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synodiporia_ooc2019-01-09 03:45 pm
powersthatbe) wrote in synodiporia_ooc2019-01-09 03:45 pm
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BROCKENGARD: Walkabout Info
A Talking Animal Low Fantasy Walkabout
January 17-February 26
The abundance of fishing near the coast affords the mountain stronghold of Brockengard the rare opportunity of being a mixed community of animals: one where carnivores and herbivores live closeby to each other. But when a vessel full of strangers is shipwrecked upon the beach, the newcomers need to learn the unusual ways of the mountain before someone does something they might regret.
WORLD INFO
Then the mice. Then other rodents. Other small mammals. Every season, more and more animals were born that were… special. Smart. Able to use tools (such subtle differences in their paws!) and acquire languages. To in fact, construct a sort of meadows common between them. Even as an ancient civilization died out around them, these clever animals were constructing a new one of their own.
Hundreds of seasons have passed since then. Most small and medium mammals have been uplifted. Other species… some are a blend of intelligent and feral. Others, entirely sub-sapient. It is those species that the carnivorous war-bands hunt, while the herbivorous communities strive together to gather food together and set aside stores for the winter. It is taboo to eat what can think.
(That doesn’t mean that in desperate circumstances it hasn’t happened.)
The civilization of the vanished animals is gone, but there are things to be scavenged from its ruins. Homes to be made in their towering architecture. And sometimes, just sometimes, things to be learned from what they left behind.
ANIMAL SOCIETY
Small rodents usually live year-round in organized multi-species communities, often centered on some shared purpose. Monastic living is a fairly standard example, although mating and children are very much encouraged. Larger rodents and herbivores, pescatarians, and some omnivorous animals (dependent on how much self-control they are viewed to have) will usually winter in these communities.
Tube mammalsMustelids and medium-sized carnivores form traveling warbands, in which they hunt the feral ungulates that are their greatest food source. The light, whippy mustelids do most of the work bringing down the ungulates using equipment that is by and large maneuver gear, while the medium-sized carnivores supply them with this equipment and their weaponry, as well as organizing the attacks. Badgers, especially, are known as great smiths. Scavengers clean up after these attacks. Fish are sub-sapient and greatly enjoyed by carnivores and omnivores.The first generation of small birds has been sapient for a few seasons, although most of their parents and larger cousins are sub-sapient still. Most large carnivores such as wolves and bears are sub-sapient--and are greatly feared, as the taboo against eating intelligent animals matters not to them. It is a very rare and lonely soul that can think.
As for those vanished animals…
LOCATIONS
Brockengard was founded by a clan of badgers: hence its name. Unlike most communal dwelling places, which are largely populated by herbivores in the winters and rodents year round, Brockengard has both herbivores and carnivores living there. This is made possible by the bountiful fishing in the nearby ocean, enough to keep those carnivores fed through even the toughest winters.
Even so, carnivores and herbivores tend to live in different sections of the mountain tunnels, despite sharing some communal spaces. There is a far greater trust between carnivores and herbivores in Brockengard, but it is not a perfect one.
Notable sub-communities within Brockengard include the Badger Lords (who have status from being descended from the founders) and the Hare Garrison (who scout the land for hostiles, acting as Rangers.)
The Ruins - “There were Giants on the Earth in those days.”
Hundreds and hundreds of seasons ago, the world was ruled by an advanced civilization of vanished animals of extraordinary size. They built cities and towns to scale . They created artifacts whose construction has been lost to time. And just as the rest of the animals began to catch up with them in terms of sapience, language, and tool use… those original civilized animals began to die out. Disease, many say. And some wonder that it might be no coincidence that as one died the other was born.
The ruins of their once great civilization can be found everywhere these days. The area around Brockengard is no exception. On either side of the mountains, the ruins of towns can be found. Too, the ungulates that provide much of the targets of carnivore warbands can be found here as well as in the woods.
(As far as technology levels in the ruins goes, think Renaissance levels versus the medieval that most animal civilizations operate under.)
The Docks - Where the shoreline ruins on either side of Brockengard meet the sea, there lies the docks. Wooden platforms above the water, it is here that the boats--both the gargantuan ships left to rot by the vanished animals, the smaller coracles that animals have adapted for their use, and their own, even smaller, animal-made vessels--are moored.
The Shore - The sandy beach where the water meets land. A good place to gather salt-water to be turned into salt. Also good for gathering seaweed for food, driftwood for fires, and crabs and shellfish for the carnivores!
Fallow Fields, Forest and Scrubland - The wilderness around Brockengard, where supplies for winter are gathered. It is said that if you travel a month due east of Brockengard, you will eventually reach Gransalis Abbey.
INFILTRATOR/INVESTIGATOR ROLES
Specifically, everyone is a intelligent and wild (or at least undomesticated) mammal, with the upper limit in size being probably that of a badger or wolverine. Rodents, moles, squirrels, lapines, mustelids, small canids, and small felines are all intelligent in this setting. Most birds, fish, hooved animals, large canids, large felines, and bears are NOT intelligent. All fish, hooved animals, and bears are sub-sapient. Bird and large canids of this generation are only just now gaining sapience, with their parents remaining sub-sapient. (So are large felines but there aren't really any in the setting.)
Investigators are turned into animals, just as Infiltrators are. If Investigators want to be different animals than the ones listed above (large canids, birds, bears, etc) they can be with mod permission, but the players should be warned that the other animals will be Very Surprised by their intelligence and it will probably Spark Discussions. It’s not recommended that Investigators become ungulates.
No one gets to stay a human, sorry.
SKILLS
Meadow Cuisine -- The art of cooking elaborate meals using ingredients that can be foraged by intelligent animals. Think Redwall feasts.
Talking Animal Form -- Retain your animal form as an alternate form after the Jaunt. You’re a normal-sized animal, with the ability to talk the common Animal language (which the Translation Effect covers) and paws that have evolved to more easily use tools.
Adaptive Low Technology -- The ability to repurpose artifacts from a lost advanced civilization into things usable for your own technology level.
Adaptive Living -- The ability to repurpose dwelling places of larger-scale creatures than you into someplace you can live.
Animal Scholar -- Knowledge of early intelligent animal history and culture.
Herbalism -- The knowledge and ability to make herbs and plants into medicine.
Meadows Brewing -- The art of brewing high-quality alcohol using ingredients that can be foraged by intelligent animals. Again, think Redwall feasts.
Secret Stone Sense -- You possess a sixth sense for finding secret passages and other hidden places. Lets you ask a mod if there are any in any given environment.
Idiotic Word Games -- You have a talent for riddles and puzzles. Ask a mod for extra clues when you encounter one.
Plus countless other mundane medieval skills!
CALENDAR
Instead of the solstices and equinoxes marking the start of those seasons, they are instead considered their midpoints.
78th day of the Winter of the Overflowing Nutstores - Travelers wash up on the the Shore.
26th day of the Spring of the [Name TBD] - Return to Liminal Space
PLAYER RESOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down
http://www.warriorcats.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warriors_%28novel_series%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Frisby_and_the_Rats_of_NIMH
http://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/pugmire/
QUESTIONS
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Re: QUESTIONS
1) Do the animals in this setting wear clothes? I think the animals in Redwall did.
2) Do these animals read and write? Did the previous ones? (Are there books to be found in the ruins)
Re: QUESTIONS
2. Yes and yes and yes. There's not universal literacy among animals and even among those who can, there's various degrees of competency, but there are definitely animals who read and write and scholarly animals who keep records. The alphabet they use is modified from the one the vanished animals used, but it's different enough that one probably wants to bring a book scavenged from the ruins to a scholar to make sure that it's interpreted correctly.
The quality of the books to be found in the ruins depends a lot on how they have been stored. Books in chests or cabinets have likely fared better than books that were just left out in houses that have since had part of their roofs fall in or panes of glass broken in the ensuing seasons since their occupants died. Or even had their pages nibbled on by insects.
(Assume any books to be found in the ruins to be the better part of a century old, if not older.)