Primeval - Clash of Civilizations

[Humabout]

oh, i do like supernatural stuff.  Where do ghosts come from?  What about spirits?  Do you know anything more about Whisperers?

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Answers for Humabout

It's a mix of superficial and reality. Spirits are more about the inner searching for clues, for strength, for hope. They are dreams, more than reality. But make no mistake, they can be as real as ghosts ! I'm not sure it's needed to post more on those two, but if I have something more, I'll throw it out there.

As for the Whisperers, of course. Yes, they come from somewhere. Where though? That shall be revealed later. I know much more about them, but all in good time. I first wanted to set the basics of these spirit things. You can probably already take a good guess, with what's been released previously.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

New Discovery: Mantra

Mantra is a mysterious thing. It’s the inner strength all humans posses but don’t know about. Far greater is the wisdom of these ascetics who learned how to tap into this source.

Masters of this art have been incredibly hesitant to reveal any secrets. And so the capabilities of this new –thing- remain unclear. Though, there is widespread belief that Mantra confers its user with god-like powers.

Chakra

To be blessed with the power of Mantra, one has to unlock different Chakras. These Chakras are vortexes of energy in and on the human body. The location of these vortexes may differ from one another. Chakras themselves, when mastered, grant their user mystical powers, although not as long lasting and powerful as Mantras.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Shekayah Mountains and Mantra

Added Shekayah Mountains, on the second post in this thread, under the map. Probably the shortest description, though the reasons for that are made obvious in the very description.

I foresee questions upon this new Mantra thing, so the post just above this one is dedicated to a short explanation.

[Ghostman]

Going for some Indian mysticism there, I see. Are you planning to post detailed information on those powers or is it intended to be something left in the dark? Do Shekayahs ever leave their mountains to visit other lands?

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Answer to Ghostman

There may be, at times, more detail of these powers, but you are right in assuming information about it is "kept in the dark", as my description seems to imply anyways.

"...These peaceful and ascetic men usually keep to themselves..."

"...Masters of this art have been incredibly hesitant to reveal any secrets..."

That being said, I did employ the words "usually" and "hesitant", so yeah more detail on that may come later. And, I have intended them to play a BIG PART in this "Clash of Civilizations" thing. That too, though, will remain in the dark until I am at that point where I release information on that.

Thanks for taking the time!

[Skyfire]

So far, Primeval looks very promising. I haven't seen many 'Stone Age' settings, and this one seems quite engaging. I look forward to learning more about it.

I hope that at least one civilization, maybe the Jamibians, use obsidian - with a large, active volcano nearby, there could be plenty of it.

However, I have a few questions. 600,000 sq. miles is somewhat small to be the main landmass of the entire planet (though maybe if it were smaller than Earth, or is just covered mostly by water) - that's the same area as Mongolia. You mentioned that leaders have their sites set on distant lands - maybe there are more landmasses, just too far away to be of much concern to the main setting?

I also wonder how they know there are distant lands at all. From what I remember, Chalcolithic cultures were slow to spread or explore.

I will keep up with this setting as you develop it - it sounds like it would be fun to adventure in.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Answer to Skyfall

Very good question.

Who uses obsidian is still to be determined, but of course I did have my ideas about that. And you're spot on that the Jamibians might be the one exploiting it the most, though that still has to, like I said, be determined.

The area is basically the size of Afghanistan, yes.

I don't remember stating that this landmass was the whole planet. And it is indeed not. If you look at it this way, they are very far apart considering that people in that day and age do not have cars, or planes. They have to walk these great distances through very dangerous environments.

Yes, there are distant lands. Maybe I will talk about them... when I think about them. But basically this is just a cushion for me to make possible interesting plots and whatnot, in the future.

If the people living in the Chalcolithic era in real life were slow to spread and explore, it doesn't mean they are in my setting. Since this is a fantasy setting, anything can happen! Haha

Thanks for the comment man, very appreciated. I'm very busy these times around, but I'll try to write a little more stuff if I can soon.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

A bit more added

I added stuff on The Frontier Wars (fourth post first page) and another creature; the Ashbark (second post first page). I hope to be able to post more about Primeval in the coming month. Surely playing Diablo III (when I get it) will give me alot of inspiration, as it is what fueled my imagination when I first created this setting, a bit more than a year ago.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Some people have been asking me about Primeval recently, and I did promise to bring them a little something. I decided to go with a biography of a very important personage. There might be many mistakes, and the structure may seem kind of messy at times, but overall I think it's good stuff that I can post right away and review later when I have some more time. Enjoy.

(Moved the biography to the first page)

[Ghostman]

How did the people come to regard Jamibia as divine? Did he perform some apparent miracle or something?

Also, the biography alternates between past tense and present tense, which is pretty confusing.

[Humabout]

Intresting biography.  Like Ghostman said, a bit confusing in writing style, but content-wise, enjoyably messed up.  Frankly, now I find myself interested in Jamibia than other places.  Defnitely did a lot for the feel of the place.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Answer

@ Ghostman: The divinity of Jamibia is more like that of Caesar. It is mostly self-proclaimed (or, proclaimed by the successor for his own interests), but people really believe it. He's saved them from the grasp of the Logosu after one year in a lonely cell that rendered him weak, he's become extremely intimidating, he seems to be without peers on the political stage (unification, power control & consolidation) as well as on the military stage (many victories, only one defeat: which, by the way, it's not written in my text, but made it sound like it wasn't a defeat, but that it was more pressing to put the eastern people to rest than reach the Heaven Stream, at the time).

These are vague (but let's underscore the people's traditions and mentality) points that would make him seem like a superior human, a divinity.

But let's not forget the work of the most loyal noble families, who help shape and spread his image.

@Humabout: Thanks man

[Numinous]

Hey, I just read the Jamibian God-King section, in addition to the blurb about Jamibia in the beginning of the thread.  Super dark, but it totally colors that culture in.  Also, the slavery not resulting from perceived inequalities but as a cultural revenge is glorious.  Incidentally, I wanted to just say, thank you for the Stairway to Heaven.  I chuckled.

I wokred on a stone-age setting ages ago, but I never did figure out how to differentiate cultures effectively.  I also had problems trying to create a space for the motif of the adventuring party, that crosses great differences and generally is a motley crew of multicultural joy.  I see in Jamibia that you're certainly succeeeding in giving cultures a strong identity, but I'm curious how you would set this up as a playable game?

In any case, great work.  I enjoyed the read.

[Pymtein Magnushake]

Answer to Numinous

Well this is something I explained to some of the guys here at the CBG, but that I might not repeat often enough. I don't really... well, play or GM any games. I just write as a relief; a sort of releasing the insanities, as well as the magnificence I guess, that swirls in my brain, like non-stop. (Ok, that one is debatable...)

So I didn't try to put it into a gaming perspective, at all. But I can see how easy it is for somebody to just pick Primeval off and start playing in it. It's as easy as any other world to be honest. The key thing, I think, will be how interested you are and how good you are in, first immersing yourself, but then immersing your players the fictional world.

Just to name one gaming possibility; monsters. The whole island (continent maybe) is so vast and so diverse, and since this is a fantasy world, anything could emerge. You want to throw a mega-demon at your primitively-equipped party? Be my guest...
Or then maybe you'd like the Logosu to have their own revenge? Or the eastern people of the savannah? Or the Mantra-users spread their knowledge, and you make your players deal with the grand ramifications of this? Or perhaps they've gone mad because of Wisparias inhabitants (spoiler semi-intended here, to come some day)? I mean... you make it what you make it, really.

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Well, Jamibians only have a strong identity because Jamibia is there to pull the strings, but remember that his people are a coalition of several tribes (Bagas, his own Yamiya tribe and others, many others, that I haven't named). It's truly not solid at all, but Jamibia commands respect, has alot of influence (especially now) and it's in the interest of the other tribes to just ''follow the leader''. Culture is suuuuccccchhhhhh a big part of this world, everyone of them is malleable.

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Thanks for reading man, I appreciate it alot. And yeah, the Stairway to Heaven thing... so intentional