Lands or the Desolation of the North. Survivors of the plague moved eastwards, dwelling for some centuries to the northwards of Rumnias. The remaining Anadyrans joined with the Pontians in 1792 to form the Republic of Pontia.
Hoopelle
From the unknown stretches of the past til about 10,000 years before the common era (bce), the Daine were the only inhabitants of Hoopelle, which in those most ancient days was called Canash. Like as not it was the same Sharrundaine that now inhabit Westmarche who first gave a name to this area, being Hou un Polun, or Place of the Sacred Springs, upon which Time has wrought his neverending change, yielding to us in younger days the name Hoopelle, or as it was anciently writ, Hwpel. In the Queranarran tongue, that the Daine do speak, hou be their word for place; un be a kind of connecting word and polun be the word for a spring of water or a warrior. They also gave names to several other places hereabouts, though little enough is known of this period in Hoopelles history.

One tale told about the Canash is the foundation of the Seven Sacred Springs. It is said that Enca and Nico, two leaders of these ancient Daine, chose and consecrated seven springs of water to the eastward of the Canasawack River in the region that the City would later be built. None can now say where those springs lie or in what manner they were dedicated, though the Daine of Westmarche maintain that shrines were made there. If that be true, they are well and truly buried under the ruins of that ancient City, though they aver that the locations of a certain number of the ancient springs are yet well known to them.

Another wonder of the Daine realm of Canash was the Hidden Hall, said to be the repository of much ancient Daine wisdom. Its mere existence was unknown to the Nibukians; rumours of such a mathomhouse of old literature surfaced during the late Empire, but its existence was not revealed until quite recently.

The ancient Mannish kingdom of Hoopelle had its beginnings around 10,000 years bce. This kingdom, claiming descent from a very famous and powerful god, or mage known as Neebook (or Nibuk), at its height, stretched from Angera far into the western forests, thus occupying many Daine lands. For the most part, the Daine lived peacefully with their Mannish neighbours, though a few were forcibly removed from their homes, or else compelled to dwell in the great city of Hoopelle that was once their own land.

A wonder of the ancient empire was the fabled Moon Throne, upon which Nibuk Andeyzaar sat. For it was an elaborate construction of translucent bluish and greenish stone and lit from within by some thaumic means. Its gentle glow bathed the emperor in a surreal illumination that reminded folks of the light of Selanna, the greater moon.

Of late, however, wars with the Anian and Anadyran Empires, sister countries in the lands away north, and with the Warlords from the south greatly affected the kingdom, reducing its might. By 1600 years bce, the kingdom had lost all its western lands and most of its northern and eastern lands. It would never recover from these losses, and thereafter sank into a long period of decay. Hoopelle would almost certainly have been destroyed had the Daine not defeated the Warlords, for these Warlords were a power to be reckoned with in those times. For some while, Daine of various thedes from the distant western lands had been immigrating, and began to take up much of the newly opened territory.

The migrant Aryans, ancestors of the Avantimen, the Rûm and the Galts began to arrive from the Farthest West during the first century of the present era, and ceased their immigrations by the third century. During that time, they lived in the Wilds, the empty wilderness south of Hoopelle, while the old kingdom of Hoopelle, in the first half of the third century, was ruled by the Fourth Dynasty of Divine Neebook.

In the early days, so powerful were the Neebookian rulers, that no power ever attacked Hoopelle. This state of affairs was maintained for more than 7000 years. In fact it was not until the 257th year of the present age that Hoopelle was finally sacked.

The first king of the First Dynasty of Divine Neebook founded Hanohehano Onohelana Nibuk, Kingdom of Divine Neebook, around 10,500 bce along the east bank of what is now the Canasawack River. This First Dynasty oversaw Hoopelles rapid rise to power and its first great flowering. At its summit, it witnessed ancient Hoopelles greatest achievements. Arts and culture flourished under these early Neebookian monarchs, as evidenced now only by crumbling ruins and dusty scrolls telling of those times. There were 430 monarchs of the First Dynasty, all descended directly from the founder. It shall here be noted the curious naming practise of this ancient kingdom with respect to its kings: all kings and queens, from the very first to the very last were given the appellation Andeyzar. It is not exactly known if this was a proper name or some title of respect. In any event, it makes remembering the names of well over 600 monarchs quite a simple task. It was during the First Dynasty that Hoopelle was built and became an architectural marvel. Every building was cased in fancifully carven marbles from divers places. Arches, collonades and garden arcades lined the broad avenues; parks and public places were everywhere in evidence.

A civil war of uncertain genesis, instigated by a secondary branch of the family, in 4063 bce succeeded in enthroning the Second Dynasty, casting the chief members of the ruling family out of power. The Second Dynasty of Divine Neebook was composed of 137 monarchs. The Second Dynasty was marked by a sort of Silver Age for ancient Hoopelle, as the summit reached during the First Dynasty was surmounted and the slow decline was begun. Increasingly frequent wars with the powerful Warlords toward the south cast a rather somber shadow over the life of Hoopelle. The arts became stale, education became rigid and dogmatic, and the whole rate of cultural development slowed and by 2200 bce the whole of society was a stagnant marsh of mediocrity.

Early in 2008 bce, an illegitimate scion of the House came to power, taking advantage of an infant Emperor and a weak regency. These actions on the part of power hungry factions vying for control of the listless empire sent Hoopelle into a fall that nearly destroyed it. This Third Dynasty of Divine Neebook was composed of 22 remarkably nondescript monarchs, few of which ruled longer than two years. As civil war and strife continued, the state of decay continued, increased even, clearly visible in the broken and disused roads, unkempt and crumbling cities, increasingly hostile wars and an alarmingly pessimistic popular movement. This movement, led by a rather charismatic woman by the name of Hannanomorukuni, or “Dweller in the Land of the Dead” (han, land; enano, the dead ancestors; imoru, a dweller; kuni, I am) swept the whole kingdom during the reign of Nibuk Andeyzar xxii of the Third Dynasty of Divine Neebook (1602 bce-1568 bce), the twenty second and last monarch of the Third Dynasty. Her philosophy was one of absolute apathy and disconnection, and stressed the desire to be set free from existence. Whole cities in the north willingly died at the hands of the Anadyrans and Anians. In the south they were as easily killed by the Warlords.

Thus, the several wars with foreign powers nearly destroyed Hoopelle by this time. In the west and south, intervention primarily by the Daine checked and eventually destroyed the Warlords power; while dissention and civil war in Anadyr caused fighting to break out there, leaving Hoopelle to sink further into its abysmal pit of self wallowing without any outside assistance.

Fully five eighths of the populace was dead by the year 1568bce, when the rightful line of Neebook restored itself. Neebook Andeyzar i of the Fourth Dynasty of Divine Neebook immediately set about restoring the peoples’ self confidence and passions. Within ten years the apathy and pity of the last five hundred were forgotten, and for quite a while, a new spirit was awakened in Hoopelle. The next three Monarchs set about repairing what was physically wrong with the empire. They immediately set about restoring the City, rebuilding the waterways and retaming the old agricultural lands. The following 1700 years were spent in an aggressive plan to recapture the lost knowledge and to rebuild the life of the people. Continuing wars with Ania and Anadyr to the north and Hannox Ptarica, a little known kingdom to the eastward of Hoopelle, prevented Hoopelle from regaining any lost land. To the west, increasing immigration of Daine prevented easy reclaiming of that land. The ancient Hopolitan ruins in the Farther West are still clearly visible, and several are inhabited even now by the Daine living beyond the Holy Hills. In addition to the roads, there be many ancient way stations or caravansaries built by the ancient Hoopellish kingdom for use of their caravans and military supply vans. Anymore, these same caravansaries are operated by Daine and cater to travellers, traders and caravans that ply the long road to the lands of the Great West.

The year 257 of the current age marked the great turning point in Hoopelles affairs. It was in this year that wandering tribes of Avantimen, Varnomen and Oswallumen sacked the ancient city. Fifteen hundred years of little more than the occasional border warfare in the north and east left the City itself quite defenseless. The city of Hoopelle had quite outgrown its clearly ceremonial marble walls; and its City Guard were armed only with lamps upon long poles. In fact, at this time, it was believed by many Hoplites that their God or else the spirit of their founder would protect the City from invasion, and destroy any enemy with the gall to attack Hoopelle itself. They were quite wrong as it turned out, and were easily driven from the city by the Varnomannish king Offal's surprise invasion from the south. The whole kingdom was divided amongst the petty warlords or hiarizogar of the three great kindreds, for they had embarked upon the invasion and had no little interest in settling the new land. Independent kingdoms were carved from the northern reaches while much of the east was seized by small chiefdoms and by Hannox Ptarica itself.

The Hoplite survivors that remained were driven to the west into Harrun province, that be now a kingdom, or else into the east by the Rûm, where they remained for a while in the recently abandonned city of Pottenne. For, Pottene, Pyclias and Pylicundas were once cities of Teyor, as the craft of many ancient buildings avers. Yet according to the histories of the Teyor of Pylar, the inhabitants of these southern cities inexplicably left late in the first century bce or early in the first century of the present era, embarking upon great ships docked at Pottenne and set sail for lands in the Ocean that none of the Wise can now tell of. Sometime later, perhaps by the mid fourth century, the fugitive Hoplites themselves abandonned Pottenne, some moving to the south, others sailing out into the wide Ocean. It is thought that in the far south of Pottenne, the “Fifth Dynasty of Divine Neebook” established itself. Until the very late nineteenth century, the fate of these “Pottennese Neebookians” was merely a matter for scholarly speculation. Those that had sailed the sea declined further into utter barbarity eventually to become the country known as Hanos Patinos, or Patine Empire, which be a ruthless bunch of savage pirates who primarily harass the Daramombassa and other countries in those southern seas.
Last edited by elemtilas on 01 Nov 2015 17:37, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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Thaumology

Thaumology is simply the aggregate knowledge of "what works" in the thaumic or magical sense. Dwimmery is the thaumology what maths & science are to technology. Thaumology is thus the end product of the practical application of dwimmery (both as a philosophical pursuit and also a natural force) to some problem of daily life. As technological advances allow artificers to build on the learning of past artisans, such as the development of new materials (like bronze and then iron; or parchment and papyrus) so too thaumological advances allow thaumaturgical artificers to build on older learning to devise new mechanisms, charmed devices and the like. And because philosophers like to describe and categorise things, the relative strengths of the magic within any device has been plotted on a scale devised by one Verger Thorfield, who thus quite appropriately named it the Thorfield Scale.

A veritable revolution in the world of locomotion is afoot in The World, based upon the refinement of the homunculus as motive power for all sorts of thaumic machines. And not just the great brontoreedes that drag the great caravan trains behind them; but just about anything that can be moved, from pottenese window slats to icons of saints and gods whose arms pivot outward to accept a small donation upon entering a shrine to an automated kind of meat rotisserie. These small motivators are becoming much more common in Auntimoany and the lands of Men in the East; but the secrets of applying them to airships still reside with the Daine of Westmarche, whose great balloon ships and many winged galleys and bird shaped fliers grace the western skies.

Of note also are the imp motivated farspeaker webwork and the salamanders that distill the Spirits of Elektra City. Other uses of imp based devices has led to a veritable explosion of thaumology radiating from the Eastlands. While the Daine have little use for sharing their ideas with Men, and so the secrets of flight are denied to the younger race, Men can't keep a secret for long and it won't be too long hence that Alexandria and Axum and Cartadash in the Uttermost West will soon be sporting imp based thaumologies of their own. (Well, once they sort out the Big War they're all getting ready for over there...)
Thorfield Scale

Devised by Verger Thorfield (1783-1914), a philosophic mage of Codeis of Harunn in the late 1810s, the scale is a taxonomic feature of thaumic and nearthaumic objects. It is designed solely to define the basic parameters of the thaumic qualities of an object. The scale is rather subjective, as one person's idea of high magic might be quite different from someone elses. Even so, it has been adopted by the thaumic community and is frequently used to describe a variety of thaumic devices and magical artifacts.

Thorfield's scale follows, along with a more recent ammendation for higher classes of artifact.
  • Class I. Includes objects that have been imbued with prayers, blessings or low power enchantments; have little magical capacity different than an unblessed object of similar type and construction.
  • Class II. Includes objects crafted with minor magic and having only modest powers or abilities. A thaumic rat trap would be a good example of this class of artifact.
  • Class III. Includes items crafted with High Magic, having great and potent capabilities. A magic Wand or ring of power would be a fine example of this class of artifact.
  • Class IV. Includes objects with limited awareness of their surrounds and the ability to act upon that awareness. Homunculi are prime examples; devices that contain imps are also of this class -- however, the imp itself is not an artifact of any class, but a kind of created being who is (quite!) temporarily bound to the device. Farspeaker and iconographic devices are class iv.
  • Class V. Includes objects that are intelligent and sentient, though not necessarily alive in the usual biological sense. Such objects might could be alive in some other sense. The famous Perspiculum of Noory the Wise is/was a class v device.
  • Class VI. Would include thaumically altered living beings, such as Zombies and Hotai.
  • Class VII. Would involve thaumically created beings; unique and novel living beings that never existed in the World before. Objects created using dendrothaumaturgy (tree magic) tend to wind up being class vi artifacts; the legendary Ice Palace of the North Witch was a class vi artifact on account of the ensorcelled Daine guardsmen that at one time watched (and perhaps still watch) over her septentrional abode.
Originally, there were no classes higher than five, though some wizards have proposed the consideration of two further classes as illustrated. A note on the use of device vs. artifact: devices tend to be lesser objects, tools, and the like made by artificers and sold through the aegis of some shop or post order catalog scheme to the discerning (and generally rather wealthy) customer; artifacts tend to be spectacular works of dwimmery and are generally one-offs, unique in nature and impossible to replicate.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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The term Sawyery refers to the study of the Old Stories, a set of disjointed but frequently crossculturally parallel or similar stories that tell of the most ancient of days. Typically, they relate to times before history was understood as an entity of its own and recorded for posterity, and thus describe the philosophical Golden Age. Typically, the Wise divide the Old Stories into various types depending upon their focus or intended character.

The philosophical study of the Old Stories is called sawyery and practitioners are called sawyers. Many are the collections of these stories that have been gathered in the libraries of the world. Fine examples can be seen at the great libraries in Alexandria of Kemeteia-Misser, Pretorias of Rumnias and Auntimoany as well. The sawyers' public trust is to preserve and expand collections of Old Stories; collect, collate and index the pronouncements and interpretations of philosophers, priests, and spiritual teachers; and to make available to the people whatever they wish to study from these collections. Therefore, anyone who can read or is accompanied by someone who can read is allowed unrestricted access to a library's collection of Old Stories. Several famous catalogues of Old Stories have been made by sawyers in recent centuries, especially those of Arny and Thompson, sawyers of Auntimoany who devised a topical and cross-referenced indexing system for their collection not only of stories but of the episodes and characters within them. Also well known is Franko Childer, a Husickite sawyer, who catalogued fables and various kinds of folk songs.

Myths comprise a body of sacred narratives that treats of the Creation of the world, of the origin of the race and of the foundation and ordering of society, its morals, customs, institutions and beliefs. Although they speak of universal truths, many people consider them to also enshrine historical truth as well. While not, strictly speaking, myths, many Sawyers place the various quasi-scriptural works attributed by many hermetic societies to their purportedly ancient works of wisdom. Of course, there are indeed many works, especially of the Stone Masons' lodges, that do have roots in great ancientry; Sawyers are sometimes called upon to sort out the truly ancient from the newly minted ancient. A number of these kinds of works are attributed to ancient Atelante.

Legends comprise a body of quasihistorical episodes that may be combined in many ways to compose a cycle of historical events pertaining to a particular hero, country or period of history. Such cycles are those of heros like Antipostes of Mediocircon, who is known to have been a king of the Rum during the Great Migration when their base was in the region of the Empire of Orr. His adventures were many and the stories that have been passed down form a cycle of legendary stories. Other cycles treat of events or battles, such as the epic Battle of Maiwand in the Farther West. Some popular legends are based on the daring do of knights of old such as the Quest for the Seven Wands of Weem, the Beeker of Sewemas and the Quest for the Milch Cow of Qarabaw. The Seven Wands is part of a larger cycle of old Hoopellish origin that draws on many semi-historical as well as historical episodes.

Folktales are simply stories told for entertainment. They may involve the grander themes of Myths and Legends proper, but are generally shorter and often follow an underlying and well known script that the story teller may embellish upon but must always follow to its logical conclusion. Typically, the characters found in folktales are archetypes rather than historical people; that is, they are "types" of people rather than specific persons. Thus, rather than a history of Queen Baccipura of Iconia, one might hear a story about a mad queen and a good princess. Still other folktales offer a sort of "folk etymological" explanation for various things, places or even well known sayings. Such explanatory tales are told in order to describe the origins of very old and well known sayings. Such stories are told with more or less polish depending on the tale teller, and the sawyers' books are full of such things, as they're fond of collecting and commenting upon all aspects of folk wisdom.

Parables and Fables are related genres whose intent is to teach a moral or ethical lesson. Typically, parables have been used by religious and spiritual masters as teaching vehicles, while fables have been used by other philosophers, fabulists, story tellers and even ordinary people in order pass on some moral to their children or each other. Parables always have normal people as characters, and they are often placed in situations that highlight a moral or ethical problem with many possible solutions. Often the parabulist asks his listeners to consider which path leads to the right solution that yields a moral and loving action (not always the solution that yields a culturally customary action!). The correct moral action is then revealed and illuminated. Fables generally have animals for characters and are more often than not rather short and simple stories. The morals, always revealed as a coda at the end of the story, are pithy, memorable and have often been enshrined in the common speech of many countries around the world.

* * * * * * * * * *

For example, this is an explanatory tale, a subgenre of folktale that, whether it antedates or postdates the given logion in question, offers a source and explanation of the wise rune in question. We've all heard the phrase "the pot called the kettle black", but many don't know how this phrase came about. This is a story that explains how:

How the Pot Called the Kettle Black and What Happened in Consequence


One time there was a very fine house in the country and a very rich gravio called Hoght and he lived there with his wife and family and all his household. He was not only very rich, but he was also very proud. So proud indeed was Hoght that when he came to the City, he went around with his nose in the air as if he could scarcely deign to breathe the same air as the people in the street around him.

This pride of the gravio's was terribly infectious. Not only was the gravio proud, but so too were his wife and his children. His wife flat out refused to spin aught but cloth of gold and his children refused to wipe their snotty noses with aught but silken kerchiefs of Syan. And not only was his family proud, but so too were his servants and household. The gravio's footmen regularly pushed their way though a crowd and bossed merchants and citizens alike as if they themselves were mighty lords; and in the house, the gravio's kitchen staff were terribly proud. The maids would regularly brag about all the gold they had to polish and Cook always shoved everyone else out of the way at market, even if she wasn't buying. She always took the best quality vegetables and meat available. Even the cook of the poor old bishop was left to make do with second rate victuals.

And in that same gravio's Kitchen there lived a brass teapot and a broad copper stew kettle. The broad kettle was always busy, taking care of the many stews and soups that Cook made in a day. He was a humble sort of kettle, always black on the outside from the scorching fires merrily blazing away in the heart of the roaring great masonry stove; but he was justifiably proud of the delicious stews he helped cook and he always kept his inside scrubbed and shiny as any bronze mirror the gravio’s wife might care to look in.

Now, the brass tea pot was terribly vain and always kept herself scrubbed, shiny and bright, like the golden samovar that she so envied and who served out at Table. She only had to work hard maybe an hour a day, whenever her ladyship desired to take a cup of tea, and so she had much time to daydream about life outside the Kitchen.

One day, the wooden spoons, ever the garrulous lot, got into an argument over the merits of serving at Table out in the Hall, like the shiny golden table spoons. The stock spoon and the ladle thought twould be ever so dandy, having a white-gloved footman buff and shine one up, but the long handled soup spoon, who often worked with the copper kettle, felt sure that life in the Kitchen was good enough for any wooden spoon and was content with her lot.

The stock spoon and the ladle laughed at that: "Ho ho! Will yez hark at that gennle fowks! Good enough, eh? Well friend, zòme of uz iz lookin to move up in this yer world and make zummet more of uz zelvez and wadn't mind a-tall goin out to Table!"

At this point, the brass tea pot, who was merrily bubbling away on one of the back burners, piped up and said: "Oh will ye list at them two old splinters of wood! The two of ye serve at Table? What rot! Now, Ae make the Tea for our distinguished Ladyship, as ye well know all, while the two of ye do what?” Here she paused for what she was sure would be called dramatic effect: “Oh yes, ye stir up that sludgy gravy Cook makes for the meat. Coo, what drudge! Now Ae thinks Ae knows just a lìtlle bit more about the refaened aspects of life outsaede these doors than ever ye will! The cheek!, thinking that two old cracked wood spoons could serve in the place of shiny utensils like the golden table spoons! Or even not at all unlike maeself! Huh. Ye two are ever as mucky as yon old stew kettle!"

"Bull feathers!" burbled the usually taciturn water cistern, a great glass and copper affair that skulked about in the corner of the Kitchen upon his three mighty bronze legs, from which he could see and hear everything that went on in the place. "Thee should look to thyself, old brass tea bucket!" (She hissed angrily, recoiling at being called a "bucket" as if that were the worst thing one could be called, and immediately started whistling indignantly.) "Whistle away, mistress Pot! Thou's no different as any of us here in Kitchen. Ain't no shame in that, but none o us is ever goin to serve at Table, we being nowt but umble beins o copper and brass and wood. And here's the proud brass Pot callin the Kettle black, puttin on airs when she should look at her own black bottom some time!"

Everyone in Kitchen from the butter tuns to the ancient iron frying pan hanging from his pin on the wall had a laugh at the haughty tea pot's expense, for indeed it is as the Wise say: the fool puts on airs and seeks to condemn his neighbor for the speck on his face all the while neglecting the broad smudge on his own face. For indeed when the pot calls the kettle black, she is seeking to convince others of her own superiority even when the facts themselves speak contrarywise.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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The New Astrology

As you might suspect, Astrology is that craft of witship that is both learned art and philosophic science that is concerned with the various heavenly bodies, how they relate to one another, their origins, their orbits, their natures and their interactions with the affairs of the inhabitants of Gea. It is held by philosophical astrologers that there is a force, called gravity that by its ponderous and allgrasping might, causes the paths and ways and fates of all beings of Gea to be shifted. In other words, the very existence of a star or planet, along with its relative position to a person as they come into being within the confines of Gea, affects that person's life and fate via a strange force called "gravity".

Astrologers have for many centuries crafted horoscopes based on a knowledge of the subtle relationships between asterisms of the zodiac, the seven planets known to the Ancients and the positions and aspects of the Sun and moons of Gea. The New Astrology simply refers to those bolder practitioners who are becoming more accepting of modern research and revelation into the fundamentals of the art and science. By this is meant: what happens to astrology as an art when some clever bloke points a specially made tube of brass with peculiar glass balls in either end up into the night sky...

There are a number of planets, or wandering stars, that circle Sawel (the Daystar) as does Gea herself. Astrologers know of seven, the same seven planets known to the Ancients, though there are in fact several others that have more recently been discovered and a number that as of yet have eluded discovery.

Closest to the Sun is Setilanus (also known as Vulcan), then Mercury, Estarea and her moon Sara, Gea and her two (generally known) moons Selanna, the twin of Gea, and Wesara, Ares, Ceres, Mardouc (also known as Juppiter) and Nenurta. Selanna is counted as one of the seven (and this makes sense, she is certainly large enough to make Gea-Selanna a double planet). Of all these, only Estarea, Gea, Ares and several moons have any living things on them. At one time, Ceres supported some scrubby plant-like life forms, but at least as the Spacefarers(1) know, this planet was destroyed some centuries ago, leaving a quite barren rock behind.

The Auntimoanian astrologer Herotellos(2) has posited the existence of thirty three planets, though few main stream astrologers have come to any kind of agreement with Herotellos's methods or ideas. After all, they are not stupid: if his ideas became widely disseminated, people might lose faith in the whole Art. How accurate can a horoscope be if its readings are only based on seven of the thirty three planets? And hence the New Astrology: those, often younger, astrologers willing to go out on a limb and seek to improve the ancient Art by incorporating new ideas and recent discoveries.

Main stream astrology notwithstanding, Herotellos is closer to being right than being wrong: there are indeed several planets beyond Nenurta, three of which are indeed inhabited by beings of an icy nature; several planets do indeed have rings; and the asteroid belts could indeed be interpreted as "stone paved roads".
The New Astrology posits thirteen planets:

"The planets, which anciently were seven in number, on account of the telespeculon not yet having been devised, are now thirteen all told and they move in great circular orbits around Sawel as indeed does Gea herself. The planet called Nenurta be the planet most distant from Sawel that is visible to the unaided eye and he makes his circuit in about thirty years. The next closest planet hight Mardouc, or Juppiter, and he is the king of all the planets as his namesake is king of the old gods; he makes his circuit in twelve years. Next inward be Ares, a dying world. Ares be a world once green and blue and teeming with life; yet now it is slowly reddening and drying out from south to north and the great dark blue Northern Ocean that once was visible to the first far seers with their telespecula, is now fading and receding. His waxing and fiery redness does shew that he has in him the spirits of fire and war, and he makes his course in two years. Next be Gea herself, and her twin Selanna, whose course round Sawel of course takes one year; then comes Estarea, also called Lucifer, for according to Pythagoras, she be called Evenstar when she sets after Sawel has gone down into the West and Morningstar when she rises before Sawel makes her appearance over the Eastern horizon. Estarea be a very wet, rainy and cloudy world, and indeed farlookers have often sat entranced as storms and clouds whip across her surface, only rarely allowing a glimpse at the deep blue and dark green of the surface. Apollo, also called Mercury, and Setilanus, or sometimes called Vulcan be the planets next Sawel, and their courses take rather less than one year, so swift and energetic are they. So bright and reflective is Estarea when her storms are raging that she be the only planet that may cast a shadow with her own rays of light." (De Chorographeiad, p.8)

"I have made mention of a curious wonder that hight telespeculon. Originally invented by a spectaclemaker and artificer of olf Hoopelle, Rolland D. Hay, in 1333, the telespeculon is an entirely technological device that makes use of finely ground glass lenses to magnify the images of far distant objects. The device languished for many years as a mere curiosity until the Alarian wars of the seventeenth century of the present Age, when the device was used to espy upon the Enemy and his activities. In after years, astrologers took an interest in the device in order to more clearly see the surfaces of the Moons, and in so pointing their telespecula skywards serendipitously discovered several more planets:

"Beyond Ares, are four small planets that hight Demeter, Hestias, Pallades and Panacea; and also one broken halfworld that hight Ceres. While beyond mighty Nenurta are Warsuwanas and Posedonias. Who can say by what might of the spectacle makers craft many more planets shall be similarly discovered in the ages to come!" (De Chorographeiad, p.9)

Interestingly, Gean astrologers are still quite unclear as to the sizes and fundamental nature of planets. They tend to believe that Sawel is a huge star that rests at the center of the univers, and they know that Gea is quite large. But many believe that all the other planets are small -- tiny bits of coloured material that robit Sawel; and of course, so are the start! They haven't come to grips yet with how big is the universe! You can perhaps sense some confusion in the quoted bits: they can clearly see storms and weather systems on other worlds, yet still consider those worlds to be nothing more than tiny planetlets in comparison to Gea.

They don't even recognise how readily accessible these other planets are!

Spoiler:
1. Spacefarers are people who have devised some means of travelling among the stars of the heavens, be it in ships of space or else some other more wondrous means. These are not peoples native to Gea or the other worlds orbiting the Sun, for while it is not generally known among the Wise of the World, there are many suns in the universe and many planets wandering about them. But rather, they come from what is generally described as Elsewhere -- worlds beyond the confines of Gea itself.

One possibility that must be considered, quite apart from the cosmic battle between Good and Evil (angels v. fallen angels; the Shadowlord, etc), is that Gea is also a battlefield in a war between spacefaring races unknown. Possible key players, or pawns more like, could be the Teor in the north and the (unknown) people of the Southern Continent. Perhaps Daine (towards Order) and Men (towards Chaos) are their earthly allies / pawns / alters / collaborators as well.

These spacefaring folks could include, among other races, the Star People. They could also be the ones responsible for crafting such wonders as the Great Road and the Gates (although I have other thoughts about the nature of the Road; I don't believe it was actually built); and they could also be responsible for leaving behind Artifacts known as Elsewhere Dwimmery.
2. Herotellos d' Alixavandria -- Auntimoanian astrologer who using thaumological means posited the existence of thirty three planets orbiting the Sun. He met with some considerable resistance only when he posited that of these, six are "haloed like an icon of a saint" and further that "three belts or stone paved roads" also surround Sawel at various distances. His ideas on comets being the kamikaze missiles of Frost Giants who live on the outermost planets have met with mixed criticism.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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Have you based Hoopelle on anything from *here*?
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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gestaltist wrote:Have you based Hoopelle on anything from *here*?
The basic geography is based on a small, non Syracusan, non Utican, and for that matter, non Ithacan, city in centralish New York where my grandmother lived: hills to the west, called by a cousin the "Holy Hills", which name has rather stuck to the geography of that part of the World, a river, city and fertile plains to the east. Otherwise, old Hoopelle was kind of an autocratic Britain or Holy Roman Empire run amok (they did try to conquer the world, and came pretty close at least once) punctuated with moments of Holy Grail hilarity. It's history ended in the seventeenth century, so before the thaumological and social revolutions that are the hallmark of the modern world. It was definitely a more medieval place and its mindset might be characterised as largely benighted in many respects. Ancient Hoopelle - the earlier Nibukian empire - was a much darker place and not based on any real location. Darker only because they had a good solid philosophical foundation for their darkness, rather than the vestigial darkness of barbarians assuming the mantle and splendor of imperium and regional hegemony. The Nibukians actually worked hard for their spiritual darkness, and it still taints their descendants all these centuries later. Its history ended in about the third century of the present age, and its people flung to distant lands.
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Re: Some Snippets from The World

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elemtilas wrote:Ancient Hoopelle - the earlier Nibukian empire - was a much darker place and not based on any real location. Darker only because they had a good solid philosophical foundation for their darkness, rather than the vestigial darkness of barbarians assuming the mantle and splendor of imperium and regional hegemony. The Nibukians actually worked hard for their spiritual darkness, and it still taints their descendants all these centuries later. Its history ended in about the third century of the present age, and its people flung to distant lands.
Interesting. I thought the Nibukian Empire was based on Babylon.
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