#logistics asks

[roast-ifs]

The Uniform is mentioned early on in the demo I was wondering if you had an idea of what it may look like as I can't find any examples ^^' I do love the story, characters and the writing

Lol I just wrote it in on the 22nd as a means to weave in the height question so it’s a fairly new thing though I’ve always figured that ERA had a uniform that basically all their field agents usually ignore on the exception of office days where they have to meet the brass or go to court.

So... let me draw something real quick lol

Photo ID: A line up of costumes from the 1910s. Captions, left to right: Mix and match! Gender doesn’t matter. Stockings. Turn of the century, bit old-fashioned.

So this is NOT ERA’s uniform, just some pointers for the 1910′s-19teens fashion bc honestly just go for a suit and that’d count. This just all falls under what ERA considers more professional (though that skirt on the left is scandalously high for an office uniform)

As for skirts, I’d originally said no skirts for field agents but honestly if you could prove to Nico that you can run adequately in one then they’d allow it. Have to have reasonable footwear though so either low heels or no heels.

Gender doesn’t matter when it comes to fashion in this world so feel free to mix and match and have fun with some turn of the century stuff too since the fashion scene didn’t really start going off until the 1920′s.

There are, of course, different fashions for different species based on their needs and I’ve said before that I like to think this world is a little more stylish and fun than our world but whatevs.

RESOURCES:

Check these out for costuming; [OSF Costume Rentals] and [Vintage Dancer], I used both for these.

[roast-ifs]

There was a related ask a while back, but if witches are only ever human, since other species have more channeled innate powers, what powers do harpies have? (Which is also really a roundabout way of asking “Can Fatima fake it?” or does someone else always have to do it for her?)

A harpy’s magic is in their genetics, they don’t really have an innate power (as many other species do as well, having a magic ability isn’t a guarantee if you’re not human). Harpy genetics follow the laws of magic, they’re inherently violent and dominant lol essentially ripping out genes of the other donor that are beneficial and subsuming them into their own, hence why mixed-species harpies are still mostly harpy.

Even ‘half’ harpies aren’t really half, as genetics becomes a qualified science and modern technology allows for DNA to be sequenced and analyzed they’ll come to realize that the harpy genetics are so dominant that even a ‘half-harpy’ (1 harpy parent 1 other parent) is still well over 50% harpy, and their offspring will likewise be more harpy than any other donor species.

It’s not a glamourous magical ability XD but it still counts. So Fatima can’t really fake it, and I mentioned on the discord that magic will inherently ‘argue’ with any natural magic within a person’s body, so any magic/glamors/potions she would manage to make would be volatile, ‘argumentative’, prone to failure, explosion, and inherently risky to make as is.

The reason humans can practice magic is because their natural magic is completely and utterly neutral. It allows the magic they’re working with to act predictably and maintain a stability that isn’t possible with others.

That being said, I haven’t looked at or developed all the possible species this world has to offer so it’s not impossible for another species to be able to use magic like humans do, just that humans are the go to and the most safe, secure, and reliable source of it.

[roast-ifs]

Not sure if you've answered this but can different monster species have kids together?

They can! I’ve answered this before and it's floating around in the tags somewhere lol.

The long and short of it is that some species are more compatible bc some species have less dominant or more flexible genetics.

Basilisks have very flexible and diverse genes, it's what allows their species to be incredibly diverse in features and abilities. This makes them apt candidates to create hybrids.

Harpies are a species designed to hybridize, basically, but their genetics are fiercely dominant and essentially quash out most of the other contributing species, well, contributions.

Hybrids, however, aren’t great for propagating the gene pool and many (but not all!) wind up infertile.

[roast-ifs]

Happy New Year! I’m already excited for the new update. As a worldbuilding question, when you first started planning for Smoke and Velvet, did you always know you wanted to have the player select their fantasy race? Was there one you pictured first, for your own characters? Also, are handlers always human, and is there an equivalent program employing human criminals, since monstrous division is its own thing?

Happy new year!!

But yeah! That was one of the driving factors in snv bc I’ve always wanted to play as a ‘monster’ in if games but any that do have that mechanic didn’t go deep enough imo or just kind of fell flat??? (I don’t really count space sci-fi games where you play as an alien species though??)

So yeah, having a unique experience per species was a big driving factor. Basilisks were the first one I envisioned and of course the first ones I put in the game as I’d had the idea for them years and years ago. I think porcelains came next followed by hellhounds.

As for the handlers question, not necessarily! Handlers and parolees can be either human or monsters, but actually, human parolees are processed by monstrous division too just because ERA isn’t a massive company, and creating an entirely different division when they can do the same thing with the monstrous one is inefficient. Human parolees just don’t interact with the Yard the same way monstrous parolees do, and very few monstrous agents interact with the Yard the same way the MC has.

The monstrous and magic division is actually just the division that handles investigations of that nature, not necessarily the handling of monstrous agents and parolees, that would be monstrous biostudies and the Yard. (Companies sure do love their divisions, don’t they?)

[roast-ifs]

Whats a hellhounds innate magical power(I'm guessing its there coal and sorry to sound needy)

LOL It’s no problem but yeah you’re right! The hellhound’s coal is their inherent magical ability, the basilisk their petrifying gaze, same with gorgons. Unicorns are obvious--their purification, I’d have to sit and think about other species.

We’ve got a satyr in Mx. Anise so I think satyr’s probably have a natural charming/calming effect when interacting with instruments, singing, reciting poetry or reading from a book, anything that elicits sound in a rhythmic kind of way--nothing like ‘I can control a person’s thoughts by charming them’ just a soothing ‘I feel calmer around this satyr currently playing music’. Probably make good therapists. (That’s what Anise’s lyre is for btw, it’s glamoured to amplify their natural calming magic for the aminals)

[roast-ifs]

(Uhh feel free to ignore this if it's a duplicate but I just realized tumblr never gave me a notification telling me it sent. The obsessive spell checking and refusal to be bothered with cleaning out my clipboard actually came in handy! whaddya know. ANYWAY)

Hello! I promise I have an ACTUAL question, but I want to say that you could release a giant Hyrule Historia-esque trilogy filled with nothing but art and lore and even if it cost umpteenmillion dollars I would jump on that SO fast you have no idea. I sometimes forget this is a horror game because I'm ME and I get caught up in all the other cool, shiny details on this blog and then I actually replay the demo (again) and its eerie and atmospheric and I get delighted all over again. Thank you for this wonderful antique cosmic horror, the patreon notification earlier this morning made my day!

Now for the question! If a unicorn were to purify a pigment would it nullify the toxicity of things like uranium, cinnabar and arsenic or would it just remove the dangerous compound and ruin the color? Are there jars "100% purified Vermillion!" Or "Non-toxic true lead-white!" Floating around, genuine or not?

Thank you so much!! I could probably fill a book with story and world lore once I polish it all up lol and I have had people say how fun it would be to have a smoke & velvet ttrpg--I think the world suits well to expansion, you know?

Hmmm I’ve been thinking about this question since I got the first message (it wasn’t on anon so I’m assuming you want this one to be published instead ;P) what a unicorn’s magic is picking and removing parts of a material that either doesn’t belong or isn’t wanted.

In regards to lead, since what causes it to be bad news is that it interferes with other metals in the body, and changes the shapes of your protein molecules. So, lead, in and of itself, is what’s poisonous, not just certain parts of it on a molecular level so I’d say it’s a material that can’t be purified because the whole thing is just yikes.

I do think that other materials that are traditionally toxic have the potential to be nullified by a unicorn it just really depends on how stable the material is without that dangerous compound bc without that compound it would inherently change the material so it might not have the same properties as what made it useful in the first place! Plus, for a unicorn to really dive in and tear something apart at a finite molecular level would require better technology than we’re at here in 1913 and a better understanding of science.

In the future, unicorn doctors would def be able to isolate malignant pathogens within the body, bad cells, etc. to perform non-intrusive procedures on patients but it would take years upon years of practice, a lot of magical power, and quite a bit of cash.

I could, however, totally see con artists selling off ‘non-toxic true lead white’ claiming it to be unicorn purified XD

[roast-ifs]

Do hellhounds shed and do basilisks molt?

Yep and yep! Harpies and cockatrice basilisks molt their feathers too.

[roast-ifs]

Did hairdryer invented yet? Sorry, im just imagining hellhound mc getting hairdryer and turns into extra fluffy lmao... (also, let just say its exist at that time, how would ro react seeing hellhound mc looking like that lol)

Handheld hairdryers don’t look to be a thing until the 1920s but hair dryers did exist! They were just stationary and were a whole seating arrangement attached to a gas stove. So more similar to what we see in salons.

this is kind of the gist of what it would look like. Though perms were created around this time too so hey lots of inventions for modern hair care :p

But also, if the train is going, could stand out the back or stick your head out the window too.

ANYWAY let me finish reading the ask before replying lol.

If the ROs saw a hellhound all fluffed out the general consensus is amusement.

Fatima laughs loudly and muses at how cute the hellhound is all fluffy and soft ;a;

Nico tries not to laugh, they really do!! But they have some brushes to help deal with static if you like to use them.

Isla is just quietly amused the way they are and Danny is trying not to laugh but the fact that they’re crying from the effort is obvious enough ;P