Browsed by
Tag: worldbuilding

Gods of the Tremára

Gods of the Tremára

Comments 0 Comment

While I continue to work on a map for the first sections of The Curse of Steel, I’ve come across another bit of world-building that seems very fruitful. To wit, now that I’ve developed something of a language for Kráva’s people to speak, I’m also in a position to develop mythology for them.

I had already come up with a few theonyms, but over this past weekend, I decided to work out a complete pantheon, with names, epithets, and backgrounds for a dozen or so deities. Not only am I very happy with the result, but it’s given me a number of new ideas for the story itself.

In particular, while I’ve been doing this, I’ve also been reading the new edition of the Scion roleplaying game, currently published by Onyx Path Publishing. Scion is basically an urban fantasy of the old World of Darkness stripe, but it’s chock-full of interesting ideas as to how to handle characters of divine descent in an otherwise mundane world. Clear inspirations from things like the Percy Jackson stories, American Gods, or The Wicked + The Divine. I’m honestly kind of tempted to shift my plot-development paradigm from FATE to Scion, which seems better suited for the kind of story I’m hoping to tell. Still thinking about that.

In the meantime, though, here’s a short set of first-draft notes on the gods of the Tremára people. You’ll probably detect that this is Standard Indo-European Pantheon, variant #3-b . . . you won’t have any trouble recognizing bits and pieces of inspiration here. Just as I’m applying Indo-European-like principles to my constructed languages, the same applies to my constructed mythologies.

The Tívai Atesdan

The primary deities of the Tremára are called the Tívai Atesdan, the “Twelve Gods.” The Tremára cosmology also includes a horde of minor gods, spirits of nature or of place, and divine heroes; all these lesser beings have their local cults, but the Twelve are revered by all.

Kádir Tívar, Sky-Father, Lord of the Bright Heavens

Patriarch of the Tívai Atesdan, Kádir Tívar is the divine chieftain and King. His is the oath that binds all under the law, and his is the iron rule of hospitality that keeps the peace among humans. In the time before humanity arose, he overthrew the creatures of Chaos who came before him. Now he maintains the cosmic order with stern ferocity, knowing that any respite might lead to his own overthrow.

For the most part, Kádir Tívar has been faithful to his marriage with his divine sister, the Queen of the Earth. On rare occasions, he has been known to descend to minor goddesses or mortal women in order to father great heroes. This is never a matter of lustful desire on his part, but rather a concession to the dictates of Fate – and his wife, as the arbiter of Fate, is often in full concurrence.

Athenná the All-Mother, Queen of the Earth

Athenná is the sister and wife of Kádir Tívar, the eternal foundation of all life and all existence. She is the mistress and arbiter of Fate, which stands above all law and justice. In ancient times, she was one of the children of primordial Chaos, and she retains more of that character than most of her siblings. She rarely appears to humans in their own form, but she will sometimes manifest as a force of nature, in majesty and dread.

Athenná has never been known to wander from her marriage to Kádir Tívar. That is not to say that she doesn’t create or choose heroes to carry out her will, only that their origins tend to be more indirect and mysterious.

Múrkavrio, the Great Bull

The embodiment of masculine power and procreative force, Múrkavrio gives men the power to strive and be victorious over all the challenges of life. He also manifests the power and prosperity that come from herds of domesticated beasts, especially the cattle whose form he often takes.

Múrkavrio’s insatiable desire has made him the undisputed champion among the gods for fathering children upon other divine creatures and upon mortal women. Almost every tribe and clan among the Tremára can claim descent from the Great Bull, renewed in every generation. His wife, Tálanna the Golden, seems reconciled to this, although there have been exceptions.

Tálanna the Golden, Lady of the Ripened Grain

Tálanna is the great nurturing power of the earth, the goddess who brings seed to grow and yield sustenance for all the earth’s children. Hers is the power that gives life to the grain, brings offspring to every animal kind, and sustains humanity. She is the patron and protector of women, especially in childbirth and motherhood.

As with her sister Athenná, Tálanna has never been known to consort with minor deities or with mortals so that she can bear heroes. Her champions are chosen or created, and are almost always women, sent forth to protect their mortal sisters against the violence or injustices of the world.

Tario, Lord of Thunder, Champion of the Gods

Tario is the son of Kádir Tívar and Athenná, the warrior and champion of the gods. He strides forth against darkness and chaos, leading the divine beings in battle at the command of his kingly father. His greatest weapon is the lightning, which he calls down from the storm-clouds of war. From warriors he demands unfailing courage, but also wisdom and clear thinking amid battle.

Despite his masculine nature, Tario is not known for ventures away from his wife, the Lady of Horses. Instead, he tends to incarnate among humans from time to time. On each occasion he lives an apparently mortal life, adds to his legend, and then returns to his place among the gods after death. Unfortunately, Tario’s incarnations rarely live an easy life; he seems to be fated to suffer greatly and fight the most difficult battles, no matter which turn of the Wheel he may be on.

Tekuná, Lady of Horses

Daughter of Múrkavrio and Tálanna, the Lady of Horses came to the Chariot People in the earliest times, as a great white mare who bore a thousand offspring and gave humans the power to thrive and journey across the land. Later she taught the people about chariots, and she and her husband Tario taught them to be warriors of strength and courage.

Like her father, Tekuná is well-known for her affairs with mortals, and many heroes can claim descent from her. Her children and their descendants are often seen to have a special way with horses, and they make superb charioteers and riders.

Kaima Gerio, Lord of the Underworld

Originally the first human being, the “divine twin” was elevated to godhood after his death, and assigned to rule over the Underworld. He is grim and silent, but not malicious, and he treats all with the same firm justice. He is also the source of all the wealth that comes from within the earth, the patron of miners, coiners, and jewel-smiths.

Kaima Gerio has never fathered heroes upon mortals, so far as is known. Most often, he will instead select the shade of some great warrior or sage of the past, and grant it reincarnation in the living world to serve as one of his champions. Heroes connected with the Lord of the Dead are often uncanny creatures, knowing things no mortal should know, seeking objectives that no mortal can understand.

Skádna, Mistress of Shadows

Daughter of Kádir Tívar and Athenná, Skádna was (very unwillingly) married to Kaima Gerio when he became the god of the Underworld. She is the goddess of shadows and liminal spaces, who stands between light and darkness, life and death. She is the Comforter who conveys human spirits to the Underworld, and the Advocate who argues for mercy or for vengeance depending on their deeds.

Skádna despises her husband, always remembering that he was not originally of divine birth. She has been known to sneak out and enjoy affairs with other gods or with mortals. Her heroic offspring are more likely to be wise-men or sorcerers than great warriors. Kaima Gerio punishes Skádna when her activities reflect poorly upon his honor, but he never persecutes her mortal lovers, always knowing that they will one day be required to face him for an accounting.

Kórsata, the Lofty One, Lord of the Sacred Flame

Kórsata is a son of Kídar Távar by Kórsia, a minor goddess of the mountains. He is the twin brother to Advenáta. He is the god of fire, whether it be the fire of the hearth, the fire of the forge, or the fire of holy inspiration. He is the healer and protector of humans, the patron deity of smiths, and the god most revered by bards and vaitai. Kórsata’s ways are unfathomable, as he often seems to pursue wisdom beyond mortal ken.

Kórsata is unmarried, having never found a goddess capable of understanding and embracing the depths of his spirit. He has been known to father heroes upon mortal kind, but some of his most well-known champions have been creations: carvings or statues or even poems brought to life by his blessing.

Advenáta the Beautiful, Lady of Love and Passion

Advenáta was also born to Kídar Tívar and Kórsia, twin sister to Kórsata. She is the goddess of beauty in all its forms, and the passion that such beauty inspires in humans. She is the patron of lovers, and is likely to take vengeance when love is denied.

Advenáta has so far refused to accept a husband, preferring her freedom. Indeed, not even her father Kádir Tívar has seen fit to insist on her attachment to any god or mortal, knowing that she must be left free to move as her spirit wills. As might be expected, Advenáta is renowned for the number and variety of her romantic affairs with gods, spirits, and mortals. She has borne several mortal heroes, a surprising number of whom have become great chieftains and kings.

Marapótio, Divine Master of the Seas

The brother of Kádir Tívar and Kaima Gerio, Marapótio was little known to the ancient Chariot People, but he has become more prominent as the Tremára interact with coast-dwelling folk. He is the solitary master of the great waters, the bringer of sea-storms and the king of sea-monsters. Few humans love him, but all fear and revere him, and call upon him when traveling upon the sea.

Marapótio has fathered few heroes among the Tremára, who have dwelt far from the sea for many centuries. The bards suspect that he has been more active among dwellers in the coastlands to the west and south, although those people likely know him by other names.

Kekóna, the Trickster, Mistress of Twists and Turns

Another daughter of Múrkavrio and Tálanna, Kekóna is a trickster-deity, goddess of lies and deception. She is a patron of merchants, thieves, and all those who must travel and cross boundaries. She is also a patron of warriors, but she favors those who use cunning stratagems to win, rather than those who rely upon brute force and courage. Strangely, she is usually portrayed as not resembling the Tremára, instead being light of hair and pale of skin like some people of the cold Northlands.

Despite her freedom of spirit, Kekóna is not known for casual dalliance with other gods or with mortals. Her love affairs are infrequent but very intense. Her gender is somewhat fluid; she has been known to engage with goddesses or women, and even to manifest herself as male if that is more likely to suit a prospective partner. Her rare children tend to be tricksters, wanderers and outcasts, much like their divine parent.

. . . and a Bonus Diagram

So, almost by accident, I tried putting together a little chart to help me visualize the relationships among all these gods. Turned out pretty well, given that it only took an hour or two to assemble. Enjoy:

First Sketch Map: Talmoi Móran

First Sketch Map: Talmoi Móran

Comments 2 comments

Now that I’ve got a solid foundation for my constructed languages for The Curse of Steel, I’ve rewritten about the first 10 kilowords of the novel, and I’m pretty happy with how that much has turned out. Now, though, Kráva and her friends are about to leave their starting point and set out cross-country, and I need to have a good picture of their surroundings. So now it’s time to do some map work.

Over the past couple of evenings I’ve laid out a very rough sketch map of parts of the continent Kráva’s people call Talmoi Móran, or “the Great Lands.” This is roughly equivalent to Europe (or western Middle-Earth), stretching from about 30 to 65 degrees North latitude, and across about sixty degrees of east-west longitude.

Kráva begins her adventure in the region labeled the Tremára Lands, an area roughly the size of France, bounded by the major Black River on the east, the Blue Mountains on the west, and a series of large inland seas (the “Great Lakes”) on the south. The Tremára (“Mighty Folk”) are one branch of the so-called “Chariot People,” this universe’s equivalent of the Indo-Europeans. The Chariot People have been spreading out from their eastern homeland for a few millennia at this point, and most countries around the edges of the Great Plains at the center of the map are inhabited by their offshoots.

I don’t think I’m going to go to great lengths to fill in this map in fine detail, not yet and possibly not ever. All that’s important for now is that I get a general idea of where everything is. I also got a reality check: I used an application called G.Projector to overlay this map on a map of Earth, just to be sure the layout and scale were at all plausible. So far, so good.

I might use this sketch map to work through some of the climate zones, just to be sure I know how that will fall out. But the most likely next step is to focus on the Tremára Lands area, and possibly the coastal regions adjacent to it, which is where about three-quarters of The Curse of Steel will be set. That map, I’ll probably take some time with.

Lexical Breakthroughs

Lexical Breakthroughs

Comments 0 Comment

Who knew that building a constructed language would be so much work?

Okay, well, I knew that, because I’ve been struggling with it off and on for years. As often happens with my creative process, it’s a matter of building a workflow that will reliably produce good results. On many previous attempts, I’ve run aground on one step or another and had to stop and rethink – sometimes for months, while I worked on other projects.

So, the workflow seems to have turned out to be something like this:

  1. I started by selecting the phonemes and basic word structure for words in an ur-language, reminiscent of Proto-Indo-European. I didn’t make any attempt to closely imitate the full glorious mess that is reconstructed PIE, but I built a set of rules that would lead to PIE-like words.
  2. I wrote a Perl script to generate all the legal word roots in the ur-language, including adding some weights to help me get a plausibly uneven distribution in which phonemes were most likely to appear.
  3. I dumped all of the generated roots, with their weights, into an Excel spreadsheet. That’s my master lexicon.
  4. Now, when I need a new word, I start by browsing through the spreadsheet – possibly also looking at the etymology of similar words in real IE languages, so I can pick something plausible but not identical. I pick a root and assign it a meaning. Most of the roots have verbal meanings, then you get nouns, adjectives, and so on by adding inflectional suffixes.
  5. Once I’ve generated one or more new word roots, I hand-copy those into an ur-language lexicon I’m building in a Word document. Each root is the header of a short section, and I spend a few lines laying out the potential verbs, nouns, and other items that are derived from that word.
  6. Then I copy the word form I want to use into another Word document, which is the main lexicon for my complete language. There I apply the sound-change rules I’ve developed, give the resulting word or phrase a quick reality check (is it aesthetically pleasing to me, does it duplicate an existing word, and so on), and then save the result.

As of today, this workflow seems to be polished enough that I’ve been able to sit down and rattle off a few dozen new words, phrases, or names in no more than a couple of hours. (As opposed to struggling for days to be confident in a word or two.)

The results are pleasing, at least to me, and that’s the important part. I think I may be able to call this part of the process finished and get to other story-development tasks. I should now be able to generate new names and vocabulary in the fly. And, when my story gets to the point where my protagonist is meeting people from other cultures, it shouldn’t take me months on end to figure out what they will sound like.

Some examples might illustrate how this is working. Here’s a row from my Excel spreadsheet, recording a word-root that’s been particularly productive:

1@em384Noun“earth, the earth”Likely borrowed from another language1

Here we have the word root, written in an idiosyncratic code I’m using to make sure all the phonemes require only one character each. The numeric value is the root’s weight, on a scale from 1-1000. Then the part of speech, a gloss of the meaning, any notes, and finally a note as to which “batch” the root was created in (so I can track any changes later).

This then goes into my ur-language lexicon, where the entry currently looks like this:

*h1dhem-

  • Thematic verb root “to stand”
  • Thematic noun root “resolute position”
  • Thematic noun root (with neh2– prefix) neh2h1dhem- “battle line” (literally “where one stands”)
  • Athematic noun root (Ø-stem) “the earth”
  • Athematic noun root (edhas­-stem) “human,” literally “child of the earth”
  • Athematic noun root (neh2-stem) “earth goddess”
  • Athematic noun root (r-stem) “earth” (mass noun)

How do I pick roots? I basically follow Tolkien’s method, which was to riffle through his list and find something he considered both aesthetically pleasing and suggestive of the meaning. This root *h1dhem– certainly isn’t the same one that appears in PIE with that meaning; that would have been something like *dheghom instead. In this case, I think I was inspired by a bit of Hebrew – adamah “red earth, ground.”

Anyway, you’ll see one of the final outcomes of that root in the partial lexicon I’ve laid out below. Basically I copy out the word h1dhemneh2 (root plus an affix that indicates a theonym) and apply a series of (well-defined and organized) minor tweaks. The result: athenná “earth goddess.”

So, without further ado, a first lexicon for the gexan Tremárar, the language that will be spoken by Kráva and her friends in The Curse of Steel.

Personal Names

  • akretetha “child of the bear,” from h2kretedhas
  • alikóra “white horse,” from h2eldh “white” + keh3ras “horse”
  • alitha “white one,” from h2eldhas
  • araiadan “kingly man,” from h1rey “to rule, to be kingly” + dh2en man”
  • aregdani “protector of men,” from h1regh “to protect” + dh2eny “men”
  • arevga “red one,” from h1rewghas
  • arevírai “protector of warriors,” from h1regh “to protect” + weh1ray “warriors”
  • axesa “ruler, governor,” from h1ghesas
  • derga “cave lion,” from dherghas “plains lion”
  • dóva “dark one,” from deh3was
  • drúthan “sacred tree,” from dreh3 “having sacred power” + dheh2n “tree”
  • dúvelka “dark wolf,” from deh3w “dark” + welkas “wolf”
  • kólma “unmarred one,” from kh3elmas
  • kráskora “black horse,” from kreh2s “black” + keh3ras “horse”
  • kráva “raven,” from kreh2was
  • kúndan “loyal man,” from kweh3n “to be loyal” + dh2en “man”
  • lóka “one who burns,” from leh3kas
  • múraxesa “great ruler,” from meh3r “great” + h1ghesas “ruler, governor”
  • múrvira “great man,” from meh3r “great” + weh1ras “warrior, man”
  • náran “glorious one,” from neh2ran
  • náretha “child of glory, child of the sun, from neh2redhas
  • pelikórai “lover of horses,” from ph1el “fond of, holding a preference” + keh3ray “horses”
  • resa “the best one, the excellent one,” from resh1as
  • resavíra “excellent warrior,” from resh1 “best, excellent” + weh1ras “warrior, man”
  • resaxesa “excellent ruler,” from resh1 “best, excellent” + h1ghesas “ruler, governor”
  • róvira “royal or noble warrior,” from reh3weh1ras
  • tívetha “child of a god,” from teh1wedhas

Theonyms (Names for Deities)

  • athenná “earth goddess,” from h1dhemneh2
  • gerio “god of death,” from gheryos “death god”
  • kádir tívar “sky-father, god of the bright heavens,” from keh2deh1r teh1war “father of the sky”
  • kávrio “bull god,” from keh2wryos
  • skádna “goddess of shadows,” from skeh2dhneh2 “shadow goddess”
  • tálanna “goddess of grain,” from teh2lmneh2 “land goddess”
  • tario “thunder god,” from th2eryos
  • tekuná “horse goddess,” from tekwneh2

Ethonyms (Names for Peoples)

  • ravathen “by the (sacred) grove,” from rewh2dhen
  • ravatheni “those by the sacred grove,” a tribal name, plural form of ravathen
  • sanadmára “elven folk,” from senh2dh “old, ancient” + meh2ras “host, tribe, folk”
  • sanatha “ancient one, elf,” from senh2dhas “ancient one”
  • tremára “the mighty folk,” from tren “mighty” + meh2ras “host, tribe, folk”
  • trenvíra “mighty man, member of the tremára,” from tren “mighty” + weh1ras “warrior, man”

Place Names

  • alevo kanta “Kanta river,” from h2lewos (kanta is borrowed from a local hydronym)
  • alevo krá “black river,” from h2lewos kreh2s
  • kólami angar “iron hills,” from keh3lmy h2enghr “hills of iron”
  • kórsani konan “blue mountains,” from keh3rsany kh3enn
  • mara násetar “Western Sea,” from merh2 neh2setr “sea of the west”
  • múrtalmoi “the great lands,” from meh3r “great” + teh2lmoy “lands”
  • teimar nár “glorious hill-fort,” from teymar neh2r
  • teimar velkri “hill-fort of the wolves,” from teymar welkri
  • verkanta “over (the river) Kanta”

Miscellaneous

  • gexan tremárar “language of the mighty folk,” from geghh2en “language”
  • tás ravami “I love (or desire) you,” from teh2s rewh2mi

Not bad for a couple of months’ work. Not to mention that the back of my brain has been coming up with all manner of neat ideas for the setting and the story. The trick is to organize your world-building time so it actually contributes to the end result and keeps your creative mind engaged.

Building a Lexicon

Building a Lexicon

Comments 0 Comment

Currently in my constructed-language work for The Curse of Steel, I’m selecting word roots from my script-generated list of all the legal possibilities.

I’m not being particularly systematic here. I started with the roots for several names I had already settled on during early development, and from an earlier word-list that I built before I started getting my computer to help out with all this. (Along the way, I discovered that I had broken some of my own rules about legal word-root formation. Time to make minor tweaks to the word-lists!)

With that finished, I’ve been grabbing words from a variety of sources: color terms, the numerals from one to ten, and so on. I’ve even pulled down my copy of the Silmarillion and started paging through the appendices for ideas – that’s kind of a ready-made list of vocabulary prompts for any naming language! Not that I’m slavishly imitating any one source, but if my final lexicon ends up sounding vaguely Indo-European and vaguely like Sindarin, I suppose I can be accused of stealing from the best.

So far I’ve got about 80 word-roots. The list follows, taken straight from my growing spreadsheet. A couple of notes first.

You’ll notice the word roots incorporate some numerals and special characters. Those are meant to represent some phonemes that would normally be expressed with more than one character. That way, when I pull them over to be processed by another Perl script, I won’t have to fuss too much with parsing those out. If you know anything about PIE phonology, you’ll probably recognize that I’m using a similar set of three “laryngeal” consonants, that will disappear from daughter languages but give rise to a variety of vowel colorations. Other special characters represent aspirated or labialized consonants (e.g., representing the differences among phonemes we might pronounce as g-, gh-, or gw-).

Meanwhile, every word root has a “weight” attached. This is something I built into the script to generate the word roots, to enforce some assumptions about which phonemes are most common.

Ur-Language RootWeightPart of SpeechMeaningNotes
re2n567AdverbParticle for future aspect of verbs
we2489AdverbParticle to indicate negation of verbs
2sper352Adverb“away”
te2n440Conjunction“and”
rey540Noun“chieftain, noble, king”
d2en440Noun“man,” also numeral “ten”
we@420Noun“water”
ke2m392Noun“hand,” also numeral “five”
kest392Noun“head”
@e2n378Noun“tree”
2eng378Noun“iron”Probably borrowed from another language group
%en360Noun“girl, woman”
1kwes313Noun“lake, pond, pool”
me2r@302Noun“fate, doom”
$2er252Noun“home, dwelling”
ke3lm196Noun“hill, knoll, rock”
ye1480Numeral“one”
kens1403Numeral“seven”
tre1s403Numeral“three”
2tes392Numeral“two”
semt1358Numeral“six”
we2rs352Numeral“four”
let3244Numeral“eight”
pen@3189Numeral“nine”
weytN/AVerb“to know, to see (visions)”Not a legal ur-language root, probably borrowed from another language group
1es640Verb“to be” (indicating a state of being)
ken630Verb“to think, to engage in spiritual activity”
ret630Verb“to guard, to protect”
wer630Verb“to die”
ne2r567Verb“to be glorious, to be brilliant”
tren567Verb“to be stiff, to be taut, to be mighty”
mew560Verb“to partition”
re@540Verb“to hit, to strike”
kres504Verb“to mix up, to confuse”
me2r504Verb“to crowd, to form a crowd”
kel489Verb“to be cold, to be chilly”
nek2441Verb“to strip away, to expose”
pret441Verb“to exchange”
terk441Verb“to break”
t2er440Verb“to crash, to smite”
dren2396Verb“to lengthen, to be long”
gre1n388Verb“to sanctify, to make a treaty”
1@em384Verb“to stand”
$er360Verb“to turn”
me3r360Verb“to be large, to be great”
kre2s352Verb“to be black”
ke3350Verb“to bend”
2lew342Verb“to flow (like water)”
kelt342Verb“to hammer, to work with metal”
welk342Verb“to tear”
teym336Verb“to encircle, to finish (a circle)”
de3n315Verb“to give, to receive a gift, to be guest-friends”
dre3315Verb“to have sacred power”
ke3r315Verb“to run”
kre2w308Verb“to make a harsh sound, to croak”
sen2@302Verb“to be old, to be ancient”
2el@293Verb“to be white”
2ewg293Verb“to hear”
te$280Verb“to be wild, to be free”
ske2t274Verb“to hate”
te2lm274Verb“to spread”
#e2n252Verb“to go, to walk”
ke3rs252Verb“to stand tall, to tower”
wer#252Verb“to threaten”
de3w244Verb“to be dark (in color)”
k3el244Verb“to be whole, to be unmarred”
kwe3244Verb“to be loyal”
le3k244Verb“to burn, to set aflame”
we3k244Verb“to speak, to call”
kle2w240Verb“to cut, to slice”
g2els235Verb“to be green”
ske2@235Verb“to darken”
de1#224Verb“to take”
@er#216Verb“to bite”
1rew#201Verb“to be red”
te2$196Verb“to hurt, to harm”
3re$180Verb“to straighten, to direct”
$2ey168Verb“to be blue”
$eyt168Verb“to be white”
de!140Verb“to divide”

I think I’ll probably generate a few dozen more roots, then copy them into a separate spreadsheet where I’ll build actual words. Most of the roots will make perfectly good words without modification, but I’ll also apply some of the word morphology rules I’ve worked out to derive more words. I imagine I’ll have as many as 200-250 words by the time I’m done, enough to form the basis for a decent naming language. Then to build Perl scripts to apply the sound-change rules.

Once that’s done – no doubt with a certain amount of tweaking to suit my aesthetic tastes – I’ll have a system by which I can quickly create and record new words as I write the story. In three different, but clearly related, languages!

Lots of work up front, to save a lot of work and frustration later. That’s what computers are for, right?

Rough Draft for an Ur-Language

Rough Draft for an Ur-Language

Comments 0 Comment

Here are some of the basic notes I’ve put together for my constructed-language work for The Curse of Steel. The idea here is that this is an ur-language, very vaguely reminiscent of Proto-Indo-European, which can act as the mother-tongue for a set of derived languages. Since these aren’t planned to be anything but a set of naming languages, I haven’t worked out a lot of deep grammar or sentence structure – the emphasis here is on word morphology, the rules for the formation of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on.

This is all very rough draft, of course, and I’m deliberately not trying to be very adventurous – none of this is supposed to suggest a highly exotic sound or feel to English-speaking readers. Still, it should give you an idea of what goes into the construction of an artificial language for genre fiction. I may post some of my growing lexica shortly, to provide more examples.

Phonology

The ur-language has the following consonant set:

  Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal
Nasals *m *n    
Stops *p *t *k, *kw  
*b *d *g, *gw
*bh *dh *gh, *gwh
Fricatives   *s   *h1, *h2, *h3
Liquids   *r, *l    
Semivowels *w   *y  

Word roots in the ur-language can be either nouns or verbs. Most adjectives or adverbs are constructed by inflection of an underlying stative verb (that is, a verb form which expresses a state of being). A word root in the ur-language almost invariably has the following phonotactic structure:

  • The root is always composed of at least one consonant in the onset, the vowel *e, and at least one consonant in the coda. No root may begin or end with the vowel.
  • In a consonant cluster, the consonants are always arranged in order of sonority. Consonants appear in three classes by sonority (lower to higher sonority):
    • Obstruents, which include:
      • Plosives (*p, *b, *bh, *t, *d, *dh, *k, *g, *gh, *kw, *gw, or *gwh)
      • Sibilants (*s)
      • Laryngeals (*h1, *h2, or *h3)
    • Labial sonorants (*m or *w)
    • Non-labial sonorants (*n, *r, *l, or *y)
  • A consonant cluster may consist of up to one non-labial sonorant, up to one labial sonorant, and up to one obstruent from each class.
  • In a cluster of obstruents, the sibilant *s may only appear before a plosive, never after. A laryngeal may appear before or after any other obstruent, but not another laryngeal.
  • In the onset (before the vowel), consonants must appear in increasing sonority, while in the coda (after the vowel) they must appear in decreasing sonority. The one exception is that in the coda, a laryngeal may always appear first.
  • Legal word roots normally follow certain phonotactic rules:
    • They may not contain more than one nasal consonant (*m or *n)
    • They may not contain more than one liquid (*l or *r)
    • They may not contain more than one semivowel (*w or *y)
    • They may not contain more than one plain voiced plosive (*b, *d, *g, or *gw)
    • They may not contain more than one laryngeal fricative (*h1, *h2, or *h3)

Word Formation Rules

Verbs

The primary categories for verbs include:

  • Person: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
  • Number: Singular, dual, and plural.
  • Aspect: Perfective, imperfective, and stative.
  • Mood: Indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and optative.
  • Tense: Present and past.

The primary conjugations are for person, number, and aspect. They tend to be very regular, applying inflectional endings to the verb root as follows.

Primary Conjugation

This conjugation is used for the present tense of the indicative mood of imperfective verbs, and for the subjunctive mood of all verbs.

  Singular Dual Plural
1st Person *-mi *-weh3s *-mos
2nd Person *-si *-tes *-te
3rd Person *-ti *-teh2s *-nti

The future tense is indicated with this conjugation, and the particle *reh2n placed just before the verb.

Secondary Conjugation

This conjugation is used for the past tense of the indicative mood of imperfective verbs, for the indicative mood of perfective verbs, and for the optative mood of all verbs.

  Singular Dual Plural
1st Person *-m *-we *-me
2nd Person *-s *-te *-t
3rd Person *-t *-teh2 *-nt

Furthermore, imperfective verbs in the past tense exhibit ablaut, in which the primary vowel of the verb root shifts from *e to *o.

Stative Conjugation

This conjugation is used for stative verbs.

  Singular Dual Plural
1st Person *-h2e *-we *-meh2
2nd Person *-th2e *-h2ey *-eh2
3rd Person *-e *-h2ey *-eh1r

Imperative Mood

This conjugation (applicable only in the second or third person) is used for the imperative mood of all verbs.

  Singular Dual Plural
1st Person N/A N/A N/A
2nd Person *-Ø *-to *-te
3rd Person *-tu *-tew *-ntu

Other Verb Formation Notes

Negation is indicated with the particle *weh2 immediately after the main verb.

Nouns

The primary categories for nouns are:

  • Class: Animate and inanimate.
  • Number: Singular and plural. Although verbs can take the specific dual number, dual nouns are simply considered plural.
  • Case:
    • Absolutive case (the argument of an intransitive verb or the object of a transitive verb)
    • Ergative case (the subject or “agent” of a transitive verb)
    • Dative case (the indirect object of a verb, the recipient or beneficiary of an action)
    • Genitive case (the possessor, composition, or point of reference for another noun)
    • Locative case (expressing the location of another noun or a verb’s action)
    • Ablative case (expressing motion or action away from another noun)
    • Instrumental case (expressing the means of an action)
    • Vocative case (marking the noun being addressed)

Noun class is not marked on the noun, but all nouns are assigned to either the animate or inanimate classes. The assignment is usually intuitive, although there are some exceptions. Examples include non-living but moving objects which might be considered the habitation place of a spirit, or non-living objects which are nevertheless often addressed as if they possess the power of speech.

Case and number markings are as follows:

SingularPlural
  Animate Inanimate Animate Inanimate
Absolutive *-Ø *-s *-eh1 *-eh1
Ergative *-m *-m *-meh1 *-meh1
Dative *-meh2 *-meh2 *-mus *-mus
Genitive *-kh2e *-kh3e *-kh2ey *-kh2ey
Locative *-ey *-ey *-su *-su
Ablative *-os *-os *-yos *-yos
Instrumental *-an *-an *-eh2 *-eh2
Vocative *-Ø *-Ø *-es *-h2

Nouns in the ergative case also exhibit ablaut, in which the primary vowel of the nominal root shifts from *e to *o.

Noun Formation from Verb Roots

Many nouns in the ur-language are formed from verb roots, usually by applying a specific suffix to the root. For example:

  • Animate creature or human that performs X: *X-as
  • Inanimate object or thing that performs X: *X-os
  • Gerund form (“X-ing”): *X-en
  • Infinitive form (“to X”): *X-on
  • The result of X: *X-am or *X-as

Common Prefixes

  • *an- “into”
  • *as- “out, out from”
  • *en- “on, upon”
  • *reh3– “good, noble”
  • *tar– “against”
  • *wer- “over”
A Bit of Conlanging

A Bit of Conlanging

Comments 0 Comment

I’ve set aside plot-work for The Curse of Steel for the moment, so I can once and for all get the constructed-language work for that story knocked out. The idea is that my protagonist is going to encounter not only her own culture but several others as well, most of them somewhat related to her own in linguistic terms. Kind of like an Iron-Age Celt visiting Latin-speaking or Greek-speaking areas; the languages wouldn’t be intelligible to her, but names and some bits of vocabulary would sound hauntingly familiar. I’m also aiming for the reader to feel comfortable with the names they find in the story, which suggests not wandering too far from the Indo-European tree.

The procedure I’m working is to develop a partial constructed language that’s somewhat reminiscent of Proto-Indo-European (PIE), and then to apply a consistent set of sound-change laws and grammatical changes to generate words in two or three daughter languages.

Not at all difficult, especially once I’ve developed some computer tools to automate the process, but it is kind of detail-driven and time-consuming. The biggest potential pitfall is trying to imitate PIE too closely. One thing we do know about the reconstructed PIE language is that it made Classical Greek or Sanskrit look simple in comparison. My constructed languages for this project are going to be a lot less fiddly and complex. They’re just going to be naming languages, for the most part, so I don’t need to have a bunch of linguistic complication, I just need to be able to hint at it in a plausible manner.

So far I’ve developed a tool (a Perl script of about 120 lines) to generate all the “legal” word roots in the ur-language (about 150,000 of them, more than I’ll ever use). I’ve dumped all of those into an Excel spreadsheet which now serves as my master list for future lexicon-building.

I’m currently working on a partial description of the ur-language, with special attention to morphology: just how do you form verbs or nouns from word roots, how do the verbs conjugate, how do the nouns decline, and so on. As soon as that’s more or less finished, I’ll be building another Perl script (or maybe two) to automatically generate verb conjugations or noun declensions as needed.

The last step will involve developing two or three sets of sound-change laws, so I can take completed words in the ur-language and create daughter-language words from them. Another Perl script for that, I think.

Once all this work is done, my constructed-language workflow will get a lot simpler, and hopefully more consistent. Do I need a name or a bit of exotic vocabulary? Build a word in the ur-language, by selecting a legal root from the list and applying the defined morphology rules. Then run that through the sound-change script to generate final lexicon entries. Everything goes into a set of Excel spreadsheets, so I can sort and massage the results as needed. If I ever feel like tweaking the structure a bit, it becomes easy to modify the scripts and re-run everything.

I find when working on world-building, having the technical knowledge necessary to produce plausible detail isn’t the most important thing. That part is relatively easy. The hard part is scoping the task so that you can plan it out from start to finish, and then having the discipline to finish the task and move on. World-building is a neat hobby. If your goal is to actually write stories, you can’t permit yourself to get buried in the world-building. As I’ve learned to my cost.

Status Report (31 May 2019)

Status Report (31 May 2019)

Comments 0 Comment

My main project at present continues to be the development of plot for the novel The Curse of Steel. That’s moving along at a reasonable pace. Off to the side of that task, though, I recently found myself struggling with a different obstacle.

The Curse of Steel is going to be a bit of pseudo-historical fantasy, set in an alternate Iron Age world rather like Tolkien’s Middle-earth or Robert Howard’s Hyborian Era. Part of the project has involved the development of a small set of partial “constructed languages,” mostly for the derivation of names and a few scraps of vocabulary to act as cultural markers.

The process I’ve been using has been to develop an ur-language that somewhat resembles a simplified version of Proto-Indo-European (PIE). I then apply sets of sound-change rules to develop words in my planned collection of daughter languages. The result should be consistent and pleasing to the ear, even if it doesn’t work as a complete conversational language. All of this is fairly routine.

The problem has been that I’ve been doing all of this by hand, and the project has gotten large enough that I can’t keep it all straight in my head. I can’t always remember which word-roots I’ve already used, and the documents I’m using to record them aren’t exactly user-friendly. Meanwhile, whenever I tweak the rules for word formation or sound-changes, I find I’m not applying the tweaks consistently. I’m getting snarled up.

Okay, I realized a while ago, a lot of this would really be better done by a computer. Computers are great at tedious tasks that involve applying procedures consistently across a lot of data. Couldn’t I find a tool that I could use to keep track of my word-roots, record my expanding vocabulary, apply inflectional rules and sound changes, all of that?

So I went looking for software tools that other people had used for language construction. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything I thought would be useful . . . but earlier this week I realized I had all the tools I needed to build my own.

Years ago I was a professional coder. I did most of my work in the C language and a UNIX environment, but I also taught myself a language called Perl, which is ideal for processing text strings and applying well-defined procedures to them. Couldn’t I build Perl scripts to generate all the possible word roots, apply inflectional rules to them, develop daughter-language vocabulary?

Okay, it’s probably been almost twenty years since I wrote a lot of Perl, but I still have my books, and coding is a little like riding a bicycle. You never entirely forget the skill once you have it. Meanwhile, there exists a nice free implementation of Perl for the Windows environment (Strawberry Perl). So over the last few days, I’ve been starting to build a Perl library that I can use to manage the language construction task – at least well enough to get past the immediate obstacle.

Early results are promising. I’ve just about got a script written and debugged, which will generate all the word roots in my ur-language, according to the PIE-like structure I’ve designed. Once that’s finished and I pull the output, I’ll dump that into an Excel spreadsheet where I can record the meanings I select for different roots. Then I should be able to put together another script that will apply the sound-change rules I’ve designed.

I may show off some of the results of this work over the next few days. Once this side project is done, the conlang process shouldn’t get in the way so badly. If I need a name or a piece of vocabulary, I will be able to generate it quickly, record it, and get right back to writing story.

Not to mention, it’s kind of neat to be writing code again. It’s been a while.

The Curse of Steel: Characters

The Curse of Steel: Characters

Comments 0 Comment

Here are some first-fruits of the work I’ve been doing with the FATE tabletop game, trying to find a new way to discipline my world-building and story-planning work.

The idea was for me to work through character design for the leads of my partial-draft novel The Curse of Steel, and use that process (as the FATE game suggests) to do some of the world-building for the setting. So far the exercise seems to have worked out well. I know a lot more about these characters than I did before, and I have a bunch of fresh ideas about the world they live in.

Kráva the Swift

A tall, athletic young woman, well-muscled, slim of figure, trained as a warrior. Carries a number of small scars, the worst being a set of bear-claw marks on her left shoulder. Tawny brown skin, black hair with violet highlights, cobalt-blue eyes. Usually wears leather combat gear, topped off with a bear-skin cloak, with one or two pieces of jewelry to show off her wealth.

Aspects

  • Headstrong Warrior Woman
  • Wielder of the Lightning Blade
  • Always Have Something to Prove
  • Everyone Deserves a Fair Chance
  • Talk to the Fist

Skills

  • Great (+4): Shoot
  • Good (+3): Athletics, Horses
  • Fair (+2): Fight, Physique, Resources
  • Average (+1): Crafts, Notice, Provoke, Will

Extras & Stunts

  • Tarankláva, the Lightning Blade: This ancient sword, made of what in another world would be called the finest Damascus steel, is the primary reason the setting is called “The Curse of Steel.”
    • To use Tarankláva to its full potential, you must have the aspect Wielder of the Lightning Blade, indicating that the sword has accepted you as its owner (and as the current instrument of its revenge). The sword also costs 1 point of refresh.
    • At all times, the sword grants +2 to Fight while you use it in battle.
    • The sword also has two aspects of its own: See into the Hearts of Men and Slayer of Corrupt Kings. As the possessor of Tarankláva, you can invoke these aspects yourself, but they can also be compelled. The sword will “tell” you about the dishonesty and sins of the people around you, even (or especially) when you would rather not know. The sword will also push you into destroying corrupt people, especially in positions of power, the higher the position the better.
  • Charioteer: +2 to overcome or create-an-advantage actions with Horses if you are driving a chariot.
  • Legendary Archer: When wielding a bow, you may use Shoot to make attacks with it up to four zones away.
  • Swift and Certain of Foot: +2 to overcome or create-an-advantage actions with Athletics if you are running across broken or built-up ground.

Refresh: 2.

Consequences

  • Physical Stress Track: 3 boxes
  • Mental Stress Track: 3 boxes
  • Standard consequence slots

Elements of Backstory

  • As a young woman, Kráva always felt that she had to prove herself to her father and their clan. On one occasion she went out hunting, alone and without backup. She encountered an angry bear, and although she managed to kill the beast, she was badly injured and had to spend weeks recovering. Her father rebuked her, but he also made sure she was given the bear’s pelt to keep.
    Aspect: Always Have Something to Prove
  • Kráva and her father were in Verkanta when Lóka ran away from his master. Degra was put in charge of finding the runaway slave, responsible for tracking him down. Kráva spoke up for Lóka, and delayed events long enough for Kúnadan to intervene.
    Aspect: Everyone Deserves a Fair Chance
  • Kráva and her father were in Verkanta again when Drotháno ruined the foreign trader’s schemes. When the trader tried to run to King Módran for help, Kráva and Drotháno were the ones who cornered him and beat him within an inch of his life, running him out of town.
    Aspect: Talk to the Fist

Drotháno the Silent

A powerfully built young man, tall and heavily muscled. Tawny brown skin, dark brown hair, crystal blue eyes. Always dressed in simple but well-kept clothing, or in well-maintained combat gear. Very quiet, almost never speaks around strangers.

Aspects

  • Loyal Warrior of the Wolf Clan
  • Uncomfortable Around Strangers
  • A Lot Smarter Than I Look
  • Woods-Wise
  • Always Listens to a Tale of Woe

Skills

  • Great (+4): Physique
  • Good (+3): Fight, Stealth
  • Fair (+2): Empathy, Horses, Will
  • Average (+1): Athletics, Crafts, Investigate, Notice

Extras & Stunts

  • Brawler: When fighting a mob of nameless characters, you deal one additional stress on a physical hit.
  • Tough as Nails: Once per session, at the cost of a fate point, you can reduce the severity of a moderate physical consequence to a mild consequence (if the mild consequence slot is free), or erase a mild physical consequence altogether.
  • I Can See Through You: +2 to overcome or defend against lies with Empathy.

Refresh: 3.

Consequences

  • Physical Stress Track: 4 boxes
  • Mental Stress Track: 3 boxes
  • Standard consequence slots

Elements of Backstory

  • A foreign trader from civilized lands came to visit Sudavai territory, and tried to swindle the Wolf-clan out of its gold and silver in exchange for worthless trinkets. Fortunately, the trader paid Drotháno no attention, thinking him simple, and he was able to uncover the plot. He and his father tricked the trader into revealing his intentions, and the man was driven away with a fine and a beating.
    Aspect: A Lot Smarter Than I Look
  • When Kráva went out hunting alone and didn’t come back right away, her father sent out warriors to search for her in the wilderness. Even though he was only a guest, Drotháno was one of the ones who volunteered to help. He tracked her, found her after she fought the bear, bandaged her wounds, and helped her get safely home.
    Aspect: Woods-Wise
  • When Lóka ran away from his master, it was Drotháno who found him naked and injured in a back alley of Verkanta. He helped the older boy hide, cleaned him up, disguised him, and helped him get to Kúnadan’s hall. Lóka has been grateful ever since.
    Aspect: Always Listens to a Tale of Woe

Lóka the Clever

Handsome man of average height and build. His olive-skinned coloring is several shades lighter than usual, betraying his mixed heritage. Has dark brown eyes and black hair. Always wearing fine clothes, often in white or in bright colors, along with the iron torc of a low-ranking vaita. Usually carries a small harp slung in its case on his back.

Aspects

  • Ambitious Scholar and Magician
  • Too Clever for My Own Good
  • I Owe Kúnadan Everything
  • Drotháno is My Blood Brother
  • Reading the Book of Fate

Skills

  • Great (+4): Lore
  • Good (+3): Magic, Rapport
  • Fair (+2): Contacts, Notice, Will
  • Average (+1): Deceive, Empathy, Investigate, Provoke

Extras & Stunts

  • Demagogue: +2 to Rapport when you are speaking in front of a mob or crowd and trying to sway them to act as you wish.
  • Linguist: +2 to Lore when you are reading, writing, speaking, or translating an unusual language.
  • Trained Physician: You can make physical recovery attempts, for yourself or others, with Lore.

Refresh: 3.

Consequences

  • Physical Stress Track: 2 boxes
  • Mental Stress Track: 3 boxes
  • Standard consequence slots

Elements of Backstory

  • Lóka was born the son of a slave in Verkanta, and would normally never have been considered for initiation as a vaita. As a young man, he ran away from home to present himself at the hall of the chief vaita, Kúnadan, hoping to demonstrate his determination to learn. His former master tracked him down there and threatened to kill him, but in front of Kúnadan he challenged the man to a contest of poetry and won. The vaita took him under his wing, trained him, and initiated him.
    Aspect: I Owe Kúnadan Everything
  • Lóka was present in Verkanta when the foreign trader tried to swindle the Wolf-clan. At first, he offered to help the trader in exchange for a cut of the profits. Later, he decided to help the Wolf-clan instead, advising Drotháno and helping him to trick the trader.
    Aspect: Drotháno is My Blood Brother
  • Kúnadan and Lóka were visiting the Lion-clan when Kráva went hunting alone and returned badly injured. Lóka was assigned to provide medicine and healing magic. He was impressed by the young woman’s courage and had a sudden strong foresight of her destiny. He persuaded Kúnadan to arrange for Kráva to be recognized as a warrior-woman of the tribe. Kúnadan began to train Lóka as a seer and prophet.
    Aspect: Reading the Book of Fate

Worldbuilding Notes

The setting for The Curse of Steel is a gritty swords-and-sorcery world, set at an early Iron Age level, reminiscent of pre-Roman Europe, Middle-earth in the Second Age, or the Hyborian Era. The initial set of characters will all be members of a barbarian culture, technically sophisticated but organized along tribal lines, on the fringes of the civilized world.

The Setting’s Big Issues

Corruption in the King’s Hall – The Sudavai tribe has a new king, and he is already showing signs of being a very bad king indeed. He favors his own family and clan at the expense of others, he breaks the law and steps all over people to grab wealth and power, and he’s starting to imitate the hypocritical manners of civilized kingdoms.

A God of Iron and Fire – Far away, several of the civilized kingdoms have come under the sway of a dark and terrible god. This god seeks to conquer and rule the world, eradicating all his ancient enemies and stamping out every vestige of freedom. Although this threat to the Sudavai people isn’t immediate, it’s already influencing events.

Faces & Places

King Módran – The new king of the Sudavai, a relatively young man who fits the tribe’s image of the “good king” (handsome, brave, a good fighter). Has the aspects Gold Sticks to My Fingers and Smooth-Talking Liar.

The Dark God’s Envoy – A mysterious figure who acts as the Dark God’s agent among the Sudavai tribe. At the beginning of the story, no one knows who this is, or even that he or she exists.

Kúnadan – The old chief vaita of the kingdom, the king’s advisor and one of the few men in his hall who hasn’t been corrupted yet.

“The Foreign Trader” – A traveling merchant from civilized countries, who sometimes tries to make a profit by swindling the tribesmen. Carries a very bitter grudge against our heroes. I don’t have a name for this individual yet, and may need to do a bit of constructed-language work to derive one.

Verkanta – The settlement (basically a small fortified town) where King Módran keeps his hall, the largest owned by the Sudavai tribe and the effective capital.

Some Timeline Notes

  • 23 years ago – Lóka is born.
  • 22 years ago – Drotháno is born.
  • 20 years ago – Kráva is born.
  • 7 years ago – Lóka runs away from his master and is taken in by Kúnadan.
  • 4 years ago – Kráva goes hunting alone and is badly injured by a bear.
  • 1 year ago – Drotháno prevents a foreign trader from swindling the Wolf-clan.

Skills

The Drive skill is replaced by a Horses skill, which covers both horseback riding and driving a chariot. All other skills are as in the default list.

There is a separate Magic skill, used by everyone in the setting who might have magical powers.

Magic

Several magical styles may appear in the course of the story, some of them quite flashy. For now, there’s a common “hedge magic” style shared by almost every human culture in one form or another. In the tribal culture where Kráva and her friends live, this low-key style is practiced by the vaitai or “wise ones,” a professional class who provide a variety of services.

Extra: Common Magic

  • Permissions: One aspect indicating that you’ve been trained as a magician.
  • Costs: Skill ranks invested in the Magic skill. This form of magic costs no points of refresh, as it’s largely a matter of flavor.
  • Characters trained in Common Magic can use their knowledge to perform supernatural effects, including the following actions:
    • Overcome: Use Magic to prepare and perform magical rituals properly, or to answer questions about arcane phenomena.
    • Create an Advantage: Use Magic to alter the environment with magic, or to place mental or physical impediments on a target. Characters can defend against this with Will.
    • Attack: Use Magic to directly harm someone with magic, either through conjuring of physical force or through mental assault. These attacks can be made up to one zone away. Targets can defend with Athletics or Will, depending on the nature of the attack, or Magic if the target also has magical training.
    • Defend: Use Magic to defend against hostile magic or other supernatural effects.

A note about vaitai: membership in the college is ranked, so that a vaita can be referred to as having a specific “degree.” First degree vaitai are the most advanced and powerful, whereas seventh degree vaitai are just starting out. To estimate the degree of a vaita, add up their ranks in the Lore, Magic, and Will skills, and subtract the total from 16. It’s not possible to be higher than first degree, and anyone who is below seventh degree is simply considered a “novice.” So for example, Lóka the Clever is a seventh-degree vaita, still apprenticed to a more experienced professional.

Status Report (11 May 2019)

Status Report (11 May 2019)

Comments 0 Comment

There have been some recent developments. In particular, I’ve finally come out the far side of a roughly six-week period of really busy time at the office. Next week I’m helping to teach one of my own courses, and then there’s not much on my calendar for the rest of the summer. While I will still have plenty of other projects to occupy my day-job time, I won’t be putting in so many long days, weekend hours, or business trips for a while.

Meanwhile, the creative juices seem to be flowing again at home, so I’m starting to get some world-building and writing work done again.

In particular, I’ve been experimenting with a new approach to world-building for the literary projects I have on the docket. My preferred tabletop game for many years has been GURPS, flagship RPG from Steve Jackson Games. That’s not likely to change, but recently I’ve turned to another “generic, universal” game to do basic world-building. That game is FATE, published by Evil Hat Productions, a sophisticated and highly polished version of the venerable FUDGE system.

GURPS is deeply simulation-driven, largely derived from the tabletop wargaming thread of the origins of roleplaying games. FATE, on the other hand, is deeply narrative-driven, encouraging its users to do only as much world-building as they need to generate cool characters and drive their stories forward. Definitely worth considering for someone like me, who tends to fling himself down the world-building rabbit-hole to the exclusion of actually writing and publishing stories.

Unfortunately, while I understand GURPS inside and out, FATE is a pretty different approach to the problem of world-building and story prep. I’ve had trouble in the past wrapping my head around how it works. In the last few weeks, though, I’ve made a concerted effort to force myself to go through FATE‘s world-building and character-creation processes, with one of my literary projects in mind (the gritty-fantasy setting I’m calling The Curse of Steel). The results are starting to feel fairly promising. More about that over the next few days, I think.

None of which is to say that you won’t be seeing anything more from me about GURPS in the future. Still, if this experiment pans out, I may end up doing a lot of literary prep work with FATE instead. I might then come back and write things up in GURPS terms, but only after I’ve made good progress with a story that’s on track for publication.

It has also not escaped my notice that it would be a lot easier for me to self-publish material for FATE than to do the same for GURPS. Self-publishing GURPS-based material for profit certainly isn’t impossible, and I do have a long (if rather stale) history as a published GURPS author if I wanted to make a proposal to Steve Jackson Games. On the other hand, the FATE system is available under an Open Gaming License or a Creative Commons license. To be explored if and when I have something that might be worth publishing.

Architect of Worlds: Reality Ensues

Architect of Worlds: Reality Ensues

Comments 3 comments

One element of work on the Architect of Worlds project is that real-world science in this area has been advancing by leaps and bounds for years. Not once but several times, I’ve settled on a method for modeling some feature of planetary formation, only to see some new result published that seems to demand a different model. On one occasion, while I was testing the current model by generating planetary systems for nearby stars, I literally saw the first publication of new exoplanets in a star system I had just done randomly a few days before. This can be frustrating, although I have to admit it’s also rather exciting!

Now it seems to have happened again. The current model I use for planetary system formation implements a combination of the Nice model and the Grand Tack hypothesis, which together describe how Jupiter may have formed and migrated through the early solar system before settling down in its current location. The assumption is that a planetary system’s primary gas giant will normally form near the “snow line” and then migrate inward (and possibly outward) to its final position. This is all implemented in Step 10 of the current sequence.

Now there seems to be evidence that these models aren’t telling the whole story. In a new paper, “The consequences of planetary migration on the minor bodies of the early Solar System,” computer simulation seems to suggest that the core of Jupiter must have formed much further out than the Nice model suggests. It may have formed as far out as four or five times the snow-line radius, and then migrated inward very quickly.

I need to read the Pirani paper in more detail, and see if there’s been any discussion as to how to reconcile those results with the Nice model. To be honest, the Nice model isn’t entirely consensus in the community, so a new model that fills in some of its problematic details might work.

Still, if the Pirani paper seems supportable, it may be necessary to do a significant rewrite of the second chunk of the design sequence. It’s possible that the result may actually be simpler than what I’ve got now. I’ve thought of a way to cut out some of the current sub-steps and computation, making the process a little smoother, that might work. We’ll see what develops.