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Post by Yali on Feb 11, 2016 17:00:57 GMT
I've been writing and developing Tay in the aftermath of Riven for quite some time. What do you think of the various concepts I've written? What did you like or love or dislike? What kinds of things do you see expanding upon based on what I've developed?
Here is the link to the map and description of the Age: blackmoiety.weebly.com/about.html
Here are the two journals which I wrote. One from Dr. Watson's perspective, the other from a native Moiety woman named Adann: blackmoiety.weebly.com/journals.html
Thoughts on the geography? Lore? History? etc.
Thanks for taking a part in this!  (Post Edited to provide links.)
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Post by KathTheDragon on Feb 12, 2016 1:27:59 GMT
Perhaps you should add links to what you've already written, so people don't have to go hunting  |
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Post by Yali on Feb 12, 2016 2:40:44 GMT
Good point! Here is the link to the map and description of the Age: blackmoiety.weebly.com/about.html
Here are the two journals which I wrote. One from Dr. Watson's perspective, the other from a native Moiety woman named Adann: blackmoiety.weebly.com/journals.html
The premise is as follows. In the 200 years since Riven, the Moiety population has boomed as their civilization has flourished on the island of Tay. With close contact with the D'ni, technology along with ideology and systems of governance have been gradually imported. The Rivenese tribal customs have had to quickly evolve to suit the rapid expansion of the Age and the influx of D'ni technology and trade with Releeshahn. This has created a kind of dichotomy between the old tribal customs and the imperial-style bureaucracy of D'ni. Much of the ancient Rivenese customs when it has come to religion and governance, mostly in the case of tribal animal-based clans, have been translated, if almost abruptly, onto a system that is much more modern and advanced to suit the needs of the growing civilization.
D'ni machinery has allowed the city of Ashtasa, meaning "south of the ashes", to be constructed melding D'ni masonry with traditional adobe molding. The city sits on the shores of a large bay translated as "Lake" in Rivenese and its center rests on a grouping of several islands near the heart of the bay. Tracks have been built bridging the islands and shores together utilizing D'ni style tram cars that pass over the waters.
Religion has evolved to encompass ancient Rivenese animal worship paganism mixed with elements of D'ni monotheism (similar to how early Christians and Pagans intertwined during the 3rd Century A.D.). Under the main religion of the Moiety Temple, The Maker, known as "Atauui" in Rivenese, is an ever present force that is both conscious and binding of all living beings. Atauui is manifested in great leaders such as Katran as well as many ancient chieftains back on Riven who were heroic leaders in their time. Allatwan is the conduit which both separates and binds the Ages and time together, thus it is believed by the dominant temple on Tay that Allatwan is always present, leading the Moiety to their destiny. It is through great figures that Atauui manifests itself, pulling the Rivenese through the eye of the Maker.
Of course, each clan has its own variation of Moiety religion. The temple was founded in the late 19th Century of our calendar (roughly 80 A.R.) and is the dominant religion of the Moeity state, however, as each clan dispersed throughout the Age and formed small secluded communities, so did their religion diversify, often to meet the needs of their local communities and environment.
The Easterners incorporate a form of astrology into their beliefs while the Atami Westerners are fully animist, believing that all nature possesses a spirit, even the raw elements such as stone, as this reflects their self-imposed isolation in the western bogs away from the busy culture of Tay which seeks to court the D'ni through trade and the influx of books. The Atami religion could be considered an extreme version of ancient Rivenese animal worship, as they see Atauui not as hierarchy but as a constant force that permeates everything in equal power.
Each clan takes a native animal as their name and insignia, which is depicted on tall pointed flags. When writing Tay, Katran included descriptions of all the native Rivenese wildlife that had been pushed to exctinction by Gehn. However, Tay has its own plethora of native wildlife. Squam are large grey-skinned avian creatures with long elongated bodies, a large bulbous tail mirroring their heads and an impressive wingspan. They sport large filmy black eyes for protection in the ash winds that barrel down from Mount Gehn. Squam live off the wildlife that dwell in the volcanic residue and thus they are most seen towards the northwest of the island.
Mount Gehn was an unfortunate circumstance of Gehn's initial draft of the Age. In her rewriting of the Age, Katran was unable to rewrite this feature of the Age, perhaps due to time constraints or to the difficulty of re-stabilizing the ecosystem, the volcano has come to symbolize the Moiety's past suffering and is a constant physical reminder of the harshness of their Age. It is a Moiety belief that like Gehn's dominion over Riven some 200 years ago, an Age of harshness breeds a strong and resilient people. Tay may not be traditionally beautiful like Releeshahn or Terahnee, but it is beautiful in its starkness and volatile nature, the perfect antithesis to hubris of the Ronaic peoples, as the Moiety believe.
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