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So I was thinking of a race that is known for its seers and divination that is blind but can see through the use of magic.
What would this race's society be like?
For example how would their language, written and or oral develop?
What about cultural appearance?
What are your thoughts?
Trent Slabaugh
Infinet Media & Design
DigitalDungeonCast
Maybe their cities would be very regimented, with building interiors being largely identical. Maybe different areas of the city would be differentiated by different textures on the walls or floors, or by a particular incense that is always burned there.
Maybe they have developed no writing and all of their histories are in the form of magical recordings, which read themselves out loud with the proper spell or keyword. That could lead to a good hook..the magic is failing or being attacked in some way and the race's histories will be lost unless something is done.
It's an interesting idea for sure. I'll think more about it.
The only time I have run across anything similar to this was when I was playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II for the Xbox. One of the characters came from a race that has non-functional eyes and instead utilized the Force to "see", in addition to all the other things the Force can do. All their other senses were normal, but I do not know much about how their society worked or how cities were physically laid out. But since everything considered official for the Star Wars universe, and this game is, is probably well documented somewhere online, I am sure you can find out more. So along these lines, a fantasy-based culture or race where all are blind could function through the use of psionics or magic.
So I was thinking of a race that is known for its seers and divination that is blind but can see through the use of magic.
What would this race's society be like?
For example how would their language, written and or oral develop?
What about cultural appearance?
What are your thoughts?
Some sort of braille written language makes sense, although, instead of raised dots, I'm partial to the language having started as carvings in clay tablets, and being full of curvy lines that sweep along a surface, with bars and dots along side the line, denoting different 'letters' or 'words.'
'Illuminated manuscripts' would be made of paper or whatever, and the script would be a single long line of some other material (such as ink, or, in the case of stone carvings, metal sunk into carved grooves) and the non-surface material being lit up by continual flame, making it visible to the race through their ability to see magic. For this reason, the casting of spells to light up text, their manuscripts would generally have a single line of ink, like modern cursive script, but connecting even different words and sentences and paragraphs, and crossing over the edge of a page to continue on the other side, so that it all counts as one 'object' for the purpose of casting a spell (like continual flame) upon.
Other manuscripts might not have the ink run along the edges of the pages, but instead have tiny holes in the pages at the top and bottom, that allows the ink to remain connected to the ink on the other side. A permanant version of Nystul's Magic Aura would exist, to allow them to create 'invisible ink' that glows to their sight, but doesn't appear to be visibly on fire to members of sighted races.
As much as possible, certain items of great significance would have spells placed upon them to make them glow to their eyes. These items might be lucky totems that they've seen in visions or associate with past successes or beloved individuals, but they would all have some sort of continual magical effect on them. Mundane items would, on the contrary, almost never be illuminated in this way, as it would be seen as insulting to place this sort of importance on a mere tool or commonplace thing. If something glows, it should have some mystical significance, even if that significance is entirely personal (a locket that represents a last remembrance of a parent or lover, a document that signifies that one has attended a prestigious academy or mentored under a legendary craftsman, etc.). A certain level of frivolity may exist, and be regarded differently. A young seer might claim that the eagle-token around his neck came to him in a dream and he considers it his person totem, guiding him to some destiny that he has not yet seen, while his elders might frown at that, as the eagle hasn't *yet* been proven to have any significance, and, in their eyes, is not yet worthy of being treated so exceptionally, perhaps just being a dream-image of no prophetic or oracular importance. His of-age peers might just think 'it's cool' that he's had a dream-visitation so early and have an unknown destiny awaiting him.
Due to their complete lack of concern over matters of color (as the only 'colors' they see are abjuration, conjuration, divination, etc.), their towns and crafted items might appear as a bewildering hodge-podge of clashing colors. No effort at all would be spend making a suit of leather armor present a homogenous appearance, and blotchy irregular patches would be off-putting to sighted folk. Their items, on the other hand, would be flawlessly smooth to the touch, and while clashing coats of paint on a wall might be jarring to the sight, the two coats would be seamlessly to the touch, and often have unusual distinctions, such as an eastern or western facing wall being darker or lighter in color than the rest of the building, as the residents wouldn't be able to *see* the difference, but they would certainly feel a temperature difference in the morning or evening. (In warmer climes, lighter walls, to reflect heat, would be prefered, in colder regions, the opposite.) But, since they have no concern for 'matching the colors,' the north and south walls might be plain brown, while the east and south walls are dazzling white.
On the other hand, their extreme sensitivity to magical auras would give them the equivalent of three rounds worth of study *at a glance,* using their innate detect magic, and they would gain even more detailed information if they study an item for a second round (subschool, calling, compulsion, sonic, etc.) or third round (spell level and approximate caster level).
If they are known for seers, make them have an impact on "cultural" decisions, like marriages (will they be happy, will their children be desireable for the society or even be able to stand among the seers), jobs (where is the adolecent be most likely to leave a positive imprint) etc. Perhaps they even decide on important issues as a kind of benevolent (more or less) tyrants who, perhaps not constantly but now and then regulate life decisions of every family.
