Ages: All, Literacy Level: 2-3 sentences minimum (don't feel pressured to be detailed though), Universe: @hamr-sal
Community post version (safe link, no tracker)
Each and every soul is called to meet at the world's Centerpoint for a gathering. The leaders of each community must discuss recent goings-on to keep the rest of the world up-to-date, make demands, or request aid from the other communities.
These annual gatherings are also perfect opportunities for souls to decide whether they might want to leave their home and move to a land better suited for them once they are to leave Centerpoint.
Do you have more general info on the world? I'd like seeing more world building events and stuff!!
If not, can we have more information about soul-marks?
General info
Expanded info
Soul marks don't really have that much info about them that could be made. I just needed a way to solve the problem of "wait what if two beings are identical?"
"Heya, you lost? What's the bother?" Dari whistled, pushing thsemself to their feet via the butt of their trident. "Just kiddin', it's no bother. What's up?" Their tusks only served to emphasize their toothy smile, ear frills twitching in the light flitered by the trees.
Now that I've got everything prepped for Hamr-sál that I wanted prepped (including copying it over to Unvale at sharksirenboi), I can get to work on actually doing stuff with it to encourage interaction and use of the material!
I had a fun idea to get things rolling on the rp side of things!
What if we made like warrior cats and held a prophecy raffle? My character, LichenFrost (because I need to be present to narrate stuff), and two others picked by a wheel, will be the chosen ones destined to save Hamr-sál from some great disaster? Life could continue as normal for everyone else so as to not interrupt rps, this would be an "evil lurking in the darkness" sort of thing
To submit your character for the raffle, just comment under this post! A rp blog isn't necessary as long as you have a character bio somewhere that folks can access.
When souls die, their light wanders around the world for a while until the souls are reincarnated. This is not a universally known fact. (The "reincarnation" can also be into the heavens/afterlife.)
The multiverse is canon not only because I personally believe in it, but also to deal with any conflicting storylines or retcons. All universes are still canon in some sense.
Some souls emit UV light, while others do not. The exact qualifications for whether or not a soul glows are essentially just whether or not the being in question is wholly "magical." (Roughly just "Do you consider yourself more therian or more otherkin" for kinsonas.) This has a few rare exceptions.
While all living things (and even some nonliving things) have a soul, folks gotta eat. Circle of life. It's generally considered dishonorable and frowned upon to not pay your respects to anyone or anything you kill and/or eat though.
History
Though racism/speciesm doesn't really tend to be an issue in Hamr-sál due to the existence of shapeshifting (though I suppose if you really wanted it, there's no limit to the mental hoops bigots will jump through to defy logic), xenophobia is a fair bit more common. Territory, after all, is one of the only constants in that world. People may fear or hate souls from communities they aren't allied with.
An ancient world war that involved even the celestial gods turned Centerpoint from a lush island paradise to a large expanse of blackened earth. Still, the traditions treating it as a sacred place of peace have once again arisen.
The world of Hamr-sál was once a much more dark and dangerous place, but it's healing. Communities form alliances and aid eachother instead of fighting. (Most of the time.)
Around a thousand years ago was when Hamr-sál first made contact with other planets (The gods are a different story). Not every planet has been discovered, and not every part of Hamr-sál has even been explored. The planet is much bigger than most imagine.
Location, Innovation: The Tribe of Fern is a nomadic community along the strip by the Fin River. While they tend to stick to the more lush areas, their territory is technically the whole strip at present. As wanderers, they desire free roam across all of Hamr-sál, but they aren't always welcome.
The tribe has a fleet of wooden ships and rafts for water-based travel, which they often use when exploring. Efforts to establish trade routes with the other communities are ongoing.
Shelters within the community are typically set up in caves, trees, or under the cover of floating islands. At most, tents will be erected if there's no viable shelter area nearby.
Religion, Culture: The dead of the community are repurposed into tools or other resources, like most others would do since there's a distinct lack of other options. This process is considered sacred in the tribe, and every piece of the body must be used in some way. The souls are left to wander as their light flickers and dulls, to be returned into the next souls born.
The current leader, LichenFrost, is technically a minor deity since he originates from Luminosa. There is an air of formality and reverence above that given to a typical leader throughout the clan's interactions with him, despite his insistence that he just be seen as a helpful neighbor.
The Tribe practices Old Norse hospitality rules. Unless you are currently an active threat, you will be fed, housed, and treated politely.
(They also celebrate pagan holidays because I want to have more ways to celebrate pagan holidays)
After every harvest season, they hold a ritual fast for a day, and then at night they grieve and ask for forgiveness from any and every living thing whose life was given to feed the community. In the following morning, they have a feast made of food already in storage.
Politics, Day-to-day: The Tribe of Fern tends to avoid joining in on the territorial disputes of other communities. They have enough on their plate just fighting for the right to wander as far as they please. They instead offer relief, refuge, and aid to all affected by war.
Agriculture and foraging are two of the most prominent skills within the Tribe. Knowledge on flora is highly prized, just as the arts are. Those who bring food to the community get first pick of their produce.
There is no set schedule for activities to run on in the Tribe. You pick the role that works with your body's natural rhythm, and work on your own time. Things are done in shifts to ensure resources are always available and active.
The leader of the Tribe doesn't hold any particular political power, since everything is decided via a vote. They're more like a representative who speaks for the collective community during gatherings, and helps organize everyone when things need to get done.
If at any point someone deems the current leader unfit, they can be challenged for their title. The process to choose a new leader is a vote. Every member of the community, save the two running for leader, is given a smooth crystal and told to place the crystal on one of two or more ceremonial platforms anonymously. At the end, the votes are counted, and a new leader is decided.
(OOC this can be decided with a poll! All the votes are polls!)
