The Shattered City: OOC

[DocBeard]

Nerit: In case you didn't see my IM(I lost power last night.), "Yes."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Woohoo, chapter two! ^^ *full of anticipation*

[Nathan of the FoS]

OK! I have been working on my little side project for long enough to have something to show for it, so I will show!

The idea is that the Hazlani have their own calendar, consisting of 13 months of 28 days, and their own Zodiac, composed of 364 animals and 364 plants representing each day of the year (except the winter solstice and Leap Day). The months are named for the Thirteen Precepts of the Iron Faith:

UNIVERSALITY: All that is has a Law which pertains to it.
SUBMISSION: All that has a Law which pertains to it must obey that Law.
FALLIBILITY: None but the Law itself obeys the Law that governs it.
AUTONOMY: The Lawgiver is He who rules Himself; He is Law.
UNION: Obedience to Law brings union with Law Itself.
OPPOSITION: Obedience to Law destroys Chaos.
CHAOS: Chaos is that which does not obey the Law.
DUALITY: All is either Law, or Chaos.
JUSTICE: Chaos must be destroyed.
PRESERVATION: Chaos must not be created.
TRANSMUTATION: Obedience transmutes Chaos into Law.
FORBEARANCE: Chaos may choose obedience and escape destruction.
DELEGATION: Those who obey Law represent the Giver of that Law.

Each month has four weeks, named for the Four Colors (Grey, White, Red, Black) of seven days, named for the Seven Virtues (Obedience, Zeal, Courage, Diligence, Honesty, Temperance, Wisdom).

The New Year begins with the summer solstice, so Universality Grey Obedience is June 21st.

Your solar sign is determined by the day you are born, and is considered to say something about the role you are expected to play in life.

Your totem is determined by diviners who perform complicated rituals and consult your family history and great big dusty books to find out what animal (for men) or plant (for women) represents your personality.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Cyrus and Darius were born on June 30th, 746, so their solar sign is the Phoenix. Cyrus' totem is the Horned Viper, Darius' is the Panther.

UNIVERSALITY WHITE COURAGE (June 30th):
Symbol: The Phoenix. Associated virtues: Courage, Zeal. Associated vice: Pride. The Phoenix is an Epitome, and one of the most powerful signs in the Hazlani Zodiac. As a White sign it is associated with the sun, fire, and air. Because of its association with rebirth it is associated with converts to the True Faith and with martyrs. When appearing as a solar (birthdate) sign, it often points to a heroic life purpose and an early death. Sometimes this “death” is metaphorical and involves a transition to some other very different status or occupation. As a totem it indicates a man of what has been termed the “natural aristocracy”—one disinclined by nature to subservience, and who feels himself deserving of respect. Virtually all men with this totem have strong wills and aspiring natures. It has secondary associations, as a totem, with both the arcane and divine. Those with the Phoenix totem tend to have pale hair and eyes, to be taller than the average (but not heavier), and often have a prominent scar on the face or scalp.

FALLIBILITY GREY WISDOM (August 23rd):
Symbol: the horned viper. Associated virtues: Wisdom, Diligence. Associated vices: Pride, Envy. Usually regarded as an ambivalent, in some cases an outright bad, sign. As a Grey sign it is associated with Venus, air, and water, as well as with divinity, death, and birth. As a solar sign it usually indicates a life of subtle (which is by no means to imply negligible) import. As a totem it indicates a cold-natured man, often not widely liked, but just as often considered indispensable for his qualities of patience, insight, and ruthlessness. Horned Vipers do not make particularly good friends, but they make very, very bad enemies. Those with this totem are usually supple and quick of hand, but somewhat smaller than the average.

CHAOS RED COURAGE (December 23rd):
Symbol: The panther. Associated virtues: Courage. Associated vices: Sloth, Wrath. An ambivalent sign, and one which ought to be considered a warning to those who bear it. As a Red sign it is associated with Mars, fire, and earth, as well as with arcane magic. As a solar sign the Panther must be regarded as a call to arms; the panther is likely to spend his life engaged in conflict of one kind or another. As a totem the Panther is a sign of two natures; on the one hand indolent, easily distracted, and easily drawn into sensual pleasure; on the other wrathful and destructive. The Panther is in its element when in danger, and those with this totem are often excellent warriors; in peaceful times they do not prosper. Panthers are generally of the average size, strong, quick, and graceful, although they often run to fat as they age.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Nerit was born on 15 November 740 (solar sign: Witchgrass), and her totem is Climbing Ivy.

OPPOSITION GREY WISDOM (November 15th):
Symbol: Witchgrass. Associated virtues: Wisdom, Diligence. Associated vices: Pride. Witchgrass is generally considered a “low” or “common” sign. As a Grey sign it is associated with Venus, air, and water, as well as with divinity, death, and birth. As a solar sign it generally points to a life whose contributions will be “often seen and seldom noticed”. As a totem it indicates a strong-willed or even a stubborn woman, one given to setting practical goals and achieving them, and who is well able to endure hardship. Woman with this totem are often proud of their practicality and industry, and inclined to look down on those less practical than themselves. Women with a witchgrass totem are usually short and are not often beauties.

FALLIBILITY GREY DILIGENCE (August 20th):
Symbol: Climbing Ivy. Associated virtues: Diligence, Temperance. Associated vices: Envy. Climbing Ivy has neither strong positive or strong negative connotations as a sign; it is among the more common totems among Hazlani women. As a Grey sign it is associated with Venus, air, and water, as well as with divinity, death, and birth. As a solar sign it generally represents a long and stable life, usually undistinguished by unusual accomplishments. As a totem it is generally emblematic of the virtues of piety and hard work; women with this totem have a tendency to die in childbirth, but those who do not usually remain strong and active well into old age. Women with this totem are often extremely jealous and possessive of their husbands. A slight frame and gray eyes are characteristic of those with this totem.

[Nathan of the FoS]

I should mention, these days have signs associated with the other gender (i.e., firelily with phoenix, red hot pokers with panther, etc. etc.), but I am not gonna get into all that, there are 728 of them and I am not gonna write a whole book on this subject. I have to get through the PCs first.

[Nerit]

Fun and super complicated! But we all know how ridiculously elaborate divination can be, yes? *kicks John Dee* :>

[Nathan of the FoS]

Fun and super complicated! But we all know how ridiculously elaborate divination can be, yes? *kicks John Dee* :>

I have not even gotten to the lunar cycles yet. <_< I think it may be time to stage an intervention...it's a cry for help!

[Isabella]

I have not even gotten to the lunar cycles yet. <_< I think it may be time to stage an intervention...it's a cry for help!

We are cruel people who won't let you go until you tell us everyone's horoscope.

[DocBeard]

I think you're tieing the Hazlani in a little too strongly to Vaasi culture; while the Raeshmani make a fine Vaasi group, the bizarreness of Mulani culture indicates, to me at least, that they are the descendants of some exiled group that took up many of the superstitions of their "conquered" peoples. In other words, Hazlan is supposed to be the weird state, with Nova Vaasa as the "standard" template. Some references to Nova Vaasa, maybe a horse and a cat being prominent animals, would balance that out.

Personally, I tie the Mulani to the Akari as a subtle reference to their Thayan past; Thay evolved out of Mulhorand, which was originally an Egyptian pastiche. This also gives us a place for those banished/forsaken by the gods Akari nobles to go, gives us a psuedo-Hebrew group in the Raeshmani(Who always felt kind of Jewish to me for some reason.), and ties that part of the Core a little more firmly together while giving one of the major cross-Domain stories hooks in the Core.

But I'm not the GM and none of this negates your neat astrology system; my real quibble is that having the thing be so plainly lawgiver is a bit of a...the Lawgiver seems like a faith that would adapt more naturalistic beliefs to its paradigm, rather than evolving naturally out of a cyclical system of superstition. Some hints back to a previous system-holidays that don't fit the Lawgiver's structure, or are obvious references to other holidays celebrated in the Core would make the whole thing feel a lot more natural. Or perhaps the Lawgiver was one of a cyclical group of gods that evolved into a monotheistic apocalyptic faith in reaction to the unstable nature of Ravenloft. Hrm.

(Incidentally, Ravenloft is interesting in that it is one of the few D&D settings dominated by apocalyptic faiths. Ezra, the Morninglord, the Eternal Order, and the Lawgiver all have the classic structure of an apocalyptic faith. Erberron's Church of the Silver Flame is really the only non-cult option I can recall that compares.)

Anyway, this is neat either way you put it. I like the totem animal aspect especially, because that's a very tribal sort of thing that I could see the Mulani adopting to make their dominance of the region seem more natural to successive generations.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Heh.

Well, you see, I am holding out on you, because I can only type so fast (and think so fast). This solar calendar is imported directly from Nova Vaasa, as you infer, and the Vaasi (in my imaginings, which NT may or may not humor) use the same calendar.

The Vaasi do NOT, on the other hand, use the same totem animals and plants (in fact, they do not use totems at all, being much stricter about that kind of thing) because the Hazlani (by which I mean the Mulani, in this cae) calendar is actually a merging of the Lawgiver-centric solar calendar and the lunar calendar used before the Hazlani converted to the Iron Faith. The lunar calendar alternates between twelve and thirteen months of 29.5 days and is still used for determining magical influences and more complex, predictive astrology, but I have not gotten around to figuring out how or even if to implement that one, because, as you can see, just doing the relatively straightforward solar calendar may kill me.

FWIW, I kinda imagine the Rashemani not using the lunar calendar at all, and having only a passing acquaintance with the totem side of the solar calendar; they probably just use solar signs, which are familiar and easy to determine.

[DocBeard]

yeeeaaaahhh.

But that's cool! That's how cultures interact and feed off of each other, which I almost unreasonably enjoy.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Kerrian! Born February 10th. Solar sign, the Erne. Totem, the Coyote.

JUSTICE WHITE COURAGE (February 10th):
Symbol: Erne. Associated virtues: Courage, Honesty. Associated vices: Pride, Wrath. The Erne (or sea eagle) is regarded as a fortunate sign, especially in eastern Hazlan. As a White sign it is associated with the sun, fire, and air. As a solar sign it represents rising above one’s native condition, especially in spiritual matters. As a totem it usually represents someone of unusual moral courage, although it is also often associated with quick temper and stubbornness. Men with this totem are almost always taller than average and generally have grey or gold eyes.

AUTONOMY RED WISDOM (September 26th):
Symbol: Coyote. Associated virtues: Wisdom. Associated vices: Greed, Sloth. The Coyote is usually considered a “low” or “common” sign, and has some associations with criminality. As a Red sign it is associated with Mars, fire, and earth, as well as with arcane magic. As a solar sign it represents a life lived at the margin of society. As a totem it represents a man drawn to secrets and secret knowledge; those with this totem are usually quick-witted and often have a cruel streak, commonly manifested in a taste for practical jokes. They tend to make few friends, but are very loyal to those who do gain their friendship. Coyotes are almost always smaller than average and tend to be hirsute.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Celeste, born 14 Jan 751, solar sign Quaking Aspen, totem Morning Glory.

DUALITY WHITE DILIGENCE (January 14th)
Symbol: Quaking aspen. Associated virtues: Diligence, Honesty. Associated vices: Envy. The Quaking Aspen is one of the most common signs in western Hazlan and is usually regarded as a positive sign. As a White sign it is associated with the sun, fire, and air. As a solar sign it usually indicates a life of material comfort; it also may point to complacency, especially in spiritual matters. As a totem it represents a woman strongly drawn to the domestic; women with this totem often have many children and enjoy the role of mother. Women with this totem generally have pale skin and dark eyes.

FORBEARANCE WHITE DILIGENCE (May 5th):
Symbol: Morning glory. Associated virtues: Diligence, Wisdom. Associated vices: Envy, Greed. The Morning Glory is generally considered a positive sign. As a White sign it is associated with the sun, fire, and air. As a solar sign it indicates a woman who remains “true to her roots”—someone who fulfills the social role into which she was born. As a totem it indicates a woman who knows how to get what she wants—one who is certain of her goals and determined to achieve them. Morning Glories tend to be very aware of value and insist on getting what is due to them; in counterpoint, they are often deeply involved in charitable endeavors. Women with this totem are often notable beauties.

[Nathan of the FoS]

TOMAS: Born 5 March 739, solar sign the Onager, totem the Gold Eagle.

PRESERVATION GREY HONESTY (March 5th):
Symbol: The onager. Associated virtues: Honesty, Diligence. Associated vices: Gluttony. The onager is a fairly common sign and usually regarded as neither positive nor negative in import. As a Grey sign it represents Venus, divinity, death, and birth. As a solar sign it points to a life of hard labor, often unrecognized or under-recognized. As a totem it represents a man patient, hard-working, and perhaps a little slow on the uptake. Onagers are usually pious, stoical, and conservative in outlook. Men with this totem are usually shorter and stockier than average.

JUSTICE WHITE ZEAL (February 9th):
Symbol: Gold eagle. Associated virtues: Zeal, Courage. Associated vices: Pride, Envy. The gold eagle is generally accounted a positive sign, especially in western Hazlan. As a White sign it is associated with the sun, fire, and air. As a solar sign it represents rising above one’s native condition, especially in wealth and prestige. As a totem it represents a man of unusual physical courage, although it is often associated with a quick temper and a tendency to look down on others not so bold. Men with this totem are generally taller than average and usually have blue or gold eyes.