... so I've gotten way off the topic of current Vercite theory and into theoretical past (probably-now-defunct) religious ideas. Sorry

Yes, apologize - and grovel - in your attempts to make up for your serious indiscretions. :P

Anything which creates the mentality, social customs, traditions, or historical heritage of Verces is applicable. You did not go off-topic. Much of these things go hand-in-hand when dealing with creating a believable fantasy culture. Weather (which happened before people got there) affects druids and life in general - technology is often a byproduct of social customs and practical needs - and most every challenge is met during times of hardship or obstacles.

So, druids and clerics of certain deities are most certainly an integral part in protecting the planet from continuing havoc from devastation. We have several deities with workable histories which fit into this structure, and we have the potential for pockets of darkness in an otherwise well-balanced society, still finding its way out of its own history, which is inlaid with many faults, failures, and missteps, leading to an otherwise relatively mature society which finds the meeting place between technology (scientific and engineering innovation) and magic (arcana of the practical/impractical sort). They may even have been the harbingers of one of their own previous near-demises, and are still learning from their actions to this day.

I love the bit about the monks=>ships, and how all of these factors are being easily tied into a very sound and reasonable philosophy of self-perfection. Very cool ideas here - and indeed, even your writings on the subject are very profound! And here, I was wondering if there was anyone else out there who could say/write things that sound as if they came straight out of a real religious/philosophical doctrine...! ;)

Quick message while traveling home for holiday, thanks Xidoraven and Tacticslion. Glad I'm not the only one geeking out about the weather. I can definitely see it as being a foundation for the God-vessal caste's power.

Not sure about how the moisture would precipitate out, but the wall of fog/snow idea sounds really cool. It get darker, colder, and more difficult to see, and then, you reach to frozen clarity of full darkside. Where stars are the only light. Definitely reinforces the monks being there.

Ohhh man! Idea! This would be set during the iron age period. "My king! I would tell you the story of Lion and Raven and their journey to the other worlds. Of how they passed through the clouds into the lands of darkness, where the ice dragons rule and flame means death! Of how they passed beyond the clouds into the lands of light, where a man has no shadow and all things are revealed. Harken to my tale! For in tales lessons are learned and the wisdom of the ancients made known.

I bring word from the mighty Sutter, Master of the Universe!

"In answer to your questions: there are definitely still continents, and in fact Darkside likely has frozen oceans under there."

From this I assume he means that there is still tectonic activity, so hot spring are viable. Also, the oceans thing.

That... makes me happy!

I bring word from the mighty Sutter, Master of the Universe!

"In answer to your questions: there are definitely still continents, and in fact Darkside likely has frozen oceans under there."

From this I assume he means that there is still tectonic activity, so hot spring are viable. Also, the oceans thing.

That may also mean that the "river" which winds down the line is a man-made feature. I would assume the jaggedness of its course means that they would have attempted to follow natural topographical valleys, and it probably means that this project would have been one of the largest in recorded history.

They might have technological or magical means to allow these features to be maintained despite tectonic activity, giving them a longer lifespan than might normally be possible. I say this because natural tectonic activity would make it increasingly difficult over time to keep the "river" from being degraded or completely altered. Obviously, this would also be a big deal, since water must be one of the resources on which they must solidly monitor, given our earlier conversations on the difficulty of maintaining precipitation/weather phenomena for a viable biosphere.

I am about to find/make a thread like this for Castrovel. Does anyone know of any already formed on here? I'm also going to be expanding the social stuff beyond the books for Castrovel, for another adventure arc I am working on (Return of the Annunaki).

There is now a thread like this one for Castrovel: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2pb9l?Distant-Worlds-Everyday-Life-on-Castrovel

I bring word from the mighty Sutter, Master of the Universe!

"In answer to your questions: there are definitely still continents, and in fact Darkside likely has frozen oceans under there."

From this I assume he means that there is still tectonic activity, so hot spring are viable. Also, the oceans thing.

You can have continents without tectonic activity. Or even oceans. Venus has continents, they're just raised and thicker areas of the crust.

"In answer to your questions: there are definitely still continents, and in fact Darkside likely has frozen oceans under there."

Now to imagine all the possibilities of life in those.... :D

Add geothermal activity and there could be some hidden and very alien aquatic paradises and/or hellholes down there, stuff that's alien even by the standards of Verces' surface life!

------------

Y'know, one of the things that made the people of Verces so endearing from the start, personally, was that they seemed to have a healthy lack of xenophobia. I don't mean a suicidal or naive lack of wariness, but rather an open minded attitude towards the unknown. I'm not sure if I'd say they were total xenophiles, but given their ease with the concept of trans"vercitism" and their apparent welcoming of outsiders(especially how they try to relate to them via caste-figuring rather than recoiling in fear/disgust)...they seem to have a much healthier attitude about the unknown.

That's refreshing. Given how entrenched xenophobia is in many forms of fantasy(and this is exacerbated greatly by the Lovecraftian elements), this actually comes across as being one of the big things that may make vercites special in Golarion's solar system, coupled with their can-do explorer's attitude.

I really hope this doesn't get twisted around hard on them, as often happens to idealistic themes when cynicism is all the rage. I'd hate to see the vercites turned into naive, wide-eyed victims for the sake of cosmic horror story aesthetics. That's not to say I hope they never get involved with cosmic horror(heck, I want to run a campaign that's all about them and other races taking on the Dominion of the Black), but I hope that their "hat" doesn't become "wide-eyed idealists unprepared for the harsh realities of the universe".

(these worries are mainly due to frequent suggestions or hints that outer space should be treated like Dark Tapestry Horror stomping grounds rather than a setting with new worlds, cultures, and possibilities to esplore without Lovecraft breathing down your neck 24/7)

You can have continents without tectonic activity. Or even oceans. Venus has continents, they're just raised and thicker areas of the crust.

True, but continents without tectonic activity are less fun. ^_^

(these worries are mainly due to frequent suggestions or hints that outer space should be treated like Dark Tapestry Horror stomping grounds rather than a setting with new worlds, cultures, and possibilities to esplore without Lovecraft breathing down your neck 24/7)

I see it more like the sea prior to/during the era of exploration. We're comfortable with the coastal waters/solar system, but beyond that... There be monsters. There are things that travel between solar systems, but they are pretty alien. Getting swallowed by an plasma mouthed ray the size of a ship, no thank you. So, they may know that there are things beyond this system and travel is possible, but no one has really done it. I see the Vercites as just beginning to seriously look beyond the horizon of the system. It will require daring and what is a quest of exploration without monsters of the deep? Who will dare the abyss and risk waking the kraken?

Popping in after reading the comments about the weather-patterns on a tidally locked world. The flow of hot and cold air not being affected by a shifting jet-stream also means that weather systems become remarkably more predictable. There is no unexpected blizzard sweeping in, likely little tornado activity outside of the tempestuous "line" territory where hot meets cold.

What does this mean? It means take everything that is commonly attributed to a weather deity and turn it on its ear.

Weather becomes something less capricious and unpredictable, and becomes something structured and lawful. Dualistic Gozreh goes from being perceived as tempestuous and fickle to logically divided so as their world is.

In fact the rhythm and predictability of the natural world itself may interact with how they perceive time, seasons, and their world itself:

Nature is not out to kill you, it is a strict set of laws and boundaries. Break those laws, and you have only yourself to blame.

Food for thought!

The Dark Tapestry is all about the vast empty darkness between solar systems. I don't really see the Vercites necessarily being victims to such powers, at least until they expand beyond the solar system.

If anything, they are likely less likely to be affected, as their technology should give them an edge over many Dark Tapestry powers.

They are probably one of the few races in the solar system with the ability to successfully fight back against the Dominion of the Black.

Nature is not out to kill you, it is a strict set of laws and boundaries. Break those laws, and you have only yourself to blame.

Food for thought!

Actually Nature is totally indifferent to your survival, or lack of it.

The Dark Tapestry is all about the vast empty darkness between solar systems. I don't really see the Vercites necessarily being victims to such powers, at least until they expand beyond the solar system.

If anything, they are likely less likely to be affected, as their technology should give them an edge over many Dark Tapestry powers.

They are probably one of the few races in the solar system with the ability to successfully fight back against the Dominion of the Black.

Or one of those more likely to willingly give into it without fuss.

They are probably one of the few races in the solar system with the ability to successfully fight back against the Dominion of the Black.

That's why they're one of the critical catalysts in that "Hey solar system! Let's punch the Dominion in the throat!" campaign I want to run. :)

I see it more like the sea prior to/during the era of exploration. We're comfortable with the coastal waters/solar system, but beyond that... There be monsters. There are things that travel between solar systems, but they are pretty alien. Getting swallowed by an plasma mouthed ray the size of a ship, no thank you. So, they may know that there are things beyond this system and travel is possible, but no one has really done it. I see the Vercites as just beginning to seriously look beyond the horizon of the system. It will require daring and what is a quest of exploration without monsters of the deep? Who will dare the abyss and risk waking the kraken?

That take is a lot more fun, I think. Looking at potential horrors hiding in the unknown("here there be dragons" style) as something to be dared and overcome rather than a reason to huddle in fear and run screaming back into ignorance.

When faced with a paradigm shift, they don't lose their sanity and wallow in despair. They get their engineers to work. :)

Mikaze: you might want to actually go out of your way to watch the most recent Droid commercials. They might have something for you on Vercite bio-augment-tech conceit (even if the tagline is kind of goofy).

:D

Looking for the newest set of those commercials also pointed me to some older ones that had a bit of Verces-appropriate visuals going on. Thanks for the heads-up! Been finding inspirations for imagery and aesthetics in the most unlikely of places!

(and yeah, they only get to use that tagline when they start offering optical augments, not before!)

Good Lord, that eardrum implant was just painful to look at though. Replace the whole thing if you have to! Just make it look cool and not...all...winces

Hahah! Nice!

I'm wondering what the sky looks like on the line. I imagined it looking something like 'Twilight Town' in Kingdom Hearts II(that is, hazy orange with some violet).

I'm also wondering what would happen to Verces if it suddenly started to rotate in a 24-hour period like Earth.

Had to look Twilight Town up, but yeah, I figured the sky over the Ring is typically in that beautiful range of colors too. There's some stock photo that shows up for "twilight desert" searches that's really resonating with me now, but linking the bloody thing is hard at work.

On Verces suddenly starting to rotate...man. Wouldn't that be a death sentence for most forms of life on the planet? Before you even get into all of the havoc that would wreak on the atmosphere and the planet's magnetic fields, there's the matter of just how specialized all of Verce's natural life might have become in each of the three major portions of the planet. Maybe throwing enough magic at the problem could help Verces adapt, but there are so many consequences that would spin out of that I wouldn't know where to start.

Don't give Eox ideas! :O

edit-Hey wait a second.

What if there was a tilt at some point? Not enough to wreck all life on Verces but enough to put some heavily settled and developed areas of the Ring far enough into either Fullbright or Darkside to make them impractical to keep living in.

That could be another way to get some more ruins/lost cities/adventure sites going on the planet. Then again, I don't think there's ever been anything hinting at such an event written thus far.

On the other hand, maybe some ancient civilizations did settle deep enough in Fullbright/Darkside for them to be lost and forgotten over time. Maybe Qidel is one of the few known living remnants of those civilizations?

Also, does anyone know which artist did the Augmented Aethership Captain piece in Distant Worlds?(a.k.a. Zagnabbit's avatar)

gettan ready to make those commissions

Sorry, should have linked about Twilight Town. Planets like this just make my mind go to wondering 'How could I mess this up?' :).

I don't know which artist, sorry.

I'm wondering how to get PCs to Verces. I don't know of any portals to Verces on Golarion. The Vercites are known to use their aetherships to go to Akiton, and there's a portal to Akiton called 'The gateway to the Red Star' in the Mwangi Expanse, but from what I've read it's closed. If the PCs could get to Akiton could they book passage on an aethership?

Speaking about Eox, maybe I should start a thread on Eox called 'Everyday life(death?) on Eox'. Looking at the planet makes me wonder if it's possible to rejuvenate it.

I'm wondering how to get PCs to Verces. I don't know of any portals to Verces on Golarion. The Vercites are known to use their aetherships to go to Akiton, and there's a portal to Akiton called 'The gateway to the Red Star' in the Mwangi Expanse, but from what I've read it's closed. If the PCs could get to Akiton could they book passage on an aethership?

Speaking about Eox, maybe I should start a thread on Eox called 'Everyday life(death?) on Eox'. Looking at the planet makes me wonder if it's possible to rejuvenate it.

I am almost positive that one of the PFS modules (perhaps a very high level adventure) takes the PCs to Akiton through the red door, or something to do with it. It might be worthwhile to read that adventure.... whatever its title was..... >.>

Eox is definitely chock-full of questions unanswered, but tackling that one requires tackling the notions behind the Diaspora, and its previous planets - more than I have time/energy for at the moment. It could be quite the discussion - but I suspect that it would bring more questions (and possible quests) than actual determinations about the culture any more than what is already written. That said, it's a very interesting world, indeed.

Sorry, should have linked about Twilight Town. Planets like this just make my mind go to wondering 'How could I mess this up?' :).

I don't know which artist, sorry.

I'm wondering how to get PCs to Verces. I don't know of any portals to Verces on Golarion. The Vercites are known to use their aetherships to go to Akiton, and there's a portal to Akiton called 'The gateway to the Red Star' in the Mwangi Expanse, but from what I've read it's closed. If the PCs could get to Akiton could they book passage on an aethership?

Speaking about Eox, maybe I should start a thread on Eox called 'Everyday life(death?) on Eox'. Looking at the planet makes me wonder if it's possible to rejuvenate it.

Pick a spot.

Speaking about Eox, maybe I should start a thread on Eox called 'Everyday life (death?) on Eox'. Looking at the planet makes me wonder if it's possible to rejuvenate it.

[Eox tangent]

The world might seem a bit like the world of the Final Fantasy movie, with tons of surreal incorporeal life-forms feeding upon each other, sustained by some undead 'necroplankton' that can directly metabolize negative energy, and thus serve as the bottom link in a necrological 'food chain.'

On the other, other hand, positive energy still comes streaming down in the form of sunlight. Perhaps some sort of microscopic organism still exists on Eox, converting sunlight into life, and being preyed upon by smaller non-sentient undead, which are in turn preyed upon by larger sentient undead, who go 'fishing' for the smaller undead who harvest the scraps of positive energy absorbed by the micro-life they can't themselves hunt.

I think I prefer the pure necrosystem/necrology, 'though. With a name like 'Eox the Dead,' having positive energy as any part of the 'ecosystem' seems thematically off.
[/Eox tangent]

Sunlight is not positive energy...it's just light.

[Eox/Diaspora tangent]
The Starstone originally lay on one of the two worlds that would become the Diaspora, but it was undiscovered until Eoxian emissaries found it and secretly used it to ascend to godhood. The Eoxian deities, like their mortal relatives already descending into envy and paranoia, saw the waxing power of the starfarers of Damiar and Iovo and feared what might happen if they too became gods... so they urged their mortal worshipers to create a doomsday weapon and use it against the twin worlds. The devastation of Eox was unexpected, but in the mad gods' view, a small price to pay for their own safety.

The gods of Eox may not yet be aware that the Starstone has been found and used. If they ever find out, Earthfall may look like a harmless summer storm...

Also, does anyone know which artist did the Augmented Aethership Captain piece in Distant Worlds?(a.k.a. Zagnabbit's avatar)

gettan ready to make those commissions

I would guess on Ilker Serdar Yildiz.

Edit: Or, after a second look, Jean-Baptiste Reynaud. (He swings, and he misses.)

Check out these great Verces creature illustrations by Nickolas Russell on his blog. He also has some nice backstory for them:

The Wandering Horror of Verces.

Over a thousand years ago when the nations of planet Verces were still prone to warfare and their resources were devoted more heavily to military might there was one individual who's existence still leaves an aftertaste in the lives of all Vercites today. Chief Augmentor and Warlord, Grellig Senaeth developed a new class of military weapons based on the grafting techniques that the Augmented get their name from. Grellig was augmenting military weapons with flesh, adding biological capabilities like self repair and healing or production of biotoxins. However Grellig's time as a prolific weapons developer was cut short, he lived to see the establishment of the Grand Assembly of the Ring of Nations and a return to world wide peace as well as a ban on what the Grand Assembly deemed 'grotesque weaponry'. A category that including everything that Grellig held any interest in. He became increasingly frustrated with the beuracracy and slow political dealings that undermined his research and continued to sell weapons to various rebel groups in an effort to instigate more war. But it wasn't long until the Stewards caught wind of this and came after him. When the Stewards went to confront Grellig at his Biotech Compound they were attacked by hideous elephant sized monstrosity composed of equal amounts of organic matter and mechanic. After crippling the intruders the creature disappeared into the Ice Fields of Verces. The Stewards demolished the Compund and Grellig was never found. Rumors began to spread of Grellig augmenting himself into the creature that took on the Stewards so easily. To this day it still roams the Ice Fields and tales tell that it's most recent victims can be seen as grafts on its ever changing body.

Check out these great Verces creature illustrations by Nickolas Russell on his blog. He also has some nice backstory for them:

Keen. I like the idea of old weapons from some loosely defined "Bad Old Days" still lurking out in either of the extreme hemispheres.

This begs to be made into a modular monster entry. :)

I found an article that may be extra helpful and simply written for any Verces brainstorming:

http://io9.com/5980667/dark-side-of-the-earth-what-would-happen-if-our-plan et-became-tidally-locked

Hey thanks Thanael. I was looking through this thread for inspiration, and the images Tactislion posted! These forums are chock full of ideas.

I found an article that may be extra helpful and simply written for any Verces brainstorming:

http://io9.com/5980667/dark-side-of-the-earth-what-would-happen-if-our-plan et-became-tidally-locked

That's sick. Storms would probably play a large part in the culture of Vercites, probably being the most significant force of nature. And there's more good info from the reference links at the bottom.

The Earth will eventually become tidally locked with the Moon, but the same timescale gives us plenty of other things to worry about long before that happens.

5 billion years from now, the Sun goes Red Giant and swallows up Mercury, Venus, and possibly the Earth, or just makes it into a molten ball.... That won't be an issue because....

3 billion years from now, Earth's inner core will have cooled enough to have ceased plate tectonics. This will lead to crustal thickening, a loss of volcanism, and essentially turn us into a Hot Mars... save that before that happens.....

1 billion years from now... the Sun's expanding luminosity will have heated the Earth more than biology can compensate, leading to a copy of Venus' Runaway Greenhouse effect. Unless the planet has somehow been moved to a higher orbit to forestall this fate.

Nature is not out to kill you, it is a strict set of laws and boundaries. Break those laws, and you have only yourself to blame.

Nature may not be out to kill you, but she wont' care when, not if she does.

" Well, then, maybe you should worry less about the tides, who've already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over... "

Azula to her ship's Captain. "Avatar the Last Airbender."