Ingirvein

CYOA Fantasy Blog

[ingirvein]

Dwarven Warfare

Dwarves do not fight war as Men ken such things. From the perspective of the young and audacious men, they see single battles.

The Dwarves will attack, conquer, and build. In a few decades it will turn into a vibrant trading hub, home to many races.

And then another attack. Another point conquered. Another town built.

Then Ken wars in the spans of hundreds of years, and will not, of their own accord, fight wars without proper supply chains.

For the long-lived races, it does not matter if you love or hate a Man, he will die.

That all said, if Dwarves do not have the chance to prepare for war, then they will instead fight with complete bedlam, to the point that few other races could ken their fleeting desires.

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Explain the courts. It is a from a time that most have forgotten, even myself. Why the seasons?

Short answer

Seelie Court / Summer Court: Good Fey. They don't actively hate you, and will likely warn you before attacking. But, their pranks might kill you.

Unseelie Court / Winter Court: Bad Fey. They will attack you without provocation or warning.

[decreare]

what did the spirits do with fall and spring?

[ingirvein]

It's 6 months / 6 months.

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Explain the courts. It is a from a time that most have forgotten, even myself. Why the seasons?

Short answer

Seelie Court / Summer Court: Good Fey. They don't actively hate you, and will likely warn you before attacking. But, their pranks might kill you.

Unseelie Court / Winter Court: Bad Fey. They will attack you without provocation or warning.

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Fey-Touched Spellbeasts: Phoenix

The simplest question for the Phoenix is if they are immortal.

And to answer it, it really depends on your definition of immortality.

Can Phoenices die? Yes, but not easily. What instead happens is that Phoenices will normally use the last vestiges of their strength to revert to an early part of their life cycle, i.e. an Egg. We have animals alive that do this, most notably the Immortal Jellyfish. Like most eggs, they must mature, and without the appropriate conditions, they will die.

The appropriate conditions are warmth. Luckily, the egg can provide it's own, and the risk is the loss of. Phoenices will often setup rookeries in rift valleys and volcanos. Regions hot enough to cook meat, often swamped in brimstone and other noxious gases, and often alchemical elements that can petrify living things. Elves that take them on as pets will often build what can only be described as ovens for them. Once the Phoenix hatches, it will often remember the warm memories of heating the family's meals.

Is the Phoenix the master of fire? No, it is fire, and simply learns to control this inexorable force.

They are often favoured by Elves, as one of the species that will survive longer than a mayfly, (at least to their perspective).

Note: I'm talking about Flamingos, that scientists have technically classified as Phoenices.

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Fey-Touched Spellbeasts: Unicorn

Often considered the most sacred of beast, at least from those not cursed to dwell beneath the earth, far away from God's glorious sun.

They are attracted to chaste maidens. People often forget the difference between Chaste and Celibacy. Celibacy means a complete abstinence of sex, while most of what a husband and wife do together can be considered chaste. Unicorns are always female, and can transform into the appearance of a beautiful woman with radiant skin. In their form of beasts, they can be violently protective of their realms, though a Unicorn would never attack a creature that is not evil without giving warning. This often in the form of prophetic dreams, though if they do not work, the Unicorn will simply approach and warn them plainly. While normally described as white horses with spiral horns, they also adopt some traits of goats, making it functional, if not perfectly descriptive.

The extend of their powers are completely unknown to Mankind, as though blessed by them rarely speak of it. But the rumours have them capable of raising the dead, or helping heroes to slay great beasts and monsters.

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Fey-Touched Spellbeasts: Dyn Pry

Like the Elves and Gnomes that are Fey-Touched, there are also Beast likewise afflicted. The Men of Ingir are Fey-Neighbourly, while Dwarves tend to be Fey-Annoyed; they will often carry iron spikes with iron cross guards, (do NOT call them swords), as wards.

Preamble: Most Spellbeasts are female. Sometimes whole species, sometimes with a single male for a dozen or more females. Men believe females are just more susceptible to it. Dwarves believe females are just more accepting of it. Elves believe that females are just more magically attuned; male magics are more coarse and overt, forcing mana to their whims, while female magics tend to be more intuitive and natural.

Many think that being a Spellbeast precludes sapients, when the opposite is true. Most Spellbeasts have minds as powerful as men, and souls as strong as Elves. Men think themselves different from beasts, but genealogically, they are as beastly as wolves, (and strangely compatible).

Dyn Pry

Dyn Pry are Gnomes who have been blessed/cursed with the aspect of the spider. It happened so long ago, but few even think of it anymore. They are, and that is good enough for them. They have four spider limbs from their backs, (and four smaller ones used for weaving). They are born one male for a couple dozen females, (roughly speaking). In personality, unsurprisingly, they are a combination of Gnomes and spiders. They are aloof, helpful but not friendly. Though Dyn Pry can be far more playful, and their females a lot more forward. Their females will often be quite content as weavers, from whomever can attract their attention, and care for them.

[ingirvein]

what are the pets of fantasy races? I imagine dwarves like cats and moles, sensory animals, and elves would like dears and tortoise if they could find one

I haven't really thought about this for Ingir.

Gnomes like Mustelids. At least partially because they help them hunt. They also like long-lived birds. Even birds that are much bigger than they are. Although, with migratory birds, they only team up when the birds are in country. So, the true pets are only with residents, while the migratory birds are closer to friends.

SpeciesOldest Recorded AgeCanada Goose 33 yearsMallard 27 yearsBlack Scoter 14 yearsAmerican Flamingo 49 yearsLaysan Albatross 68 yearsGreat

Dwarves love tortoises, but they don't make good pets. They gather around to pet and feed them before going on their way.

Boars make great allies. If they don't eat them. The boars don't mind eating other boars, so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for Dwarves.

Ewes are very useful for milk and wool. What do you do with the rams? They basically use them like horses. Horses that like to headbutt things. They respect that. They aren't fond of horses. They are way too tall for them.

Moles are pests. Whack-a-mole was based off of the Dwarven tradition of hitting moles in the head with hammers.

Bats are cool. The get along well with bats, and they are a great source of fertilizer. Though, this isn't so much being pets, but being good neighbours. Bats are too social to make good pets, but Dwarves are just as social.

Female Dwarves really like songbirds. They really brighten up life, wherever you are.

For Elves, the problem is that no animal lives long enough. Men live short enough lives as is it. So, the easy answer is - Men. While there are stories about their dark kith beneath the earth, on the surface it is strictly voluntary. The Men tend to view themselves as being adopted into a loving family.

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Does each race have a unique way that they become undead (besides the human way of either magical plagues or shoving your soul in something)

Using a Phylactery is the more complicated way, only possible by extremely powerful lichs. These Elder Lichs are extremely powerful, but that's because they were powerful before they did it.

Modern lichs basically reanimate their own body and then attach their soul to it. This is far less complicated, if less elegant. It's also troublesome until the flesh rots away.

The more fey-touched, like Gnomes, but also especially favoured Men can instead turn into a spirit, or live in Tir-na-Nog.

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What’s Lion of Cynn?

Series of fantasy books I've written.

Looked into getting them published, but mainstream publishing is a hellish place.

It has a lot of interpretations of fantasy worlds, races, magick, etc., that I've been wanting to talk about.

I created the blog, and it's found here.

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Meant lore wise is there any liches in the lands of over a thousand baths

Lichs are just necromancers who animate their own dead body. It's not the easiest thing to do, but it doesn't make them especially impressive. Just people so desperate to cling to life that they don't mind walking around in a walking corpse.

So, yes, there are plenty of them, but they aren't especially dangerous or interesting.

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Any liches? Any liches at all?

In Ingir, yeah, as many liches as a DM wants.

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What is the dumbest things the humans have done in recorded history that the dwarves and elves keep making fun of them for?

Both the Dwarves and Elves recognize them as young and foolish.

But, there is the Sin of Cynn.

The Elves gave the Men of Cynn their divinity as a religion. In Cynn this ended up in the genocide of the Fauns, while in the Holy Gothic Empire, this created a Man-supremacist state. All non-Men were considered default slaves.

Except Dwarves. Dwarves are hard to remove from an area, and their economic benefits cannot be replaced.

The Elves consider this a personal failing. Not the fact that they ended up enslaved by the very young race they tried to help, no, but because they failed to guide them.

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What happened to the dragons? Or they just are t present in your fantasy?

In my fantasy, the Lion of Cynn, Dragons are bound by Dragonpacts with mortals. They aren't allowed to affect the world outside of Dragonpacts. While they can used for nearly any purpose, and Dragons as both wise and old, but geopolitically, they are treated like nuclear weapons.

Wyrms are actually fallen Seraphim, whom are too proud to give up their power. They then suffer at their own lack of utility.

[decreare]

So your dragons are eastern? Thus gods? Knowing your western influence kaiju gods?

[ingirvein]

And it was a way to unite the powerful and wise Dragons in Western Fantasy stories with the destructive Dragons of Western mythology.

Angels fall not because of cruelty, but because of dereliction of duty. That said, once they fall, they have no reason to be Good.

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If there are deep sea dwarves creating rapture who knows how many times over what about sea elves? Do they live in bubble cities like the dwarves or have they adapted to the environment like wood elves? Are there a difference between fresh water, salt water, and deep water?

Dwarves have a much more peaceful Rapture.

Elves have something like Gungans or Triseraquins

Each group of Elves is unique, even if they seem similar on a surface level.

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Did the Dwarves ever dig too deep? Is there a jungle underneath the worlds mantle where Dwarves ramboing it up to hunt for rare magical sources? What about Atlesian Dwarfs strolling across the bottom of the ocean looking pearls and the like?

Dwarves have "mining suits" to travel underwater in mines, but the great black abyss of the oceans is too much for most Dwarves. Though, there are some clans with underwater cities.

There are regions underground that use artificial sunlight to grow plants, and thus create ecosystems. There are other places were creatures learn to survive off of magic, and create their own ecosystems.

Did the Dwarves ever dig too deep? The Dwarves don't think so. The Elves do.

Men are of a mixed opinion.

And Dwarves are always out hunting for rare resources, or at least thinking about it. But, Dwarves are patient, long-lived, and the masters of logistics, so Dwarven expeditions tend to be well planned and supplied, rather than spur of the moment things.

This does suffer a bit from "It seemed like a good idea at the time." though. Especially if a Man is foolish enough to encourage them.

[ingirvein]

What happened to the dragons? Or they just are t present in your fantasy?

In my fantasy, the Lion of Cynn, Dragons are bound by Dragonpacts with mortals. They aren't allowed to affect the world outside of Dragonpacts. While they can used for nearly any purpose, and Dragons as both wise and old, but geopolitically, they are treated like nuclear weapons.

Wyrms are actually fallen Seraphim, whom are too proud to give up their power. They then suffer at their own lack of utility.

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How old are the elves?

Implying they remember. They tend to stop paying attention passed a thousand.