I might try to get my group (5e and P1) to just meet in the middle for a P2 Game when we're done with our respective campaigns…

The little experience I had with it was quite something!

Damn shame, but I can definitely understand. The need for constant creative input and the mental gymnastics wear the two of us out after one session, and we are both seasoned DMs. Makes the game awesome, but tiring!

Been playing 5e and Pathfinder, two separate groups there. Homebrew 5e campaign, and RotRL, an official Paizo adventure.

Also playing Ironsworn, a solo/co-op grimdark game. Been playing with the DM of my 5e group, it's fantastic.

Sounds like a piece of work, this guy… Might as well enjoy the ride in the meantime I suppose!

And thanks! Definitely was going for a high mythology feel for the creation. And history always seems to be quite accidental in our world, so why not superimpose our fantasy conceits upon it?

Indarra - Industrial Revolution Low Fantasy

The Maiden, first of the darkness, set out to achieve her works, though none were around to witness, to praise. She lit the Great Forge, the Sun, and went to work forging a powerful blade. Assembling floating specks of matter from the darkness, the Maiden created Indarra, the First Blade. As she quenched the gleaming metal in the void, the slag from the blade took form and the world was created as she pulled Indarra free.

Great elemental beasts of fire, earth, and air were born to the molten orb, thrashing about the surface in a frenzy, dazed by their sudden creation. Intrigued by her accidental creation, the Maiden took her blade and cut into the void, drawing its ichor, and the liquid poured forth onto the world becoming water. The last elemental beast was born, and its balancing influence calmed the skys, contained the earth, and extinguished the flame.

There’s a bit more going on after this, another sword created, etc. But that felt long enough for a comment. Came up with a bit of new stuff while fleshing this out for typing, thanks for the post! Also quite liked your story, the creation of Mechanus in particular. Kelaster gives me Loki/coyote trickster vibes, but not to be scorned by mortals.

AvengersPantheon: Civil War, I like it! Could make for a baller Capcom-esque fighting game. But I like the vibe here, though a question. Was Change being born the impetus for these other gods to come about? Like, Change peeling out of the cosmos ripped up some “divine magic gunk” and these other beings were born? Or is that not quite right?

That MIB parallel makes me think of a religious secret society, keeping the secrets of the surface from the regular pukafolk, and keeping the surface from interacting too much with their underground. Probably more heavily leaning toward repressing interest in going to the surface via fear and such.

I’ll definitely check out the link!

And hey, Ich sprache ein bisschen Deutch, so it’s all good. Ich habe im hochschule Deutch gelernt, fur vier jahre! The gendering is a bit strange to me, but I got use to it, sort of…

I enjoyed the write-up, but I see what you mean about the lack of cultural depth (put most assuredly intended for the deep folk). Also liked what you said about the other comment in terms of cultural motivation. But how they need to survive can play directly into those motivations.

Perhaps people are starting to delve too deeply for minerals and ores, and are encountering these folks in even greater numbers? They see the firearms they possess and are starting to pry into their smything. The priests are nervous it could cause conflict if the don’t acquiesce, but would spell ruin if they did.

How they react to such triggers could certainly help broaden their cultural leanings.

Makes more sense with some context, very “In Soviet Russia…” style joke, right up my alley! Besides, as a white guy in the US, I suppose I’m no arbiter of what is and isn’t PC anyway.

An interesting perspective for worldbuilding though, could think more on that for my cultures that have pretty set gender norms.

I don’t delve much into post apocalypse settings, but a good write up nonetheless. Might cut that last part out about gender utilization though, as it seems vaguely unnecessary for the topic and a bit reductionist. That socioeconomic sphere has a lot of historical and religious factors that don’t fit what you’re posting, at least in my opinion.

The rest is certainly a solid framework of thought, thanks for posting!

The closest thing to this topic in my setting is the remnants of an empire that was killed off by a necromantic ritual, killing everyone within any built settlement (the necromancer “poisoned” the stones of the empire, so anyone living in a city built with masonry was affected).

The rutlral populations left now have to contend with roving hordes of the undead, limiting their ability to band together and rebuild. A religious movement (as you mentioned) also stalled the progress of redevelopment. They are now being overtaken by an industrial republic from across the ocean, and though put up quite the fight in pockets, are unable to stall the republic’s progress.

My thoughts exactly! I imagine birds would have some sort of hands free tech for Bluetooth and such as well, which would help in that. Could be as simple as them getting a “traffic” citation for not having one on, like not wearing a seat belt. Also good for directions, sort of a Google maps audio alerts for where to turn and such.

The data and location privacy is an interesting implication indeed!

I think the best method would be a system of air traffic control, flying animals required to wear some sort of gps/radar system so the control towers can ping their location and alert them to what air space they are in.

This would be more for professional flight transit/transport, but could be scaled down to a private industry level given the need in certain cities, sort of like a neighborhood watch app, but for safe flight paths.

You’ve put some real work in here, mad props!

The ultimate plot you mentioned near the end is really compelling, would be a great read/view (from previous posts, I understand you’d like an animation made from the material: I’d binge the hell out of it!). The Trophies cells are an interesting concept, are they still maintaining a certain level of lifestyle? Or are they becoming feral?

Also, concerning the civil war/revolution, this video (YouTube link) is an excellent watch for getting down to this brass tacks. Everything Hello Future Me does is pretty excellent, some great long-term Worldbuilding video essays.

Very cool write up, thanks for sharing!

Some serious gray area here with the Unitist terrorism, and how brutal that the same people that made peaceful coexistence possible were also the self made arbiters of their own government’s fate.

The idea of Catsbane is quite devious, but feels like a really natural progression of their protein research and the need for such measures. I imagine (as it’s in the zeitgeist) Dandelionpaw having some sort of “I am become Death” moment a la Oppenheimer.

Question about the revolt: other than these high profile assassinations, what did this civil war look like? What did the felids & co deal with on the streets? What, other than the deaths of many leaders, caused the government to finally capitulate/fall?

Not so much a legal code as a series of trade agreements and stipulations for said commerce.

The Cartric Republic, formerly the Holy Realms of the Cledic State, require a series of conditions to be met in order to truly benefit from their economic model and global trade connections. While certain quotas and other mundane numeric goalposts must be reached, the widest in scope and most heavily criticized requirement is the banning of magic in the nation that wishes to trade.

The HRCS was a colonial theocracy, spreading the gospel of the true creator and laying low those that worshipped heathen entities, all to save the souls of humanity from the temptations of darkness (I feel like I’ve heard this before…). The use of earthly magics was a tell-tale sign of said worship, and the magic frequently attracted or birthed shadowy corruptions that would periodically plague the land.

The HRCS was eventually transformed into a republic, but the resentment of magic was still deeply ingrained in the culture and government. The regions of the world they hadn’t taken over outright would often capitulate for the lucrative technology that came from these anti-magic zealots, and often adopted many facets of Cartric/Cledic culture.

Exceptions have certainly been made, such as for the viceroyalties of Varhoste, as their deep mineral deposits are a great resource for the industrial Cartref, but the Varhoster mining infrastructure relies on stone weaving, an ancient magic practice. The deeply religious practice of stone weaving has since been restricted, requiring a license to use (for industrial and military use only), causing some discontent.

Wow, you’ve got a lot going on over at Kanka, I’m gonna be diving in deep. Very cool stuff you’ve been posting, look forward to reading more!

I see. Damn high entry barriers just to have a little ease! Always cool to see some mined magic sources, one of my main magic sources is mines as well! Also, again with the politics involved in this world, so well enmeshed with the basic principles of the land.

Concerning the precognitive: is this consider magic, or something else entirely? Only makes sense they would be in charge of a government org dedicated to stamping out (unlicensed) magic use.

I had never thought of that, I’ll have to give it a shot after work, I’ll post my findings. Clever prompt generator for sure!

I especially like that you incorporated the brewery/net factory into the fantasy concept anyhow.

A question, as I have some similar areas in my world: after the DOL was started in Orchalannon, how were their rules applied to the magic using populace? While it is fairly easy (in a way) to govern the upper classes, were the common people harder to shut down? Or was it really only nobles that used magic in the first place?

Not fully understood, but for sure nearly fully exploited, seems about right as far as a rare resource goes! Are these solely reserved for military/combat applications, or can it be used for certain utility magics as well?

And there I go projecting my colonial themes and tragedies from my world to yours. Anytime I hear an island with rare resources and it’s inhabitants being politicked all over, I immediately think some kind of oppressed natives. Reminds me of empires of our world (colonial/imperial expansion by any other name…) snatching atolls and small islands to gain rights to the ocean surrounding it, as opposed to something like Hawaii or such.