A testiment to one's hubris?

A fantasy world with problems both magical and familiar. Your first quest: Join me, as I try to make this game happen.

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

Welcome!

Call me Moonfur, and check out my main blog here!

As I'm dearly hoping to make this game a reality, I've decided to dedicate a space to talking about it. Surely this will not jinx me.

I have a fairly concrete image of the world and the people in it, as well as the overall vibe of the game, but there's a lot of things I'm still working on. And things I'll definitely need help with.

Due to this whole project originating as a silly little sandbox AU that kept getting stuff added to it, the main plot/questline is only barely existent. i'm working on fixing it. But the AU thing also means that all the existing characters need new designs and names.

Currently working on:

Compiling existing information into one place

Designing characters

Composing some music for certain scenarios (mainly an opening, and some motifs for various Thingstm).

so much research into various other cultures. i don't even know what all i want yet, but that's part of what the research is for

naming things. The stupid space rock the game takes place on, the rock orbiting that one, most of the characters

Looking into game engines and stuff to see if I can do the bulk of the game design myself plot twist my computer is a little baby bitch that can't handle big beefy game engines

Finding help for character modeling, animating, and environment designing. which i'm sure will go super smoothly since I'm broke and can't pay people for their time and effort

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

Btw here are the conventions I’ve figured out

Kobolds - Stones and minerals; gemstones are popular for men and metals for women. Lots of non-gems and non-metals are considered gender-neutral.

Harpies - Phenomena, especially wind- and weather-based ones.

Sprites - Plants, especially flowers. ‘Sunflower’ and ‘Dandelion’ are especially popular.

Elves - Things that grow in the dark, which is often fungus. There are several mosses as well, though.

Piscatores - Usually local plant or animal species, and then the area they were born in. Freshwater tend to have more terrestrial creatures and places in their names, and saltwater often have ‘exotic’ names since they’re the only ones who’ve named the places on the seafloor.

Flamewalkers - Vices and virtues, alternating based on hatch order. Names that can be either (‘ambition’ or ‘tenacity’) are particularly popular at present. and then I spun more world building but we can get to that another time about to eat

The humans are going to be annoying but the moon moon guys shouldn’t be too big a problem once I do a bit of research? Probably? I think? Maybe?

The Corman humans were super easy tho since I made it SoS England. Luminance is leaning heavily towards SoS Japan so I’ll probably grab a bunch of Japanese names for them?

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

I’ve decided that elves are usually named after things you can find in caves, which I decided means I need to invent some creatures for the Aphotian environment, which got a little out of hand and anyway I’m naming a tree-sized mushroom species ‘morel of the story’ because I am the god of this world and no one can stop me

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

btw I’ve made several elves and half-elves and I still haven’t named any of them <33

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

I’ve decided that elves are usually named after things you can find in caves, which I decided means I need to invent some creatures for the Aphotian environment, which got a little out of hand and anyway I’m naming a tree-sized mushroom species ‘morel of the story’ because I am the god of this world and no one can stop me

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

i am finally figuring out naming conventions for the non-humans \o/

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

Aphotia is the kingdom of darkness. As in, they use a lot of tenebris magic and believe it’s better and stronger than the other elements. Aphotians are not all evil.

Their current kings are power-hungry tyrants, but that’s a problem for another post.

Aphotia is an old kingdom, and have held their beliefs about Tenebris for a very long time. Over the years, they’ve used so much tenebris, that the entire country is covered in darkness 24/7.

This presents a number of problems. What crops grow, when so little sunlight reaches the ground? What livestock can they raise, when there’s nothing to really feed them?

Several adaptations, both in terms of living style and genetically, have been made by the people and several animal species. But the landscape and ecosystem of Aphotia is wildly different from anywhere else on the moon.

Several native species have gone extinct, because they couldn’t survive the darkness, but now there’s unique creatures found only there. Such as freshwater anglerfish, a few thousand distinct species of mushroom (some of which grow big enough to provide shelter from the rain), and several mammals that have developed bioluminescent to silently communicate, lure in prey, or sometimes both.

Most of the surviving animals are predators, but there are a few fungivores who’ve essentially become the backbone of the ecosystem. There’s not a whole lot of them still, and they’re mostly just little critters, so they’re protected and you’re not supposed to hunt them. Of course, only hunting predators has its own problems, but no one’s figured that part out yet.

Most of the aquatic creatures glow blue, and most terrestrial ones glow yellow, but a lot have the same eerie yellowish-green color that tenebris magic has. A rare few glow red, too, though that’s not as useful up here as it is in the deep ocean. There’s still some sunlight up here, and more creatures can see red than not.

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

Tentative idea:

If mages are skilled enough, and their familiars are powerful enough, the familiars can effectively leave “eggs” of magic around an area, which will ‘hatch’ into smaller familiars and defend whatever they’re meant to defend when certain stimulus is applied. Either manual activation (familiar or mage do some magic bullshit that makes the eggs hatch) or some sort of proximity-based thing (an intruder gets too close, the eggs sense it, and hatch)

I’m not sure how much variation there could be with the stimulus requirements

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

oh this is not the blog i meant to rb that to

[figalicious]

They were so close what

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR Aracnae

due to how i made them i couldn't put them side-by-side in one thing, but here they are

Aracnae are just little guys. Like with several spider species, the females tend to be bigger, but even on their tip toes they don't even reach 2 feet tall. The males are basically pocket-sized.

They're both smiling. The one on the right is trying to be friendly and sell stuff and the one on the right is very excited about a new thing. As you can see though it doesn't really read as smiling, so interacting with the other races is. Challenging. Especially in the beginning, when they just kind appear and consequently scare the shit out of people.

They can speak, but their vocal chords are tiny and their voices quiet and so high-pitched its almost imperceptible to their neighbors (and itdefinitely is to humans), so they mainly use sign language. It's adapted from Statarian sign language (which itself is an amalgamation of multiple sign languages, mainly Aphotian and Luminian) for their little three-fingered hands.

there are non-magical spiders that are much bigger though. like. they'll 100% eat aracnae with almost no hesitation. Fortunately the Aracnae aren't defenseless and will stab a bitch (or spider) with magic

due mostly to Arcanus being sad his 'children' couldn't meet each other and deciding to do something about it, the pixies and aracnae are in active communication. Which is probably how everyone else finds out there's intelligent life on other celestial bodies in their system. The question is whether or not anyone get pictures of this intelligent life or if it's just descriptions that end up going through a wild game of telephone.

anyway you see what i mean about centaurs could be like palm trees but weirder. how would a spider evolve into that. (lots of weird mutations that worked out well for them. Probably branched off of some kinda weird tarantula. A mammal-mimicking tarantula.)

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR Pixies

A small, young, and insatiably curious race, born in Stateras in much the same way their creator was. Pixies are generally quite friendly, and are constantly asking questions. They want to know everything there is to know about everything, and there's very little they won't do to get there.

They can be quite gullible, but they're incredibly perceptive and have excellent memories. They’re also unusually adept at wielding the other elements, though they much prefer magia.

eventually some of them will commit atrocities heretofore unknown to the intelligent races in the pursuit of knowledge, but for now they're cataloguing everything under the sun and moon and studying themselves and magia.

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR Sávres/σαύρες (singular, 'sávra'/σαύρα)

layabouts smh

favorite activities include sleeping and taking lava baths. They can't stand the cold at all, and don't do any better with darkness. you thought you were scared of the dark as a kid? buddy you ain't got nothin on them. they hate it. And cold darkness? actual physical harm. So they usually live in desert areas, especially around volcanic activity.

They can get going pretty fast, but mostly they just want to chill out. much like the sprites.

The snake hair is...kind of weird, even to them. They don't have their own brains, but act as if they have their own wills. all that's in there under the scales are bones, muscles, and nerves. They can't make noise and don't eat but they still have mouths and mime hissing at things the person doesn't like. sávres can't really see through the snakes' eyes, but if one of the snakes 'see' something interesting/dangerous the person will notice it too and turn to look at it

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR Pululu/పులులు (singular, Puli/పులి)

i ask my brain for terrestrial creatures that like to swim and aren't frogs and my brain comes back with tigers. there are tiger people on the moonmoon. and if they don't get their twice-daily swims they're going to be SO pissed

They don't use that much magic in their day-to-day lives, especially compared to some other creatures, but they're fully capable. they just prefer to do things 'the old-fashioned way'.

They quite literally live in mud. Mud brick houses, specifically. They get very fancy with it, but not so fancy as for the houses to be like. unstable.

They're the most powerful swimmers on the moonmoon, and some claim they could cross the oceans. This has not been tested and none of them are eager to try, because as much as they love swimming the ocean kind of freaks them out. what do you mean there are huge parts of it where you can't see any land at all. what the fuck. no. bad. wrong. evil. awful. the beach is lovely though

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR Onogwaja (Singular, Unogwaja)

did you know that unlike other cat species, cheetahs don't have retractable claws? Their claws are just Out, like a dog's, because it gives them extra traction.

I don't know what rabbit nails are like but the Onogwaja have non-retractable claws for the same reason. They're deceptively fast, and they can almost keep up with the centaurs.

i based them off the african savanna hare and then gave the one a mariachi outfit without a second thought.

Another fun, this time musical fact: a double bass is not just a violin sized up. unfortunately all i had to work with in heroforge was a violin. and then i remembered that mariachi doesn't do double bass and i was thinking of jazz but i put so much effort into making it look okay that i didn't want to change it

ANYWAY part of why they're so fast is because, unlike the creatures on the moon, these guys were made with ventum and tenebris. They don't sleep much at all, and they're always looking to learn new things. They're constantly working on new things, which can be anything but most often is music. Their natural ventum mastery allows them to manipulate sound, so they can do some pretty wild shit. If anyone wants some musicians for an event, most of the time they hire a band of Onogwaja

It took them a while to realize that their normal magic is actually a mix of two different elements.

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR Centaurs

A species that doesn't live anywhere near humans, and as of right now the centaurs and humans are unaware of each other. They're the only other sentient race that has evolved without the help of magic, but have learned how to use it regardless.

They can wield the elements in ways that humans (and half-humans) can't, but aren't able to create familiars. What they're able to do is somewhat limited by their form: Pegasi can give themselves extra speed or agility in the air, unicorns can cast more powerful spells, and horses can increase their strength and ground speed.

They discover magia around the same time as humans, and Arcanus ends up being unintentionally summoned while he was still very young. Arcanus assumed his human family knew about centaurs already and didn't mention that the people they met weren't human, though King Dark and Prince Nightmare were very curious about his description of what was clearly an uncharted (to humans) land.

Other elemental races live with the centaurs, but they don't really have contact with their fellows that live near or with humans, so they're just as unaware.

The centaurs live in various tribes, most of which are nomadic but a few have permanent settlements.

The FMR pantheon is aware of them and has probably interacted some, and probably are worshiped to some degree, but for the most part the centaurs worship different (but just as real) deities.

[symphonyofstormsdevelopment]

This post was created before I decided that they would live on the moon moon, or figured out what any of the moon moon gods were like. The centaurs are as common on the moon moon as humans are on the moon.

Also, they are to spiders as palm trees are to grass.

Despite appearances, they are very much related.

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR: Elves

These are Aphotious' people, and they tend to live in caves or deep in old forests, where the sunlight never touches the ground. There's also quite a few in Aphotia, since the prevalence of tenebris magic has made the area unnaturally dark.

They're mostly nocturnal, and never venture into the sunlight if they can help it. They may travel between known elvish settlements on the surface, but only at night.

Due to their tendancy to live in dark and dank places, they're also partially fungal, and usually have mushrooms growing on them. These mushrooms are a pretty good indicator of health; the sicker the elves are, the duller and small their mushrooms are. If it gets real bad the mushrooms may simply die and fall off, at which point their loved ones begin preparing for their departure from this world.

And being the tenebris people, they're very mischievous. They love messing with each other, and their neighbors, and random strangers who happen by, and wild animals, and there's a number of legends of them managing to trick deities into falling for their antics. Most humans go out of their way to avoid them. In Aphotia they're just your neighbors. There's a lot of half-elves. Some people do think they're really annoying, but the Aphotian elves are a little less actively mischievous in the interest of peaceful coexistence.

[moonfurthetemmie]

FMR: Sprites

The lumen people, sprites want little more than to just...do nothing. An ideal day for most of them is just napping in the sun.

They tend to be a lot paler than humans, as it helps them take in more sunlight. For them, there's no such thing as too much sun exposure, so they very often live in deserts or dry plains. That said, a lot of exposure can and does energize them, so they usually wear longer clothes to keep themselves from being rowdy. that wasn't an innuendo, they really just think an energetic sprite should be doing something productive (working) and not, like, playing or running around (Unless it's a child).

As bright as Luminance is, it's still in a more temperate environment, and thus there are clouds. Luminian sprites are usually seen in sleeveless tunics and shirts, and on especially cloudy days they might just sunbathe naked on the rooftops. they do not have any fucks to give, they just want their sunlight. humans do seem to have a problem with this, though, so they make an effort to remain out of view.

Funnily enough, their desire to just Not Do Things have encouraged them to be very inventive. 90% of their daily chores have, in some way, been automated. A not insignificant amount of Statarian tech was inspired by the sprites' innovations. There aren't many who can do maintenance on these things, though, so what usually ends up happening is that there's one or two lines of artisans who find apprentices, to show them how to do the upkeep for the devices and spells.

Luminian sprites generally have humans do that work for them, though. The humans seem more interested in doing things, so they just let them do the things. It's been a while since any of them have actually done that kind of work themselves.

They're treated a bit like seagulls, in that they're kind of annoying and can be really bothersome, but they're protected by the government so storm save you if lay a single finger on them. Fortunately, they're sentient and intelligent, and arguing when asked to go laze about elsewhere takes a lot more effort than just doing it.