CCC - Drama round - thru 5/11 TODAY

[Hydroeccentricity]

Is there a time limit on this?

[Matrix]

Do you mean real time or CCCP time?

[Hydroeccentricity]

I mean every other round had a set number of days in which to submit ideas before voting. This round has been going for a week, and yet no deadline has been given. Do we just go until everyone's bored?

EDIT: Gack! Zompist edited the title to include a deadline just before I wrote this reply. Never mind me.

[CaesarVincens]

Check the post subject line.


5/11

[Lyhoko Leaci]

I mean every other round had a set number of days in which to submit ideas before voting. This round has been going for a week, and yet no deadline has been given. Do we just go until everyone's bored?

EDIT: Gack! Zompist edited the title to include a deadline just before I wrote this reply. Never mind me.

I believe the deadline was there since the thread was started...

[KathTheDragon]

I mean every other round had a set number of days in which to submit ideas before voting. This round has been going for a week, and yet no deadline has been given. Do we just go until everyone's bored?

EDIT: Gack! Zompist edited the title to include a deadline just before I wrote this reply. Never mind me.

I believe the deadline was there since the thread was started...

It was.

[Clearsand]

I'll talk about my culture, Ngun, elsewhere but I wanted to submit my dramatic event before the deadline. I present the Fa Plant.

When the Ngun Batti left Nggwoo and arrived at their new home (L5) they discovered many new plants and animals. But there was one plant they had never seen anything like. It was a vine that grew on the ground and in trees. It grew light brown beans on its stem under the leaves all year round. Inside these beans was a yellow spice. Normally Batti do not eat plants, being strictly carnivorous, but in this land they were willing to try anything hat wasn't poisonous. Besides, the Nggwoo frequently added spices to their meat to make the flavor more interesting. However, this spice was different. It was highly addictive.

Fa

The Ngun, when they discovered the plant, simply called the plants, the beans, the dust, and the Batti who consumed it, Fa. Fa meant "happy" in their proto-nggwoo dirived language. The Ngun had previously drank no alcohol and drugs were used strictly for medicinal purposes. They had no resistance to the power of Fa.
There was more, however, to this spice than simply getting high. The drug had a steroids like effect on the Batti. In a matter of weeks, with daily usage, it caused dramatic muscle growth. In a matter of months, it would actually start to increase the overall size of the addict. At first the Batti were delighted. Not only did Fa make them happy, it made them strong too. But they soon realized that their was a downside. With a year of heavy usage, the Fa could make a three foot tall Batti into an eight foot tall muscleman with a twenty foot wingspan capable of easily tackling a small golem. As you can imagine, despite increased musculature, the Batti soon lost their ability to fly. In fact, after gaining several feet, a Batti would soon have trouble breathing. You could even die from asphyxiation as you rolled like a beached whale if your size increased too much. Their only way to decrease their size was to stop taking the drug altogether. Therefore the Batti had to sustain a dangerous balance too much and not enough to avoid crushing themselves.
Ngun society naturally tended to favor those who could successfully take the drug. Their enourmous strength made any Fa Batti a formidable force. The Fa takers that did not die quickly became nobility among the Ngun. Their size allowed them to tackle dangerous natives and large animals that the Batti had previously lived in fear of. When the Ngun discovered that they were living on the same continent as the Nggwoo they traded Fa with them; introducing the Nggwoo to this foreign pleasure.
Fa has a similar effect on the other sentient species of CCCP, besides golems of course. Humans can grow to a height of twenty feet or so before losing their ability to walk and dying. Due to their biology, amphimorphs grow slower but the effect is more permanent. Fa is more dangerous for sexies because it causes their already enlarged sex characteristics to become ridiculously huge quickly. They can suffer from back pain, leg pain, slowness, and even obscured vision. More water-bound species can grow to a much larer size without ill effects due to the water supporting their weight. The strength of larger sentient species that takes Fa can easily rival that of the average golem.

[Mornche Geddick]

Magical Long-Distance Transport

To their own embarrassment, the Č'ira̤̤ have made some of the world's biggest breakthroughs in magical tech. This time it is in transport.

For several thousand years the Č'ira̤̤ have had a tradition of the study of magic, They never really liked it, but magic has been indispensible in their wars with the mad golems. Without it they would have been overrun. Their magic is based on carving stones and enchanting them to make such items as Magic Nullification Fields, Spell Disruptors (or Invertors), Golem Detectors, Golem Stunners and Navigators (magical ship's compasses). They also have a wide range of enchantments for use in medicine, such as Obstetricators (to turn the foetus, or ease labour), or Disinfestors. The last was developed because caged humans and munkees, unable to groom themselves, are often afflicted by parasites.

Although classically the Č'ira̤̤ use stone as the material for a permanent enchantment, they have experimented with less durable substances such as leather. It was this that led to Breakthrough Number One.

Seven-League Boots (also available: Seven-League Gloves)

The Lions of ɫis̓ṳba (a battlemage regiment) got the idea from enchanting catapult balls so that they would have a greater range. Why not give a person (human, munkee, or dragon) the ability to leap farther? Obviously, a heavy stone would not do for this, because the soldier would have to carry the thing. What was wanted was something portable, but durable, like a pair of leather boots.

They succeeded better than they had expected. The Seven-League Boots are the first teleport method developed on CCC World. They are also available in glove form, for munkees.

Use

When you have laced them on and stood up, you start taking a step (or reach out to brachiate). Your destination comes into focus, becoming sharper. As your foot or hand makes contact, there is a sensation like a very fast whoosh, and then you are in the new location. To stop traveling, take off the boots.

Despite the name, the actual distance traveled per step varies a bit from one and a half to twenty-one miles, depending on the skill of the mage who crafted them. Curiously, it takes more skill to make one-and a half SLBs than ten-mile SLBs.

Disadvantages

Except for a few very expensive and advanced models, there is no controlling the distance taken per step. To explore the area in between steps, you have to take the boots off.

They can be dangerous for an untrained user, or in rough terrain. You should not try to run in them, or you may end up running into the sea and not being able to get back, because they don't work if your feet or hands can't touch a solid surface.

(There is at least one case, of a munkee who got back to land by grabbing a whale - or possibly a shark.)

They cannot be used by anyone weighing more than fourteen stone, so they won't work for the obese, or rugby forwards or body builders. This is because the amount of magic needed to teleport increases exponentially with the mass being moved. This also means that Seven-League Boots cannot be used for goods transport. That had to wait for Breakthrough Number Two.

[Mornche Geddick]

Magical Transport Part Two : Flying Carts

These were discovered by accident. Some magic students out for a lark enchanted their gʷizbo-drawn two-wheeler and ended up flying for about three miles. They lost one of their wheels in a pine tree and finished on top of the Borez Guildhall, with their gʷizbo straddling the chimney pots. Luckily for them, no-one was hurt. Even their animal was rescued in one piece. The Guildhall roof needed extensive repairs though, including replacement of three rafters. The students got a heavy fine, and their two-wheeler was a complete write-off. Nevertheless, Č'ira̤̤ traders and regiments were quick to see the use of their new magic, because unlike Seven-League Boots, it could be used to transport heavy loads.

The rate of increase in the amount of magic needed to fly a cart is something much closer to a linear curve. The flying carts can go ten times as fast as a gʷizbo-drawn cart could do on the ground.

(That's with the best enchantments. The average is more like three to four times as fast - still not to be sneezed at.)

To drive a flying cart, you do not need to be a mage yourself. You just need an enchanted cart - oh. And a gʷizbo or pony of the right breed. There is quite a high demand for breeds with high magic, even though they are expensive, and some have developed the ability to fly for short distances without being harnessed, so keeping them is not easy.

Flying Ships

The same principle has been applied to the ships. Magical stones conferring the power of flight can be built into a ship's instruments (as compasses and magical defences already are). The main difference is that the spell has to be operated by a ship's mage - in the case of the larger ships, two mages or even three together. The great danger here is that the spell can't be used in stormy weather, or the ship is likely to turn upside down.

Wider Implications of Magical Transport

It is clear that these magical technologies are likely to revolutionise society on CCC World, just as the invention of the railways did for Earth. For a start they will give the Č'ira̤̤ and the Apʰɯron a temporary edge against Lulweon and the Slavers. Moreover, they will spread to other societies, such as Jwa, Raepʰɤn, Nespek, Zwera, the Torcs, who will adapt it to their own use, or use their own magical methods to get the same result. Less happily, it may provide a path for invaders, or for diseases like Cerebromorbus irrumpans to spread.

If there was a big temporary increase in the amount of magic available, the restrictions described above would not apply for the duration. People would fly long distances on their magic gʷizbos and ponies. Seven League Boots could be used to run on water. Ships would be able to sail all the way around the world without touching the water, like giant Laputas.

[KathTheDragon]

Seven League Boots could be used to run on water.

I thought you said this was not possible.

you may end up running into the sea and not being able to get back, because they don't work if your feet or hands can't touch a solid surface.

[Mornche Geddick]

Only if magic temporarily becomes more powerful. Then you would be able to add more powers, besides carrying more mass faster and farther. But if the magical status quo remains, yes, you would sink.

[Hydroeccentricity]

The Great Wobble

Fando, Dragolm Acolyte

"At what frequency does the world oscillate? It's a trick question. Only the gods know for sure, turning around the perpendicular axes of reality. But the cycles of nature continue at regular periods, the same this year as in our grandparents' time. Most of the time.

"One day, a Tuesday to be precise, the world stopped spinning. Not for the whole day, mind you. Just for a second. For just one second the sun didn't move across the sky. Some people claim they could feel it, like a small weight was pressing on their bodies for an instant, and then was lifted. I think they're lying. There was nothing to feel. It would have been days before we noticed all the clocks were off by one second. That is, if it hadn't been for the water.

"Everything is spinning. Everything is turning. We know that because everything moves and yet everything repeats. It's obvious. You only have to watch our family's rabbit warren each spring when the newborns come out to see that. Or look carefully at your child's wings and see the unmistakable mark of your grandmother. If the world is turning, then we are turning, and if we are turning, then the world is turning. Most of the time.

"My teacher once told me that most people take cycles for granted. He's dead now; his home was right on the beach. It's a pity, because that man loved to be right, and this may be the first time I've known the old coot to be right about anything. Every year the fresh young meat grows in the forest, and the snows melt off the canopies, and someone will wobble out into the fresh air without measuring their steps. Just walking as if it's nothing at all that another year has come. That's why it stopped.

"I always either walk in a straight line or a circle segment, and always space my steps evenly. Father always said I was a little too religious. He said it was all stories and make-believe. Can you imagine anyone being so blind? Can you imagine someone seeing flowers bloom in the same place on the same day of every year and not understanding? I suppose I should be grateful for his scepticism. His desire to put some distance between himself and the brothers at the monastery where I studied is probably why we lived so far up the hill.

"From the hill you could see the whole town. There was a shipyard on the western side, and a small guard tower on the east. They called it “The Talon.” My uncle could have named it. Soldiers are always coming up with names like that. I guess they needed to give it a really arrogant name so that it would leave a lasting impression when the sea tore it down. If anyone survives to remember it. Now the town is empty. A few people went to the forest to find food. A few live with us on the hill. Father tries hard to provide for them, but it wasn't easy for us even when we had just two mouths to feed. He would never do it if he knew I could see him, but even he prays now. It reminds me that it was his idea, back when mother was alive to keep him straight, to send me to study scripture in the first place. Everything repeats.

"About a week after the world stopped spinning a ship moored just off shore. A messenger from down the coast climbed out of a dinghy and made his way up the hill. I'll never forget his yellow eyes and cloudy second eyelid, a sure sign that he had been without fresh water for some time. He asked us how many were still alive and if we had any food. A few people were shocked to learn that other places had been affected, too. Idiots. Do they think the world can stop spinning in only one place? Somewhere a thousand miles from this hill there are people beating their claws against their heads wondering why the sea wiped away their town as it did mine. The gods twist from place to place at the same wavelengths that carry them from time to time.

"At night we sit around the small fire in the middle of our house and just sit. Sometimes we'll have a little to eat. Other times we just sit. Inevitably someone will speak up, and one at a time everyone will talk about what happened to us. One old woman who was halfway up the hill saw the water rush into the town. It went far out, farther than the lowest low tide, and then came crashing pitilessly back into town, moving through the houses just as easily as the streets. She says she can't get it out of her mind, even when her eyes are open. Every night she asks us if there is anything more horrifying, and everyone shakes their heads. I pretend that I did not see the water because I was asleep, but that's a lie. I just don't want them to lose what little hope they have. The truth is, I do know something that would horrify them more, at least until they're ready.

"Everything repeats."

...

When CCP's rotation ceased for one second in the summer of 3592, the people, animals, plants, and buildings that stopped with it did not feel any change. They, along with the rest of the planet, held still for a moment and then resumed at their previous speed. But one part of the planet did feel the change. The oceans stopped spinning along with everything else, but found themselves no longer stretched by the centrifugal force of the planet's rotation. The rush of water away from the equatorial bulge was barely noticeable at the time, but it set off a series of tsunamis that devastated the coast lines of both hemispheres. Within a few hours everything was back to normal, except nearly every coastal settlement on the planet had been devastated.

[Dē Graut Bʉr]

The Earthquake Golems
Because of increased magic, a rock somewhere below Dgülorch suddenly became a golem. This golem was trapped between dead rocks several kilometers below the surface, so every attempt it made to move caused an earthquake. However, it didn't take particularly long for this golem to realise it couldn't move at all, so it stopped its attempts to do so.

This could have been the end of a short period with many earthquakes, but unfortunately for the nightpeople above it the golem discovered that it could "eat". So the Earthquake Golem started eating. For each rock that it ate, it grew bigger, and at the same time, an earthquake struck the lands above. As the golem grew bigger, it started eating more, so the earthquakes became both more frequent and more destructive. But then it turned out that the golem couldn't grow infinitely big, the magic that kept it alive seemed to have limits.

The golem died and the magic spread to surrounding rocks, which became the next generation earthquake golems. These golems ate, grew, caused earthquakes, died, and passed their magic on to the surrounding rocks, after the same story was repeated yet another time. The golems spread across all of Dgülorch and perhaps even further, and so did the destruction they caused.

It frequently happened that the tunnels and underground houses of the local Zörachok collapsed, and slowly they were forced to leave their underground homes to start a new life aboveground. This process started in the area where the earthquakes began, and after a few centuries all of the old underground settlements had been abandoned, and new aboveground towns had been built, usually close to the old towns.

In the meantime, the magic that kept the earthquake golems alive slowly faded so that earthquakes became less frequent and eventually disappeared completely. However, the Zörachok were now used to living in their new settlements and did not return to their old underground ones.

[Mornche Geddick]

Magic Becomes Temporarily More Powerful

I thought I'd have a go at developing this idea.

Magic Hot-Spots.png (188.44 KiB) Viewed 3166 times

Figure: Magic-enhanced sites are marked in red: magic-depleted in black.

What is the ultimate source of magic? Some say it is the Sun. Why not? After all, the Sun is the source of everything else.

It is true, that different areas of the planet have greater or less ambient magic. Living things, according to one theory, do not possess magic intrinsically, but make use of it as they find it in the environment, just as they do oxygen. Better spell-casters are simply those who can use magic more efficiently. It is well known that certain locations (the Forbidden Pyramids in the Guop desert, for example) seem to favour magic; mediocre warlocks could become powerful mages there. It seems to have something to do with the planet's crust, or the mantle, because these hot spots persist for thousands of years, if not millions. Similarly some locations are “dead” to magic. Spells are cast there with great difficulty, or not at all. Golems can go to these places, but they can't create new golems. Orcs can't use their phasing power there.

The global amount of magic varies over thousands of years in an irregular cycle, rather like the ice ages, except that the time scales are shorter. The age of the creation of the Pyramids was one such Age of Magic. And, of course, it's bound to recur.

Effects of the Age of Magic

1. One obvious effect is that spells become more powerful, and or long lasting. Shields are stronger, magical missiles fly faster or further, greater masses can be carried or teleported. Magical fields cover a greater area.
2. Some spells develop unpredicted effects. One benign version is the new type of Seven League Boots which can use surface tension to walk on water, or up walls. However other effects can be more dangerous; an ordinary fireball can take a chaotic path, last twenty times as long and fission into twenty other fireball which are as likely to hit friend as foe.
3. The main effect on golems is an increased lifespan, but it isn't the only one. The golem of S'amro (who has lived for thousands of years) developed an ability to get up and walk about, something he can normally do only when a mobility spell is cast on him. In rare, but not very uncommon cases (something like one in a hundred) a golem starts thinking about spirituality and the gods in very similar ways to sapients: sometimes even having visions.
4. Inanimate objects come to life. The classical example is the Earthquake Golems of Zörachok, but it has been known to happen to other landscape features. A dangerous whirlpool and waterspout developed in the Nespek-Salmonea Sea, making it nearly impassible to navigation.
5. Plants and animals develop magical abilities. Some breeds of domestic animal can fly. A certain species of tree is shunned by the Shadow Monsters and its wood can be used to ward them off.

Other ideas? Post them!