Quick post; am moving this journal, in conjunction with the first milestone in the Grand Project to nightwithday.wordpress.com
At the start of this month I had no job.
I still have no job (but this may be rectified soon).
I do however find that I have written a total of 8345 words on the subject of Broken, but RPG setting/rules project.
Is this a good thing?
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Well there would have been Broken post(s), but the stuff I was going to write has ballooned in my head, so I'm having to break things up a bit. Tomorrow. When I've had some sleep. Posted via LiveJournal.app.
Well, I was going to press on with the Broken posts today, but I'm afraid this is all you're getting. Firstly because I have my new toy to play with, and secondly because it took me most of the day to get the damn thing to come up in iTunes. Windows found it easily enough, but you'd have thought Apple would have a clue about not releasing half-broken products. Still, rant aside, I am pleasantly surprised at how well my frankly massive thumbs can type here. Still, the Ethoun tomorrow, plus, after the amount of driving I've done on the weekend, I think a post on the technology and transport in Broken is due. Posted via LiveJournal.app.
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The Anam
The Anam were the First Children, offspring of the Ul'An, the Tribe of Life. Of the three first peoples, the Ul'An were the only ones able to procreate; the Anam were the result, lesser beings, but much like their parents. They, in turn, are the model on which the rest of humanity is formed.
The Ul'An were small in stature and varied in form, compared at least to the burning angels of the Ul'Ehlt, or the stone titans of the Ul'Keht. As the Children of Life, they could re-shape their form, evolving and adapting in minutes, and infusing Life into the world around. It was this act, as well as the creation of their children that led, eventually, to the madness of the Ul'Ehlt and the end of the Dawntime. When the First Sun was broken, they sacrificed themselves to preserve their children, becoming the first of the Great Trees, the fortress-sanctuarys of the Anam. Shielding the young race, they cast themselves into the River of Trees, a primordial River flowing direct from An, the River of Life itself. The River of Trees is itself called Anam, the name taken by those who found sanctuary there as the People of Trees.
Even to today, the Anam survive - Life runs strong through them, granting indefinite lifespans and the ability to reshape their own forms much like those of their ultimate ancestors. Preservation of their race is their only goal, the focus of their society is to be able to circumvent or resist any force that threatens them. Not every Sun has seen their presence, however; the River of Trees is not easy to navigate, and ages can pass before the Great Trees find root within the Void. Anam tribes have been lost or changed by this; never finding their way back into the physical world, or into stranger Rivers.
As a people, the Anam are preoccupied with the business of survival. Their knowledge and technology are extremely advanced, generally crafting weapons and tools of living wood, empowered with a variety of arcane powers. Each Great Tree is the repository for a tribe's Ancestoral River, the spirits of the ancestors held within bark and sap. The over millenia and countless generations of Anam makes them a potent source of power.
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Quick one, am tired tonight.
Broken Language
Language is a pattern, one which shapes the universe. In Broken it is not a concept created by mortals; it is a natural law of sorts. The Ancient tongue names everything within the Void, and there is power in these names, which can be harnessed by those who know how to use them. This is not a simple matter of knowledge - these words cannot be pronounced by human tongues, or even comprehended by mortal minds. This language is eternal, and it provides the prototype for reality - creatures and concepts from one Sun will appear in others; even complete destruction cannot wipe them from the lexicon of the universe. Some things will reoccur in every age for this reason.
The Ethoun are the masters of the art of Naming, using the ancient tongue to invoke and command the Rivers within the Void; they are the last words of the Ul'Keht, sheathed in stone made animate. In addition, they possess triple mouths, allowing them greater intricacy of speech than man, who can only make a pale effort at this Art. Written and inscribed forms of the language lie more within the reach of humanity, however; wards and signs made potent by their link to the underlying reality.
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Broken will be resumed tomorrow... too wacked by lack of sleep for today. I blame no-work-stress and my stomach not getting on with the vietnamese meal.
OTOH, casual meeting set up for next week with a hedge fund CTO/Scala Evangelist discussing the possible applications of Scala in his new role, and where I (having been learning the thing since I lost my job) might fit in there. Could be interesting. Swotting up in progress.
EDIT: Aww screw it. Time for more world building.
Patterns
Power follows complexity. Patterns, knots in the flow of the Rivers, are at the heart of any complex entity or object in Broken, the tangle of energies forming a physical manifestation within the Void (although, it should be noted, independant of the Void; the Void merely causes their initial manifestation). Generally, if two things are alike, then they will have a similar Pattern - a kind of metaphysical DNA, although more clear-cut. A wolf and a dog have very similar Patterns, for example. It's both a metaphysical signature and a literal circuit; it is the flow of power through the Pattern that creates the unique nature of a thing. So a human being is a human being, and has a Pattern very similar to other human beings. Especially if they're from the same family or the same tribe.
In living creatures, Patterns are inherited from their ancestors, but also mould over time under the influence of the environment. All the members of the same tribe will have very similar Patterns, and, in time, the resonance of the tribe-members' Patterns will create a new flow; a unique River formed from the excess power bleeding through the Patterns of the tribesmen, touched and marked by the nature of its people. This is what is called an Ancesteral River; not as powerful, or as easily manipulated as the more primal Rivers, but still a true River, albeit usually bound to the survival of its people. In time, the spirits of the tribes ancestors will reside here; particuarly powerful Patterns remaining as spirits within the River's Otherworld.
And this is another facet of Patterns; they can change, especially under the will of a sapient creature. It is possible to mould and develop one's Pattern, even to the extent of becoming what is, metaphysically speaking, a new species. A creature thus advanced is still physically similar to its base stock (although this is subject to change), but is unique. A tribesman who has evolved his very spirit and soul may still be human, and could still have children, for example, but from the universe's point of view, Speaks-with-Spirits is now Speaks-with-Spirits; a unique entity, not just a human being. Magic worked on him via his tribe's Ancestral River might fail, powers that target 'humans' may also fail.
As well as the Patterns of places and creatures, they may be artificially formed. Any working of energy into a complex form creates a Pattern; they can even be bound into a literal pattern; carved in stone or wood, inlaid with precious metals. This is how much of the 'technology' works in Broken; power channeled into physical objects, just as we would flow electricity down a wire.
There's no Technology vs. Magic debate. The tehnology is magic; Magic is the technology.
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I was going to write something about today, but I'm afraid my writing skills aren't the best, so I'll leave the profound prose to those who can treat it better. I'll just say that living in London gets kinda reassuring sometimes... these people will never be forgotten; we have the stones and the walls to remember them for us. From the shrapnel pock-marks on the walls of the V&A to the countless memorials and cenotaphs, I hope November the 11th will remain a day of rememberence for that oft-repeated thousande years.
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(I think) It has been brought to my attention by my lovely wife ( ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) wanderesque ) that, coinciding with (inter)National Novel Writing Month is such a thing as National Blog Writing Month. Now, I can reel out the gibberish with the best of them, but NaNoWriMo requires a bit more effort than I can convince myself to expend. So I've decided to play with this blog-writing malarky instead. Since I have such a regular post history after all. (eyes 'last post: 150 weeks ago') Anyway, I'm going to tie this in with another ongoing, albeit incredibly-geeky project I have, which is Broken, at least, in name (although, I guess this is also accurate as to its current state). As far as this LJ goes, this is an exercise in world-building; there is also an RPG attached, but this is a) very mechanical and so of niche importance, and b) hard to write about in post-by-post format, so it's currently up on a private wiki for now. It should be mentioned that blog-based game design can work - see fairiesrpg.blogspot.com/ for a very good example. But the writer in question is very very good. And I'm not. So anyway, over the next month I'm going to try to weave together a world, a universe even; one which obeys very different laws to ours (because it's fun). Plus it is, quite literally, Broken. Yes, I know it's the 2nd. And no, I haven't started yet.
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exhausted