Ankoseiwas Thread: The Nine Arts

[Moose-tache]

"My conpeople are unicorns."
"The growth of horny tissue from the forehead is properly called keratosis, and people with keratosis are not 'unicorns.' It's actually very offensive to call them unicorns."
"OK, but my conpeople are actual unicorns."
"God, there you go again, you monster!"
"They have four legs and everything."
"Oh, so now having more than two legs means your feelings don't matter? Polypodism is real and people suffer from discrimination because of it."
"Right, but this is a fantasy setting. I didn't include any leg-based bigots."
"Typical erasure. You think because you're making a fantasy setting you don't need to practice empathy and kindness?"
"Fine. I'll call the four-legged, magic-wielding, horn-growing equids that inhabit my conworld "The Alskani" or something."
"Thank you."
"Frickin' PC types. Next you're gonna complain about the fact that they're all in black face."

[Pedant]

Look, Vijay, Mèþru. I appreciate your informing me about the controversy surrounding the use of the words "hermaphrodite," "intersex," and "androgyne," all of which I have now corrected. I have now, without any specific terminology, a people known as the Clownfish People, who are in biological terms "true" hermaphrodites and not the human equivalent--in other words, capable of impregnation and gestation both, and occasionally capable of parthenogenesis, not just having both male and female genitalia--but I shall not use the term "hermaphrodites" to refer to them or any human from this point on. In return, would it be possible to focus on other aspects of the world-building, if there is anything that interests you from the lot? I should very much appreciate some feedback on the rest as well.

...as to your comment, Moose-tache, is the layer of dark powder over the Alskani's faces for cultural reasons (a form of marking similar to tattooing or henna, for instance), or more practical ones (for example keeping away biting insects)? EDIT: I know you meant it as a joke...

[Moose-tache]

New Rule:
If you are describing a phenomenon that exists on Earth (like people not having perfectly binary genitalia or secondary sex characteristics), use the most current, scientific language possible. If you are describing things you made up (like people who can both impregnate and gestate), there is no "current, scientific language" on Earth to inform your writing, so just describe it how you see fit.

[Pedant]

New Rule:
If you are describing a phenomenon that exists on Earth (like people not having perfectly binary genitalia or secondary sex characteristics), use the most current, scientific language possible. If you are describing things you made up (like people who can both impregnate and gestate), there is no "current, scientific language" on Earth to inform your writing, so just describe it how you see fit.

Which in my case I thought would be hermaphrodites...
Seriously, why exactly is it a derogatory term now? I’m rather out-of-date on such matters, the last I knew it still referenced those who resembled a particular deity...

[Pedant]

OKAY everyone! Would anyone have a problem if I referred to these people as Tiresians instead of hermaphrodites, after the Greek prophet who could switch back and forth between male and female over the course of his life?

[Vijay]

No, I don't see a problem with that. I'm sorry this discussion has kind of taken over your thread.

I don't usually comment on these things, but since you specifically asked mèþru and me for feedback: The map reminds me of some islands in the Pacific Ocean, perhaps the Solomon Islands? Was that by any chance what inspired this map?

[Pedant]

No, I don't see a problem with that. I'm sorry this discussion has kind of taken over your thread.

Ah, no worries, Vijay. Tiresians it is, then!

I don't usually comment on these things, but since you specifically asked mèþru and me for feedback: The map reminds me of some islands in the Pacific Ocean, perhaps the Solomon Islands? Was that by any chance what inspired this map?

Oddly enough this lot started out as a variation on the Philippines, tectonic plates and all, but that’s not too far off your guess. Same with the culture; I wanted it to be a melting pot of different civilizations from the start, and not ones that would stretch credibility too much in terms of their magic or technological advancement (which I kind of have problems with sometimes). Ooh, but the stuff on the Solomon Islands looks really interesting! I’ll have to see about using some of this for Jhagjama (it’s just to the north, I’ll put up a world map one of these days)...

[Moose-tache]

On Geography: The islands have these kind of... filaments? Running NW to SE. I get that peninsulas exist, but the combined effect looks a little unnatural. Also I've noticed that your maps tend to have this splotchy "giraffe skin" pattern of uplands and valleys distributed evenly across the landscape which I don't think is very natural. Usually valleys, at least in the case of volcanic tropical islands, are formed by water running out radially from mountains, so they don't criss-cross and interconnect like a spiderweb.

Nevertheless, very excited to see more of this world. Keep it up.

[Pedant]

On Geography: The islands have these kind of... filaments? Running NW to SE. I get that peninsulas exist, but the combined effect looks a little unnatural. Also I've noticed that your maps tend to have this splotchy "giraffe skin" pattern of uplands and valleys distributed evenly across the landscape which I don't think is very natural. Usually valleys, at least in the case of volcanic tropical islands, are formed by water running out radially from mountains, so they don't criss-cross and interconnect like a spiderweb.

Nevertheless, very excited to see more of this world. Keep it up.

Wait, seriously? Well, thanks for telling me! I thought they could use some improvement, I just wasn't sure where to look. (Terrain maps are frustrating on account of most of the ones I've seen using colour alone to distinguish elevation, and as I'm slightly colourblind, well, it's kind of useless.) Okay, so drop the micro-peninsulas and fuse the mountains together in lines as opposed to having them on all sides? I reckon I can do that...

[Moose-tache]

Here is a map that might be helpful: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/mapsonlin ... eul-island
There are isolated peaks, but you'll notice the higland is mostly along a central spine, not randomly scattered all over the island. And there are plenty of valleys, but not one valley that crosses perpendicularly across another valley. They pretty much all go from some peak to the nearest coast.

[Pedant]

Say, how's about this one instead?

[Raholeun]

But back on topic, this is interesting stuff, Pedant.

Many thanks, Raholeun! Anything in particular you’d like to see more of? (An honest question here; otherwise it’s rather difficult for me to focus long enough to write, embarrassingly enough...)

Like Vijay, the archipelago did remind me of the Solomon islands. With you mentioning the heavy rainfall, I just wondered if you could detail the cultures a bit more. Especially their relationship with the environment.

[Pedant]

But back on topic, this is interesting stuff, Pedant.

Many thanks, Raholeun! Anything in particular you’d like to see more of? (An honest question here; otherwise it’s rather difficult for me to focus long enough to write, embarrassingly enough...)

Like Vijay, the archipelago did remind me of the Solomon islands. With you mentioning the heavy rainfall, I just wondered if you could detail the cultures a bit more. Especially their relationship with the environment.

But of course! Would you prefer me to go race-by-race, island-by-island, or just give a general overview of shared cultural features and then how each race/island differs from the norm?

[Raholeun]

The latter option please.

NB: I'm asking, since my conpeople live in somewhat similar conditions. It is a single island, very small and precipitous. So communication with outsiders is only possible through sea faring. Were mainlanders to visit, they'd have a hard time navigating the steep and wet cliffs. I would imagine this also being the case for (some of your) conpeople and I'm eager to hear the implications it has in the Akotvyah archipelago.

[Pedant]

This one's for you, Raholeun. Hope it's what you meant!

SEASONS AND SAFETY: AVOIDING CLIMATE DISASTER IN AKOTVYAH
The archipelago as a whole recognizes three seasons, each corresponding to about a third of the year. The sãyo (hot-and-dry season) takes place in our equivalent of September-to-November (somewhat shorter on Ajjamah), where most of the plant life--and animal life, and people life--is on its last reserves. The tõdo (rainy season) follows like a screaming joyrider across the desert, hurricanes screaming and thunderstorms crackling in its wake--for the equivalent of a full five months, the archipelago is swamped. Finally, once the rains calm down, the third season, pẽiyo (cool-and-dry-season) sidles in slowly and quietly, providing a bit of piece during which time the good people can harvest their crops in earnest. There are a great many typhoons and earthquakes to deal with year-round, but the typhoons, at least, are localized to a degree. One can expect as a matter of due course, for example, rain typhoons to hit the southernmost islands from the last part of sãyo to halfway through tõdo, and wind typhoons to crash against any of the islands in the archipelago from the last little bit of tõdo to the first quarter of pẽiyo. And, of course, the islands' sitting on two tectonic plates grinding against each other like Roman chariots in expensive movies means the locals, every now and again, have to put up with volcanic eruptions; thankfully these have been relatively rare and relatively small in recent years, in no small part thanks to the intervention of Salvian geomancers.
The islanders have three strategies to avoid the worst of the damage from the sea and land.

1. The first method is literally personified by the Divers, who take their boats and head out to sea in order to avoid the worst of the tsunamis that hit the coast. They also use their instinctive understanding of sea currents to steer clear of islands where hurricanes are headed, and also take the time to warn the locals in most cases. Indeed, they often remain close to the islands they're currently living around (but not on them) during tsunamis, and rescue others who haven't been able to reach shelter safely. Finally, they and others feel perfectly free to hit the sea when dealing with a volcanic eruption (and when close enough).
2. The second method is to build one's village on stilts so as to avoid the worst of the waves (but have them close enough to the ground that everything inside doesn't have far to fall when it comes to an earthquake) and heading for the hills, jungles, or mangrove forests nearby. The majority of coastal villages and towns are built in this way--more on this later.
3. The third method is reserved for those larger settlements with a decent (past or present) homaya, who chose to create a sturdy dolowi (temple complex). The palaces of Akotvyah tend to be relatively tall towers, isolated from the nearby village but for a rope-and-pulley system (and, for the enterprising homaya, a secret passage built into the structure of the mound leading to a small room just beyond their official meeting room). Temples, on the other hand, are supposed to be accessible to anyone and everyone--and they are the best place to head during a disaster that isn't, for example, volcanic in nature. For over a thousand years dolowis have been built with natural disasters in mind. Great pyramids of beautifuly-worked stone, crafted from the earliest days with only a few bronze tools and yet fitted perfectly piece-for-piece, their doors open wide when an earthquake is set to arrive. And the people from the settlements make the trek up the hill, carrying what they can, and hide in the thick-walled corridors carrying the bone-bricks of their ancestors, to pray and sing and do their best to banish the waves or the tremors from their lands.

It should be noted, by the way, that the Keepers have the best rate of property recovery after any natural disaster, thanks to their Gift of trapping (literally "keeping") objects they want to save in their own personal inkenei or "hammerspace"; this is occasionally used in bargaining with other races as a means of procuring more property in exchange for protecting that of other people.
Well, that's natural disasters dealt with, but what about everyday life? Even beyond the threat of downing in the sea, there are sharks to worry about off the shores, and saltwater crocodiles, and enough snakes that the Hercuans call the archipelago the Serpent Isles. And of course, thanks to the proliferation of Clownfish People in times gone by, there are any number of chimeras on each island--fusions of human and beast in unnatural form, most neutral, a few beneficent, and some incredibly dangerous.
But then these are the tropics, and for every species of venomous or constricting or spanking snake (be incredibly wary in the jungles of Aheiwa, the whiplash python paralyses its victims with a supersonic lash of its tail), there are two hundred species of bird or butterfly. And beautiful they can be, too--the birds-in-idyll on the Windcatcher Isles are some of the most brightly-coloured animals on Ajjamah. The great mangrove swamps lining the shores (where they aren't covered by sandy beaches or sheer cliffs) of Yekeinos are matched only in Salvi to the north and Wenglau to the far east. The tides run high on Ajjamah thanks to the proximity of its moon; much of the lowland in the southern archipelago is given over to flat fields, perfect for a bountiful crop of rice. All across the islands grow acres and acres of bamboo and sweetcane, the latter of which is prized as a major source of sugar for the region. And, of course, there are spices galore: pepper and cumin and lemoncane and ginger and basil and dancing-girl (more a psychedelic than a spice, but it's mild and apparently improves the flavour of monkey meat tremendously) and summer's mint...
There are two main types of settlement: those used primarily for trade and those used mainly for agriculture. The former tend to be found a lot more on the coast, although one does occasionally find them in the highlands as neutral meeting points for different ethnic groups. (The Clownfish People of Onembeto, for example, have gotten this down to an art form, brokering trade agreements between three different ethnic groups speaking twenty-six languages in total.) They have a town centre containing the main local source of water, around which shop-houses are built. The latter are usually found in the lowlands of the more southerly islands, with a central collection of houses surrounded by acres and acres of rice paddies, to which the inhabitants of the village or town must trudge every morning to do their work. There is also a third type of settlement: the palace complex, described above. These are often nigh-impregnable fortresses built on sheer cliff faces (natural or constructed, it doesn't matter too much), safeguarding the body of the homaya while his or her hamoyai (clones) go forth to other places. Settled peoples rarely venture into the jungle except to gather exotic spices or hunt down the more powerful (dangerous or benevolent doesn't entirely matter here) sort of chimera. Each settlement has its own dialect, each island its own remarkable customs and creatures.
How about dealing with other people? Well, that's a topic for another post, but for now: try to learn at least three other languages and/or dialects, more if you're going abroad. The local sprachbunden should make it easier to understand different folks, but it's worth putting in a bit of extra effort at the start. If you find yourself meeting someone in the middle of the jungle then stick to the common custom and shout out first a list of your ancestors going back as far as you can, then the gods or goddesses you worship, then your Gift. If all else fails, run and hide; they're likely to chase you. Don't ask a Finder to locate a friend of yours if they haven't already met them. Don't stare at the Divers' necks, they don't show off their gills on land. Don't immediately suspect a Keeper of theft, they're liable to take offence and they're almost always the ruling ethnicity (despite the absurd number of Keeper pickpockets in the poorer urban areas). Clownfish People change sex as a matter of survival, not as a kink thing, so kindly respect their life experiences. Don't ever tick off a Speaker. Pay your respects to the local clone on the throne, don't drink too much fermented snake venom, and if worst comes to worst contact your local Salvian temple, Hercuan church, Irthironian embassy, or Malehinese dragon landing platform for more advice.

[Raholeun]

Good stuff, Pedant. Just two points:

First, the last place I want to be during a typhoon is a (presumably shoddy wooden or bamboo) house on stills. True, I have a fear of heights but still. Do they not come crashing down with major wind gusts? The higher they are, the more vulnerable they are to the wind. Waves crashing land inwand pounding the stilts may not help with the sense of insecurity. Am I missing something?

More: show

My conpeople are really not as valiant as yours. They just run for the hills and hide in caves until the monster weather has blown over.

Second, what are bone-bricks?

[Pedant]

Good stuff, Pedant.

Many thanks!

Just two points:

First, the last place I want to be during a typhoon is a (presumably shoddy wooden or bamboo) house on stills. True, I have a fear of heights but still. Do they not come crashing down with major wind gusts? The higher they are, the more vulnerable they are to the wind. Waves crashing land inwand pounding the stilts may not help with the sense of insecurity. Am I missing something?

More: show

My conpeople are really not as valiant as yours. They just run for the hills and hide in caves until the monster weather has blown over.

The only thing you might be conceivably missing is that the land-based Akotvyans never really stay in their villages proper during awful weather. Tides are high in this world, so a house by the shore on stilts is absolutely a necessity for coastal living. The folks inhabiting the houses, though, tend to scarper when the weather gets really bad, going up to the hills or into the mangrove forests and praying that the storms don’t destroy too much of their property. (Attempts to fit whole houses into inkenei, by the way, have been largely unsuccessful.)

More: show

Hey, I’d say mine are far more stupid than yours in that respect, so...

Second, what are bone-bricks?

Bone-bricks (akilon, ergative akilwi-) are the traditional form of ancestral preservation on Akotvyah, and used to be commonplace in Salvi and the Quiramic Empire as well. The inkenei-space cannot hold living beings, and while it is possible to hold dead bodies in there (so as to keep one’s dearly departed safe) it’s an informal taboo across the archipelago. So most folks do the next best thing, which is to burn the body, grind up the bones, mix them with clay, and fire the resulting (often beautifully-carven) brick. These can then be carried alongside oneself if one ever feels like a bit of ancestral luck, or (more often) stored in the temples, along with their dates of birth and death. Records of their deeds are passed down orally, or occasionally in the temple records. (Forensic science based on archaeological remains is...not likely to advance very quickly on Akotvyah.)

[vegfarandi]

Flowers with both sex organs are called "perfect flowers" or "bisexual" and plants with only perfect flowers are called "hermaphrodite". Plants with a mix of sexual flowers are called "monoecious". So you could adopt monoecious and I also think while there are no hermaphrodite animals to my knowledge that are able to inseminate and gestate, but I think both in terms of the mythological origin of the word and the sense it's used in botany, it would work for your conpeople and not be rude, while being more easily understandable than monoecious.

[Pedant]

Flowers with both sex organs are called "perfect flowers" or "bisexual" and plants with only perfect flowers are called "hermaphrodite". Plants with a mix of sexual flowers are called "monoecious". So you could adopt monoecious and I also think while there are no hermaphrodite animals to my knowledge that are able to inseminate and gestate, but I think both in terms of the mythological origin of the word and the sense it's used in botany, it would work for your conpeople and not be rude, while being more easily understandable than monoecious.

Maybe I'll use it in the books--if George R.R. Martin can get away with half the stuff he wrote about, I can use one word with a very specific context. Still, for now I've grown rather fond of Tiresians...

[Pedant]

A note on NOMINAL DECLENSION:

Proto-Empath, the language from which Salvian and Ankoseiwas are derived, is usually reconstructed with twelve noun classes, with categories for masculine/feminine/neuter and animate/inanimate/ethereal/miscellaneous. Classical Salvian has preserved these; however, through a number of sound changes over the centuries Ankoseiwas has winnowed the twelve forms down to a mere five, simply described as the I-Class, A-Classes 1 and 2, and O-Classes 1 and 2. They do not represent a particular gender; indeed, this is now conveyed entirely by the definite article (to be discussed later).
Ankoseiwas has three cases.
The absolutive case is the basic form of the word, used as the subject of intransitive sentences and the object of transitive sentences.
The ergative case is used for the subject of transitive sentences.
The instrumental case is used for indirect objects, or for certain prepositional constructions. It can also be used as a compound form.
Plurals in Ankoseiwas (as in all the Keeper languages) are generally formed by reduplication, which appears to have occurred somewhere along the path to Proto-Keeper, and through the loss of any remaining suffixes. The initial CV combination (or, if the word begins with a vowel, the initial C) is duplicated at the beginning of the word. Ankoseiwas, however, requires that no two syllables be the same (except nasals), and while the initial syllable is left unchanged the interior syllable is shifted, thus the word ahoyas ‘clonemaster’ becomes hasoya ‘clonemasters’.
The general drift is as follows: [pb]>w, w>p, [tdh]>s, [ksy]>h, l>y
(A general note: the citation forms of nouns are the absolutive singular and the instrumental plural.)

Table of Declensions

	I-Class andeki ‘temple’	A-Class 1 ahoyas ‘clonemaster’	A-Class 2 bayan ‘performer’	O-Class 1 obeilo ‘bridge’	O-Class 2 ambãyon ‘ball’
Abs. Sing.	andeki	ahoyas	bayan	obeilo	ambãyon
Abs. Pl.	dandeki	hasoya	bawaya	boweilo	mambãyo
Erg. Sing.	andekai	ahoyao	bayai	obeilao	ambãye
Erg. Pl.	dandekai	hasoyao	bawayai	boweilao	mambãye
Inst. Sing.	andekei	ahoya	baye	obeilo	ambãye
Inst. Pl.	dandekei	hasoya	bawaye	boweilo	mambãye

Vocabulary
(A note: all etymologies are from Proto-Keeper unless stated otherwise.)
Ahoyas, hasoya ‘clonemaster’ (*açoʎas)
Ambãyon, mambãye ‘ball (often of rubber)’ (*ɐmbɐʎkun)
Andeki, dandekei ‘temple’ (*addeki)
Bayan, bawaye ‘performer, singer, dancer, actor’ (*bɐjan)
Eitoyon, teisoye ‘mine’ (*ytuʎun)
Obeilo, boweilo ‘bridge’ (*ubyʎo)
Odeima, doseima ‘region’ (*udɐʎma)
Okilas, kohila ‘leviathan’ (*ukiʎʎas)