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If you would Sijo remove Proto Beast-Folk and all the Lycanthrope entries.

Proto Beast-Folk

The Black Prince was not original in his design of the Beast-Folk, but he certainly perfected it to the point that when anyone says 'Beast-Folk' they think of Hrod's invented race. Before him though, their were others although they differ so greatly from Hrod's design that since that is what people think of when they say 'Beast-Folk', they must use entirely different names to specify.

Taur

The Proto Proto Beast-Folk, the inspirations that started it all. They were not created by mortal hands. They are instead cited as natural phenomenon or as creations of some of the earliest gods from pre-history. 'Taur' is an ancient word for 'Half' and most Taur 'breeds' were split down the middle-ish in a humanoid and bestial half. They weren't really breeds because as far as anyone can tell the Taur are not actually related at all.

Elfs

It is interpreted from historical records and moderns results that the original and ancient Elf Culture were masters of biourgy and as a whole underwent biourgical augmentation for entirely peaceful purposes to achieve spiritual enlightenment and closeness with their goddess. They worshipped Elphena, Elena in a corrupted form of her name, for whom they were named. The revered the Taur and Duergar as being closer to nature and modelled their augmentation in part after them.

The augmentations were not entirely bestial although it was the most common. Plants, minerals and other signs of nature were added to their bodies. So many augmentation were added that some were pushed into recession, only to reawaken rarely or when infused with new genes from other races. It is known that likely, like the Sylvan, they had pointed ears. Most likely the Sylvan have an 'Elf' stage named for the Elfs themselves and perhaps the original Elfs were humans of some Sylvan ancestry. In the form they take now, Elfs always have pointed ears or something resembling a pointed ear or some pointed thing around the ear area.

Elfs and Dwarfs have many indications to be related, perhaps the same biourgical mastery lead to the creation of the Gifts which may perversely mean that the Machine Empire's Machine God is Elena unless a different god governed over the creation of the Dwarfs. Brownies may possibly be Elfs, perhaps Proto-Dwarfs before the Gift was created.

Lycanthropes

The scions of Lycan, a rogue Primordial Werewolf turned Terrestrial God. He was a would-be Hrod who imbued his cult of humanoid followers with a brew based partly on stolen ancient Elfin technology, which used his own venomous saliva as a base, the essence of shapeshifters to give them the power to change at will, the essence of dire wolves to make them smarter in their were form and requiring the essence of normal wolves to stabilize the whole mess.

The result were indeed humanoids who could shapeshift into a werewolf and even a dire wolf form at will. As desired, they were more in control of themselves in their were form but were smaller then true werewolves. Further, they did not have the venom to transform others and could only pass the power from parent to child. Without the ability to quickly build an army, the Primordials over ran and slew the god and scattered his lycanthropes to the winds. Before this though, his secrets were stolen and leaked to many others.

Other Lycanthropes were created much in the same way people took to creating Dire Beasts and Demi-Ogres, because Mad Biourgists are a dime a dozen. Mostly Wolf Lycanthropes were used since the original recipe called for Werewolf Venom but many succesfully crossed over to other species and created all sorts of breeds of Lycanthrope.

Anthropes

The latest model and what most everyone knows as Beast-Folk.

"Hrodthropes has been rejected by the Society of Sages as a name for this race. Also by me because I honestly have a big enough ego without naming a race after me." - Hrod

The Black Prince also got his hands on the secrets of Lycan but he modified them into something better. He removed the essence of shapeshifter, synthesized a water down version of Werewolf Venom and replaced all instances of bestial essence with humanoid essence. Applying this brew to animals instead of men, it was a lot easier for him to gather 'volunteers' and build his army to sufficient size.

edited 22nd Mar '12 4:39:35 PM by God_of_Awesome

Might want to add in that these last one are the modern Beast Folk. Also the most common.

Overall, gotta say, I like this model for them much better.

I'll get to voting when I have a real computer.

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

So we have Elf and Slyvan now? and does this mean Elfs came after or before humans.

We really need someone to make up a diagram for all this.

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Age of exploration, gods came into being after humanoids, and people don't typically discover the whole "writing" thing until they've got the "cities" thing and "agriculture" thing down first.

As such, nobody has any bleeding clue.

And the Elf issue is something I've mentioned beforehand, but I have no other sufficiently thought-out options at the time.

edited 22nd Mar '12 4:16:40 PM by Exelixi

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

But aren't humans a composite of all core races?

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The original Elfs were Humans with stronger Sylvan descent then everything else.

Infernal Gods Yes

Basic Powers of the Undeniable Crystals Yes

The State of Medicine Yes

Sample Culture #4: Titans Yes

Sample Cultures #4 Cont: More Titans Yes

The Protogenoi Yes

The Black Casket Yes

Sample Cultures #5: Beast-Folk (And one Duergar) Yes

Further Notes On The Undeniable Crystals Yes

Selkies Yes

Proto Beast-Folk No, made a better one

Dire Lycanthrope Exelixi's Werewolves

Flash blades Yes

Baron Crim -The blood flash Yes

Obesiditum Yes

Empire of Desortus Yes

First great conflict Yes

Empress Machii Yes

Even Further Notes On The Undeniable Crystals Yes

Bards Yes

Proposals of World Geography as by Goa #1 This needs to have it's own voting ballot

Spirits Yes

Addendum to Lycanthrope Proliferation #1 No

Addendum to Lycanthrope Proliferation #2 No

Sky Whale Yes

Skyswallower Reborn Yes

Sample Cultures #6 The Iron Men The Lost Children of Palatron Yes

Cloe, celestial Goddess of (technological) progress Yes

Natalia's Dragons Yes

Kylmen Yes

Rune-wagon Yes

D'haul Yes

The Warrior Crystal Yes

Under Jungle Yes

Aria Son Yes

Naga Yes

The Painted City Yes

Proto Beast-Folk Cont Lycanthrope No

The First Ones Yes

Also, regarding some stuff Exelixi said on page 45, about Trolls, Brownies, Mabin and Sylvan.

• Trolls: Actually, I was thinking of adding to the original idea, making them from only being able to make bodies out of vegetation to make bodies out of anything and get a ton of different troll variations.

• Brownies: I made Brownies, just haven't done much with them besides a little blurb. Exelixi, you wanted to pilfer them, go ahead.

• Mabin: I dunno what to do about Mabin, frog-people man. Maybe... maybe make them Anthrope Beast-Folk that were made by earlier unknown discoverers of the New Lands and lump them in there.

• Sylvan: And as the creator of the Sylvan I may be bias, but I say keep them. They can exist along side Elfs, for one.

As far as Mabin go, I think I'd prefer to ditch them in favour of a more. . . Shall we say identifiable amphibious race. Yeah, frogs are cool, but they fall (for me) firmly on the side of "too different to sympathise with."

But that's just me.

I do think expanding on the trolls' carapace-making abilities is a good idea. My opinion on this matter has nothing to do with the potential for punk-tastic scrap trolls.

And I'll do some stuff with brownies this weekend.

On another note, I think we should approach cultures and such a bit like so:

• First are the mostly-single-race cultures. These will be located in the respective homelands of the races. Feel free to make these ones somewhat exotic, playing on the races' physiological quirks as cultural points. In fact, the less appealing an area would be to other humanoids, the easier it is to justify it.

GOA has already done a tonne of these, though there are still some more to go.

• Next will be the places that are primarily composed of one or two races, but have a noticeable amounts of others.

• At the "top" will be the big melding-pot places. These will doubtless be primarily inhabited by Humans, but with large amounts of everything else.

I don't mean the sequence chronologically (so feel free to do them in whatever order), but, rather, in order of probable size and technological/cultural advancement.

Also also, I'm voting now.

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

• Infernal Gods: I don't feel the distinction needs to be made. No.

Basic Powers of the Undeniable Crystals: No. I feel that these will be easier to incorporate into a game if they are more ambiguous.

The State of Medicine: Yes.

Culture #4: Titans: Yes.

Cultures #4 Cont: More Titans: Yes.

The Protogenoi: Yes.

The Black Casket: Yes.

Sample Cultures #5: Beast-Folk (And one Duergar): Yes.

Further Notes On The Undeniable Crystals: No, see above.

Selkies: Yes.

Proto Beast-Folk: No, he re-did it better.

Dire Lycanthrope Exelixi's Werewolves: No.

Flash blades: No.

Baron Crim -The blood flash: No.

Obesiditum: No.

Empire of Desortus: Yes.

First great conflict: Yes.

Empress Machii: Yes.

Even Further Notes On The Undeniable Crystals: No, see above.

Bards: Yes.

Proposals of World Geography as by Goa #1: I think this should be removed from the ballot. This matter needs to be more cooperative than most.

Spirits: No. Having Celestial spirits eliminates the need for mortals post-apotheosis. We can't be having that.

Addendum to Lycanthrope Proliferation #1: No, he redid it.

Addendum to Lycanthrope Proliferation #2: No, he redid it.

Sky Whale: Yes.

Skyswallower Reborn: SO MUCH YES.

Sample Cultures #6 The Iron Men The Lost Children of Palatron: Aw yeah.

Cloe, celestial Goddess of (technological) progress: Yes.

Natalia's Dragons: Yes.

Kylmen: Yes. Mind if I'm reading this correctly these are definitely in the Creatures territory.

Rune-wagon: Interesting idea, sure.

The Warrior Crystal: No, because it is explicitly currently tied to the character.

Under Jungle: Yes.

Aria Son: No. What's the purpose of a character with nothing but a name and a MacGuffin? A GM can easily make an adventure based around a character in possession of something important if he or she chooses. Why limit their options to a human female with a specific name and nothing else?

Naga: Interesting, but a bit too huge. 180 feet is a very, very large distance.No.

The Painted City: Trippy. Yes.

Proto Beast-Folk Cont Lycanthrope: No, he redid this.

The First Ones: Yes.

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

Gentlemen, and especially GOA, with your permission I'd like to modify the physiology of the Brownies, to make them a tad more identifiable. Most Writers Are Human and all.

OH! That reminds me! Who here can draw? (Hint: This is going to result in you getting a SHITLOAD of work placed on your shoulders.)

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

Iropa

One of the larger continents of the Broken Lands and long, long ago, it was the ancient version of the New Land. The isolation was not as great but Iropa was completely uninhabited by intelligent beings, by any humanoids. Different races flocked to this place in different waves, building examples of different civilizations originally far apart now placed right next to one another. The Duergar, the Sylvan, the Elf, the Dwarf, the Troll, the Orremna, the Brownie, the Shapeshifter and the Titan, all came to inhabit this place and turn it into a veritable sampling plate of nearly all of Domhain-Sceal's intelligent races.

It's major marks were the mountainous Dark Lands to the very southern tip with an extended mountain range that snaked up the west coast, lots of hill country near the Dark Lands that gave way to plains and flatlands with an example of a great swamp near the mid-east coast. Just above the middle portion are temperate forests, most under the name of Meikyuu with the Dark Land's 'tail' snaking just behind it. Beyond this is a great big old dessert.

These are just general overviews of geographical features with exceptions dotting about. Black Emperor Hrod firmly controls 2/3rds of this whole continent. The Meikyuu Forest makes up a sixth of the continent, as do the Dark Land mountains and the dessert, but the last two Hrod has managed to control half of, leading only 1/12th portions at the very south and northern end to hold out. Hrod has expanded out from the continent's shores and planted his flag elsewhere and generally meddles in just everyone's affairs.

Iropa is located in the southern hemisphere of the world and when one looks at the Broken Lands as a whole is off to the east. It starts about 1/100th of the way pass the equator extending towards the north pole and then stretches down to about 4/5ths of the way towards the south pole. It's total area covers about 5% of the world's surface and makes up about 15% of the total land area of the world. It is shaped somewhat like a right-facing upside down comma or a curving tear drop, with a bulbous southern portion that disappear in slowly shrinking 'tail' up north that curves towards the west and back towards the east.

edited 23rd Mar '12 10:00:07 PM by God_of_Awesome

I can draw. Kind of.

And Brownies can be superficially chimp-like but still mostly human, with a tail, opposable thumbs on their feet and just tad too much body hair. Initially, I meant them to be a bit of a stand-in for hobbits.

Hm.

Yes, that solidifies some floating info.

For one, this would be the site of the Skyswallower incident.

Two. This is where the council of nations (see skyswallower page) would be.

Three, that explains the large number of relatively isolated cultures- they're holdouts from a long time ago.

Yeah, gotta love how "hobbit" is trademarked.

Define "kind of." Good enough to draw us up some anatomy-textbook-like profiles of the various races?

This is a very (very, very, very, I cannot stress this enough) important thing to have, because it will determine the art direction for characters depicted in the final version of the book, and also solidify our ideas of what each race looks like.

This will be a long and difficult task for whoever does it, but absolutely integral to the project.

However, if nobody opts to do it, I can bring in some outside sources.

edited 23rd Mar '12 9:18:55 PM by Exelixi

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

I would say the council is likely located in the northern portion of Iropa, outside Hrod's control and holding him back by sheer weight of the might of the rest of the Broken Lands.

Also no, cannot draw that well.

edited 23rd Mar '12 9:37:27 PM by God_of_Awesome

I just added another paragraph to Iropa's entry explaining its shape, size and location.

Hm.

With permission, I'd like to make some updates and alterations to the physical descriptions of the lesser-used races. These would be more a matter of discussion and solidification than simple yes/no votes; I'd like commentary and suggestions and such. All in favour?

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

I wanna take a swipe at Trolls myself.

I'd like to see that.

Hm. . . Maybeee, we could both do a take on trolls and figure out which one we like better, no? As it is, I see two rather different and equally awesome paths for them.

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

I was gonna keep them as originally envisioned as tiny blob organisms that psychokinetically built humanoid bodies, just sort of expanded on what they can use and expand on detail of their body.

What you?

Whoops, I hadn't noticed that GOA asked me to redo the ballot, sorry. Should I do it now and we vote again? Or just ignore the changed entries (and wait for the updates on the next ballot?)

Also regarding the Mabin, I like them and think we should keep them, if only as a backswood race nobody sees much. At the very least I'd like to keep their cousins, the Axolotl, which I invented for the New Lands.

GOA: Where your take focuses on the "creatures with artificial shells" part, mine focuses on the "plant matter creature" and "genesis via spores" part, and ditches the psychic bit.

Just ignore the changed entries.

I like that idea for the Mabin, but as they are, they're all over the rivers. We'd have to do some retconning. (I'm fine with that, in fact, revising things is an integral part of making a functioning anything, really, just pointing it out.)

edited 24th Mar '12 8:07:44 AM by Exelixi

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

Exelixi: Let's, do, BOTH. Two different races both called Trolls!

FUQ IA

(Fuck yeah)

We'd need something for the anthropologists to distinguish them though.

Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-

• Infernal Gods: Yes
• Basic Powers of the Undeniable Crystals: No
• The State of Medicine: No
• Sample Culture #4: Titans: sure

o Sample Cultures #4 Cont: More Titans: No, this adds to much to be packed into a single ballot. I need to vote on each of these apart from one another.

• The Protogenoi: yes
• The Black Casket:yes
• Sample Cultures #5: Beast-Folk (And one Duergar): The kobold's also being called dragon born kinda conflicts with the slang for Dragon Aspected but I kinda like it, we could make the confusion work. : yes
• Further Notes On The Undeniable Crystals: no
• Selkies: yes
• Flash blades: yes
• Baron Crim -The blood flash: yes
• Obesiditum: yes
• Empire of Desortus: yes
• First great conflict: yes
• Empress Machii: yes
• Even Further Notes On The Undeniable Crystals: no
• Bards: yes, I love them.
• Proposals of World Geography as by Goa #1: again needs top be broken up into it's own ballot.
• Spirits: Yes.
• Sky Whale: No? from what I read this is implying Spireroc city has creators which are known and I wrote that place without it's creators being unknown for a reason, it's not because I ran out of ideas.
• Skyswallower Reborn: No
• Sample Cultures #6 The Iron Men The Lost Children of Palatron: yes
• Cloe, celestial Goddess of (technological) progress: yes
• Natalia's Dragons: yes
• Kylmen: yes, and these are meant as creatures
• Rune-wagon: yes
• The Warrior Crystal: yes
• Under Jungle: yes
• Aria Son: yes
• Naga: yes
• The Painted City: yes
• The First Ones: yes

I'm not voting on anything were-related until I can make heads or tails of what as allowed or rejected, re-don ect.

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