Brontoforumus Archive
Activity Boards => Assorted Creations => Topic started by: Disposable Ninja on January 04, 2012, 11:15:23 PM
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In this thread I'll be posting things from this bigger thing I've been planning out for... years, really. I'm going to keep posting these things until I get out of the planning stage and actually start making it.
Here's a map I've been, and am still, developing:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/Oroboros_World.jpg)
You'll notice that many of those countries have the names of Greek Gods on them. That's because each of those countries reflect the qualities of those gods through their cultures and identities. They're not part of the world, though; that's all flavor text to set the tone.
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Alright, lets get nitpicky. Whats the globe deal? Is that half the world? A single continent? Is it centered around the poles? Is the planet earth sided or much smaller? The landmass has a nice organic shape, but, if combined with other land masses may look geographically wrong due to it's circular nature (Compared to say, a map of mars with water http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef0148c6df5d29970c-800wi (http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef0148c6df5d29970c-800wi) ). I really suggest taking something like a normal map of the earth, making it transparent in the background and working from there. It will help you appreciate scale and mass distribution.
I'm of course being very anal about this, but I've made lots of maps (often with a lot of mistakes I later had to correct). I also, as a project, put RPG maps on 3d planets to see how goofy they look when stretched out. If you wanna take a look, thats over here. http://kayin.pyoko.org/gameglobes/3d/ (http://kayin.pyoko.org/gameglobes/3d/)
Or you can ignore all this. A lot of people do and very few people will call you out for these sorts of things. But I like having some attention to detail and each map iteration I do of a world, I try and work in more of them.
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A single continent?
Just the one super continent. It ties into the name... fourth dimensionally.
The planet of Oroboros is covered in ancient ruins from a mysterious, highly advanced civilization(s) that date back at least hundreds of thousands of years. Immediate examples of this would include Medosia Island, which is a massive ancient artificial island, and Diadus Tower, which is the world's magnetic north pole. Anyway, to have such ruins, you would assume that the planet would be several hundred million years old; enough to have cultivated such a civilization and then lose it, somehow.
However, as you can clearly see: the planet is still in its Pangaea stage. It's had little to no continental drift. It is still, relatively speaking, a "new" planet.
As such, the world of Oroboros begins where it ended. Or something like that.
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Well that's actually somewhat clever. Have a polite little clap.
Carly's polite clap (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgUU1VTIEw#)
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I haven't seen your "bigger thing" thread. What's this going to be used for? Are the green X's level zones in a platform game? Is this for an RPG? If so, is it digital or paper?
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The Aristocracy of Lyturia
Lyturia is the oldest of Oroboros' world powers, with many thousands of years of history under its belt. The ancient heroine, Lytaea, who had saved the world from some vague, poorly explained evil and/or maybe it was a disaster, established the country as a beacon for the many and diverse people of the scattered world to gather and survive under. In addition, she established an aristocracy to protect and maintain her legacy: a race of clones of herself known as the Lyteids.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/lyturian_aristocrat.jpg)
Here's a hastily done sketch of one.
The Lyteids rule from, and are mass created in, the ancient artificial Island of Medosia. They are born in cultivation tubes using Lytaea's DNA, where they are artificially aged into adulthood while knowledge is fed directly into their minds via a process known as Imprinting. When they're physically ready, they're immediately released into the Lyturian Legion, wherein their place in society is determined after ten years of service.
Due to the nature of the unusual organism used to keep the vegetative body of Lytaea functionally alive and her genetic information viable after thousands of years, Lyteids possess a few physiological quirks, most notable of which is their green-tinted skin and blue blood. They don't physically age, and remain youthful their entire lives -- which isn't very long, because they only live about forty years, give or take. Furthermore they cannot sexually reproduce, they possess incredible strength and endurance, are immune to all disease and never need to eat food. They're still basically human, though. More or less.
Since Lyteids are all female and all look the same all of the time, cannot bear children and were never children themselves, have incredibly short lifespans, never need sustenance, sequester themselves almost entirely to a single island, and are the self-proclaimed protectors of humanity, there have been... problems between them and the lower castes from time to time. But they still try their best.
-NOTES-
The Lyteids are loosely based off of the Greek myths of the Amazons, the Nymphs and the Spartoi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartoi). The name itself is derived from the words Lytaea Eidos, or Image of Lytaea. Lytaea is from the Greek word Lyta, which means to dissolve bindings or to let loose. Lyturia doesn't mean anything, I just liked the way it sounded, and sort of retroactively pulled words from it.
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I haven't seen your "bigger thing" thread. What's this going to be used for? Are the green X's level zones in a platform game? Is this for an RPG? If so, is it digital or paper?
Bigger thing will come later. I've been making doodles (http://brontoforum.us/index.php?topic=19.620) for this thing (http://brontoforum.us/index.php?topic=19.msg204556#msg204556), though, for a while (http://brontoforum.us/index.php?topic=19.msg168387#msg168387). For right now it's just a couple of story ideas set in a shared universe, but I have big dreams for it. I would totally love for this to get turned into a pen and paper or a digital RPG.
And the X's on the map are just places of interest.
Also: if you'll notice, Alana has a lighter hair color than the generic Lyteid I drew. This is because Alana is what Lyteids refer to as a Saltborn, and was basically born with a weak body. She has several prosthetic organs, and even with all of that, her life span is projected to be only half that what most Lyteids posses. A scant twenty years, in other words.
She's already eight.
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I also, as a project, put RPG maps on 3d planets to see how goofy they look when stretched out. If you wanna take a look, thats over here. http://kayin.pyoko.org/gameglobes/3d/ (http://kayin.pyoko.org/gameglobes/3d/)
To be fair, Kayin, most of those worlds are actually toroids (Donut shaped). You can tell because of the way map wraparound works.
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Baia Energy and Technology
In the world of Oroboros, there exists a substance of near-infinite mutability and complexity: Baia, an organism altogether unique from any of other kingdom of life. Within a single drop you can find more genetic diversity than in a rain forest; within hours, one individual strain can produce thousands of new strains. Through proper conditioning, it is theoretically possible to create breeds of Baia than can defy the limitations of Time, Space and even Death itself.
All of Oroboros' civilizations, past and present, depend on Baia, primarily as an inexhaustible source of energy. Ancient technologies, hundreds of thousands of years old, can be found still fully functional because they were powered by Baia energy -- and almost all of the world's current industry is built on top of that ancient technology.
Biodes and Hybrids
Biodes are mass cultures of Baia organisms that form self-contained ecosystems that require no outside influence or sustenance, relying entirely on its own genetic diversity to survive. Each individual strain of Baia within a Biode feeds off of the waste of other Baia strains, forming a self-sustaining cycle of enrichment.
Biodes also have a tendency to breed inside other organisms, creating Biode-Organic Hybrids. Hybrids typically require little to no outside sustenance, varying according to the needs of the Biode and Host. An example of such a Hybrid are the Lyteids. Of course, there's a thin line dividing symbiosis and parasitism:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/cordycepzombie.jpg)
Cordyceps. You don't want them.
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Baia is based on a number of things. Primarily, Mako/Lifestream and Materia from FF7. The interpretation of Materia I always got was that they were living, non-sentient things that would reproduce asexually. Of course, obvious differences: Baia isn't made up of dead people, it's perpetual energy, and it'll never go away.
Biodes are based off of two things: Portuguese Man o' Wars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Man_o%27_War), and Plato's Ouroboros (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros#Greece). Biode-Organic Hybrids are basically a way of explaining how massive creatures can propagate on Oroboros without impediment.
Baia is derived from Bios, the Greek word for Life. Biode means life-like.
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The Monad Symbol
One of the big themes in Oroboros is the blurry definition between Man and God. As such, the Monad is going to be pretty consistently referenced; not just in name, like with the Omonari city. The actual symbol is going to pop up more than a few times. For example, Oroboros has two moons (http://brontoforum.us/index.php?topic=6232.msg216314#msg216314), and when they align, practically daily, they look like a Monad. Furthermore, Lyteids have pinpoint pupils:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/monadeye.jpg)
As such, Lyteids have Monads for eyes. Hell, the entire reason I spell Oroboros without a 'U' anywhere in it so that I can do this:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/monadtitle.jpg)
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The Immortal Emperor of Beles
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/odragmos.jpg)
Emperor Odragmos. He's supposed to look a lot more imposing.
Emperor Odragmos has ruled the Belesian Empire since its inception 2,000 years ago from his Basileia located within the active caldera of Mt. Achronops. His longevity is maintained through rigorous cybernetic prosthesis, which has expanded his own mind throughout an information network that runs across and beyond the city-state of Beles. Odragmos is, by all definition, a living super computer. To his people, he is God.
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I originally came up with Odragmos as an immortal nazi who had discovered the Lance of Longinus. He's... evolved a bit, since then.
His name means "Great Grasp(ing)".
Achronops means something like "Face Untouched By Time" (A-without, chronos-time, ops-face)
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Quick Color Sketch of Odragmos' Basileia
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/basileia.jpg)
Kind of crap. Should be noted I'm spending less than a couple of hours on these and am posting them as I draw them. Just to give a general idea of what things look like.
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The Cult of Omonar
Devised in 912 A.L. by a Saltborn Lyteid who was utterly terrified of her own mortality, the philosophy of Omonar dictates that immortality is only obtainable by the common man through the complete destruction of sense of self and by continuously melding minds with other individuals. This is accomplished by regular use of Imprint technology, recording brain activity and transferring those recordings directly into the minds of others, and vice versa.
For the next few centuries, the Omonari Cultists were... tolerated at worst. They were found to be incredibly useful soldiers during the century-long Lyturia-Kur War due to their impeccable coordination. Though conservative Lyteid culture believed becoming Omonari was shameful and weak-willed.
By 1245 A.L., attitudes toward the Omonar had entirely soured. Omonari at that time had difficulty keeping track of individual vessels; normal people were often intimately greeted by complete strangers, and secrets both personal and federal became impossible to keep. The Omonar were eventually driven out of central Lyturia.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/omonar_male.jpg)
An Omonari Male synchronizing his thoughts and memories with the greater Omonari neural network.
Up until 2739 A.L., the Omonar had only used physical connections and hubs in order to synchronize. Once they discovered how to synchronize wirelessly, the Omonar underwent a severe evolution -- they ceased describing themselves as a collective hive mind and began thinking of themselves as a single, thinking entity.
In 2747 A.L., the Omonar declared war on Lyturia and the Belesian Territories. Things like individuality, creativity and uniqueness had become like drugs to the Omonar, and they fought tooth and nail to keep that high going. For a short time, it even seemed like they were going to bring down Lyturia. However, three years into the war, the Omonar civilization collapsed in on itself. Or, more precisely, Omonar suffered a massive nervous breakdown.
In forcing countless people to become Omonar, it found itself unable to quell the hatred those people felt for it. Omonari vessels began killing themselves and each other in the streets and in the battlefields. They were once again forced into isolation.
Over the next 750 years, the Omonar reorganized itself. It devised a means of keeping conflicting personalities, memories, thoughts and creeds from conflicting by breeding a complex hierarchy of vessels with specialized jobs and tasks. In 3500 A.L., it established the city of Monad and opened itself up to the rest of Oroboros. It's new stated goal is to foster creativity and uniqueness throughout the world, engender goodwill and to merely entice people to become part of it -- and never to force them.
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Omonar is derived from Homos Onar, literally 'Same Dream'.
I came up with the Omonar as I tried to come up with a form of immortality that could exist in a cyberpunk universe. The Omonar loosely correlate with Hades and the Ancient Greek Underworld.
You'll notice I used a lot of dates. I organized a timeline yesterday (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/oroboros%20timeline.txt).
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The Ethonians
The Ethonians are a catch-all group of people who live in Lyturia but aren't Lyteids. That's... about all I've got. Most Ethonians are of diverse heritage. Here's a drawing of one:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/bali_face_colorsketch_003.jpg)
Her name is Bali. She's a major character in the story I'm writing.
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Ethone is derived from the Greek word "Ethos (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethos)".
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Do they all have hairstyles as truly outrageous as hers?
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Fun Fact: I actually was using/stealing Ross Campbell's Jem redesigns (http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/12/29/jem-fashion/) as inspiration.
Since Oroboros is kind of like this freaky sci-fi world I figured I might as well go all out on the fashion. Also: Smart Fabric. It's really more of a liquid than an actual cloth. It's how you get that impossibly form-fitting and snug look.
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I've been working on my big dumb thing. Don't think I haven't. I'm on the second draft of my outline for the first story, in fact. Also, this:
TTAGTAGGKAGGAGGGKGGGKTGGKGGGKKGGKKKKTGGGKAGG
(The Baia Code)
I've been concocting a super secret code language based off of human DNA in order to give the technology of Oroboros its own unique little flavor and to hide secret messages for people who like to analyze things and hunt for clues and make up theories. (I'm using K instead of C for various reasons).
The code is... kind of simple, I suppose? Each letter is represented by a combination of four characters, G, K, A and T, allocated into four placements. Each character has a specific numeric value (0, 1, 2 and 4 respectively), as does each placement (1,2, 4 and 8). The characters are then multiplied by their placements and then all four products are added together. The sum is then translated into the correlating letter. Here's the equation for an example:
(1x4)+(2x0)+(4x0)+(8x0) = 04 = TGGG = D
There's an order to the code that goes from the smallest valued placement to the largest, so even though technically both TGGG and GGKG would have the same value of 4, TGGG is the one I would use.
The subject line translates to [spoiler]kazz is a douche[/spoiler]
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i was trying to write "blow me" but i couldn't figure out how to make an O
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Oh, God. That letter gave me so much trouble. The best equation I could get for that letter was:
(1x1)+(2x1)+(4x1)+(8x1) = 15 = O = KKKK
Yup. Four K's.
Anyway, for Blow Me, you'd want:
AGGGTTGGKKKKKKKAKTKGKAGG
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Oroboros Alphabet
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/Oroboros%20Script.jpg)
For when I need to put words on things.
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For a more exotic this-isn't-English-written-in-cipher feel, consider using a single glyph for things we use multiple letters for in English, like "sh" or "th" or "ch".
You can do it for consonant clusters that don't end in H, too.
Alternately/in addition: different glyphs for sounds, rather than letters. "U" in English makes an "uh" sound sometimes and an "ooh" sound other times, and that we use the same letter for it is kind of weird. "C" is completely superfluous.
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... eh, fair enough. I was thinking I would actually make it something attentive folks might be able to decrypt on their own, but I might as well go the full 9 on this.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/Oroboros%20Script_v2.jpg)
The script is mostly derived in form from the Greek Alphabet with a Lyteid flare thrown in for good measure (a perk of being the first group to rebuild society). As such, I gave most of the glyphs a yonic touch.
And by that I mean I made them look like vaginas. Check it.
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The mostly completed Oroboros glyph list:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/oroboros_belesian.jpg)
Still need to redesign the squiggly ones. And then redesign all of them for the Lyturian version. And then again for the Omonari version.
I'm not entirely sure why I gave every glyph a name but now I've decided that robots are named after the glyphs. There's a robot named Septos, and a robot named Thesda, and so on.
New, larger map:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/Oroboros_World_v2.jpg)
which for some reason looks crazy-ass bright in Firefox. Still a work in progress, this map.
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Is that a river there off to the south, or an oddly stretchy ocean bay? At a global scale, rivers are nearly invisible.
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... I'm not entirely sure. Probably some sort of ancient, man-made channel? That's the length of the continental U.S.? Honestly, everything south of Oppalas is so lousy with ancient technology that it kind of mutated the population.
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I would believe having a channel that's as wide as Florida, but it probably needs something else going on. Sunken cities maybe? lots of little artificial islands? You could probably make that body of water a believable feudal kingdom that's only been spared subjugation because of either ancient technology or the continued impracticality of preparing or maintaining a garrison for the islands (which might just be 40 person platforms).
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Well, whatever the fuck it is, I gave it a name:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/oroboros_ophaeansea.JPG)
The Ophaean Sea. Derived from Ophis, the Greek word for Serpent. So there you go. And yeah, it's definitely big enough to house tiny islands with tiny cities.
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The Biology of the Kurs
The most prominent race of Biode-Human Hybrids, and an excellent example of what being a Biode-Human Hybrid means, the Kurs have what I like to refer to as "fun biology". Kurs, like all Biode-Human Hybrids, are unique to regular old human in the sense that Kurs can not only inherit the acquired traits of their parents, they can also have multiple fathers -- in a sense. This is because Kurs are not hybrids in the sense that they are half-human, or anything like that. Rather, Kurs have entire colonies of Baia interwoven throughout their bodies.
So, while although the initial conception is no different than with unaltered humans, the parental colonies of Baia will emulate parent's own physiques. These emulations can include anything from trained skills, memories, scars, injuries, temperaments, and more. Furthermore, when a pregnant Kur has sex with another male, the male's Baia -- and thus his traits -- will be passed on to the child.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/three-eyed-kur%20color.jpg)
A female Kur with three bioluminescent eyes.
This had a profound effect on early Kur culture: females were encouraged to have sex with prominent males, and prominent males were encouraged to have sex with... everything. This lead to a quickly homogenized people; the most obvious mass trait being the familiar Kur physique -- most Kurs stand between 7 and 9 feet tall and at the peak of physical strength and endurance. Sexual dimorphism is at a minimum.
Furthermore are their eyes: Kurs possess three bioluminescent eyes. They use their eyes to see great distances, examine minute details nearby, and even see through certain materials and objects by focusing the light their eyes produce into a powerful stream; once the light hits an object it will reflect back towards them.
It's worth noting that the third eye, located in the middle of the forehead, is a sub-dermal parietal eye. As such, its use is limited. It acts as a periphery to the other two eyes, helping the Kur create an image in their brain of what they see when they use their radar-laser vision.
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Up until recently I'd been having trouble with the Kurs, as I just didn't find them as interesting as the Lyteids, Omonar and other races. Then I came up with the concept of "Fun Biology". The idea about inheriting acquired traits came from a TVTropes page about the subject (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LamarckWasRight?from=Main.InheritanceOfAcquiredTraits), the idea about multiple fathers came from this Cracked article (http://www.cracked.com/article_20180_the-6-craziest-beliefs-entire-cultures-have-held-about-sex_p2.html), and the stuff about the eyes came from me thinking about why Superman has heat beam laser eyes and x-ray vision.
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Also, too keep track of what's going on in my story:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13204397/character_faction_map_V2_small.jpg)
A tiny, blurred up version of the chart detailing character and faction relations. It's tiny and blurred because for some reason I care about spoiling a story I've spent years concocting. But, anyway, just to give an idea of the size and scope of the story.