Advance towards the Heavens - Planning Thread (Requesting Lock)

Alright, here's this large planning thread that I've been making for a while now. This for an RP that really is so convoluted that I don't have the prowess to continue making enough witty connections to fill in the rest of the blanks. Therefore, I'm putting up a summary of what this is, what I have, and what I so far need.

The Concept

This will be a make-and-maintain-your-own-Country/Kingdom/Galactic Empire/Area of Influence/Whatever in the same vain of the Civilization RP and others of that genre. However, the main difference is that instead of maintaining separate factions to later kill each other off in a fit of competition, we will all be the leaders, influencers, and possible non-leaders of one Whatever, all towards the common goal of maintaining this Whatever.

This RP will pull heavy influences from Dwarf Fortress and Girl Genius, forming the two to make a bit of an inverted Gaslamp Fantasy, in that the base of the setting seems to be a bit of a Tolkein-esque fantasy, but Steampunk and Victorian flare can be found if you know where to look, and will only escalate from there.

As well with the combination of the two, the use of Crazy Awesomeness must be almost everywhere, from the setting to the characters, and even us writers better learn a thing or two about making something that can be questioned to have been made on drugs. It helps add that unique flair.

What are these two incredibly boring sounding things that you will most likely never glance at again you may ask? Well, that's hard to describe, so I'll attempt that myself later, and instead provide some sites.

For Dwarf Fortress, the actual game can be found Here, and wikis on it can be found Here and Here. For Girl Genius, Here's the Comic's main site, and you can find wikis Here and Here.

So now that I've probably given enough to you to read already, I think I'll push the envelope and give you more:

The Plot

A typical Tolkein-esque fantasy is our setting, filled with exotic Elves, generic Dwarfs, badass Orcs, and plenty of other standard fantasy creatures, along with some not too standard to fantasy. Kingdoms are made, wars are waged, history happens. If you want more detail on standard fantasy stuff, go read Lord Of The Rings. Like, really. It doesn't get more fantasy than there.

However, there is one thing that really separates this from your standard high and low fantasy. And that change would come to fruition by the first appearance of the being that the mundane and extraordinary would come to refer to as the Time Lord Walking Singularity.

Despite the long, droll, boring, and altogether typical history of the setting, that might span well over tens of thousands of years, there have so far only been a few, probably about 5, totaled Walking Singularities thus far spotted. And these guys really know how to make a show of themselves.

So after several millenia of the disappearance of the previous WS, Kingdoms fell and formed, and history happened. One such domain was a small settlement by the name of [REDACTED], a settlement made by around 50 joined immigrants of several varying races. None of them expected much out of the domain, only to be a place to sleep and not get eaten by ravenous elephants.

As the fort was made, and shenanigans occurred and races to create walls before the hungry hungry hippos can rush in to eat their babies happened, the beginning of something truly remarkable began to take place. A lone dwarf was struck with a sudden unease in the stomach, and retired to his room quietly, locking himself in. Now, he had been in there for so long that the settlement just assumed that he must have offed himself, so counted him down for the count.

Then one day, the door was kicked down from the inside, revealing a Walking Singularity. It should probably be mentioned that the WS's are never said to have been born, but rather they appear when someone, anyone, is struck with a mysterious illness, usually hinted when they retire and stow themselves away for long periods of time.

So the WS presented himself, and, a good deal of the populace knowing the legends, immediately was appointed leader. Of course, this was in the hopes that he would bring the kingdom to greatness, seeing that all of the other WS's, when asked about what they hoped to do with their immense amount of power, only mentioned that they wanted to do something 'big'.

The settlement had already had some construction underground (their main populace is dwarfs, so it was only natural), but those few quickly become abuzz with activity as they were instructed to dig downward. And downward. And more downwards. Until eventually they had created a large, wide stairwell leading down hundreds of floors.

Now, during the times of leading the WS would lock himself up in the construction workshops, working his mysterious things. Probably the biggest 'power' that everyone knows the WS's for is their unnatural skill in mechanics and engineering.

The usual level of technology in this fantasy world nowadays is edging very close into having the Steam Engine as a main component, although still mainly reliant on wood and manual labor.

This is in stark contrast to the Walking Singularities, who seem to make eldritch contraptions composed of beautiful, seemingly self-reliant clockwork almost subconsciously. The third WS is notable for exclaiming to have been actually trying, and after a week came out with a microchip in his hand. The exact events are hazy, but every account on it said that the result was so mind-bending and reality-warping that everyone proclaimed it magic.

So after everyone had gathered on the 35th floor, the place where they made some construction then just said 'screw it' and focused solely on going downwards. Now, once the orders had been complete and they finished up a large expanse of land on the final floor, the WS was glad to see that, while holding a strange clockwork contraption in hand, this one shaped like a box.

And before anyone could question why he wanted this, he quickly jumped from the railing and dived down the stairwell, several people so loyal as to make a split decision and follow him. As he fell, he pressed one of the three buttons on his box, which caused a giant, shining, glass-like puddle to form over the final floor.

As everyone was now watching over the railing, they saw him burst through the glass, which suddenly unleashed a horrible, fiery aura upon the kingdom, and supposedly on the entire world outside. As they peered through, they had witnessed that he just merged the ethereal plane of Hell with their own plane.

Before any bits of the wretched abyss could seep through, however, the WS clicked the second button, which merged the wall back up (which coincidentally happened before two settlers could dive in with him, causing them to hit the thing. Mysteriously unharmed). Although now with the ability to clearly show what was going on beyond it.

And they, continuing this beat, the third button was pressed, and a blinding light exploded from behind the wall. The explosion was so powerful, of course, that it caused an incredible amount of earthquakes to rattle the entire world.

Later, after everything managed to get their bearings, they realized that the earthquakes managed to hit close enough to home that they were now stuck underground. It was now their duty to somehow dig back up, and see what happened to the surface. Of course, the tragedy of being stuck underground was somewhat undermined by several of the settlers in awe over the fact that their leader just blew up Hell.

~

So that's the long-winded intro. Fantasy-to-eventual-Steampunk, small settlement, sudden Time Lord Walking Singularity leader, dig downwards, blow up Hell, now we have to get back up.

If you don't like fantasy, don't worry, the pure fantasy is only at the beginning. By the time we hit the second, more important part of settling the outside world, it will be in full Steampunk swing, with fantasy fading into more of a formality.

Oh and if you don't like giant posts, don't worry: I don't expect one-liners, but due to the nature of this being a Civ, and our main influence being the settlement's agenda, posts will be pretty standard. Literacy will be wanted far more, of course, and like any hard-worked on I won't tolerate one-line posts.

The Civ System

Now, the Entire Plane Bomb that the WS made is not the only contraption of his. It's possibly his most worked on thing (but not near as much effort as, say, whatever the heck the Third WS made), but not his only.

He knew he would die, and that would leave the settlement leaderless, so he constructed a giant, mechanical clockwork tree while no one was looking. The tree will grow as the settlement does, expanding through floors and whatnot, and from the tree will grow AI Spheres. Really, these will be a LOT like the Personality spheres from Portal, but not as obsessive over a single subject.

We play as these AI Spheres. The AI Spheres have a sort of mental connection towards all the people on the settlement. We can't outright control the people, but we can send them mental suggestions to add to their agenda. Sort of like the Sims. Through these mental connections we will shape the settlement of [REDACTED] into something excellent.

~

Now, this is a planning thread, mainly because not only do I want so see if anyone is interested, but I also need to get some rough patches smoothed out.

What I need

-A FREAKING NAME FOR THIS. Along with a name for the settlement, and for other things (the world and its lands, the WS, etc).
-More clarification on what Fantasy races I'll use. Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs are concrete. Not sure what else.
-Some final clarifications on the Civ aspects of this. I have a great deal of the system planned out, but it still needs to be checked over for any flaws.
-And most of all, Participation.

~

I'll answer any questions you might have. And I'm certain I left something out, so there will be questions. Also, this will not be made immediately. I'll wait for Selfstuck to finish, or at least near completion, before jumping on this.

Alright, now the final, big question: who is actually interested in taking time from their busy schedule to make this happen?

Possible reservation, just in case. Upon looking at the usage of Crazy Awesomeness in this RP, I feel as though my recent avatar is a little on the nose.

I'm in!

Few questions though. So we're playing the intro, in which we'll control a single character until we get out of the hole, and then we'll control our own factions?

Not quite. In the intro we can play as a couple different AIs, all providing thoughts and influences in how to go about our goal of getting out of there. Once we hit the second part and start making the settlement in the post-catastrophe world, I think the settlement will aim towards becoming something of a Victorian city, with a touch of Mordor aspects outside.

As we gain more members of the settlement, our mental links start to get weaker and weaker, until we'll eventually have to rely on operating via giving commands to a few various designated Heirs and Leaders who will interpret our messages and issue them as they see fit. We simply won't have the power to escalate our bickering into starting a war against each other, and the main focus will shift more towards the people of the settlement, and how we will interact with the kingdoms around us.

I... don't follow.

So in the intro we play as AIs who control the decisions that the trapped NPCs make, and after the intro we just sort of... give commands? o:

Pretty much. The tree will expand out of the ground and become a prominent piece in the main fort/cathedral/base/townhall/whatever of the City. Due to the eventual loss of our mental connection, we would issue whatever demands we desired through some designated leaders, who would then try to mediate our wants, and then issue the agenda to the city as they see fit. Or not, if our wants are particularly insane, or they just don't want to.

The role as a Civ will slowly lose focus as we focus more on the doings our inhabitants, probably being a bit more straight multi-genre.

Alright, time to start on some of the big issues.

First off, names. Mata and I have been collaborating in the chat, focusing on a formula of something to the tune of *something* to the Heavens. We could get this completed, or perhaps somewhat might have a different idea. So what does everyone think?

My good friend Thesaurus.com and I have some possibilities for the *something*!

Expedition!
Dispatch!
Saltation!
Spring! (Would work two ways because like springs and gears as well as the verb like to spring upwards and okay heheheheh nevermind)
Caper!
Evolution!
Revolution!
Upgrade!
Advance! (Actually screw the rest, this is my favorite! Like like like, advance as in to go but ALSO like technological advancement getitgetit?)

Advance to the Heavens. I like that! Nice ring to it. Any objections, more suggestions, etc?

... Damn. Yes I think that suffices in describing my reaction to reading this.

Advance to the Heavens does have a nice ring to it, but I feel there is some sort of... I don't know lack of flow with the preposition. Advance into the Heavens? Advance toward the Heavens?

I'd be glad to take time out of my relatively busy schedule and help with whatever, but it seems like you have most of it figured out.

Advance towards the Heavens is just as great, and one I was thinking of. So yeah. Advance towards the Heavens? Anyone oppose? Because I like it.

Oooooh that's even better, yeah :3

Alrighty then, Advance towards the Heavens it is!

Alright, next big part would be the Civilian Races. Basically, which types of Standard Fantasy Races, across both the Five Races and the Fantasy Axis of Evil, will inhabit our Settlement, and all other settlements and kingdoms and empires and whatever. I have a few, but I'm looking for more. So far I have:

-Dwarfs: They're all the same.
-Elves: Oh, these assholes. In contrast to the Dwarfs, there is A LOT of diversity within the Elven population. You got your High Elves, your Dark Elves, your Wood Elves, the list just goes on and on.
-Orcs: Waaagh.

I'm looking for a few more, hoping to end it around 7 races. Ents are around, but I'm debating between making them Civilians or having them barred from society. I'm also looking for some form of Undead Civilian race, currently going back and forth between something between a Physical Phantom, a Possessed Corpse, or just something I dunno I don't have any idea.

The real problem I have from just copying them straight from the trope page is that Magic doesn't really exist in the land of *to be named later*, or is possibly locked away and unable to fully be controlled, meaning that Fairies are a no-go, as are a few others. I'm also looking to somehow avoid using Humans, somewhat as a self-challenge.

So yeah. As a side note, anyone have any names on who our previous leader, the WS was? It gets a little tedious having to constantly refer to him/her/it as just 'the WS'.

I've seen a few fantasy series simply create a race (undoubtedly with some outside inspiration) of their own and incorporate it among the standard human/elf/dwarf setup, like the Urgals of Inheritance or the Wargals of Ranger's Apprentice. We could always do that if we find ourselves short a race or two. >3<

Anywaaaaaay. We could have gnomes/gremlins, who would be diminutive folks that are very mechanically-minded, or nonmagical fairies/pixies that would care more for nature, but either of these races would basically just be smaller versions of dwarves and elves, respectively, and with wings in the latter case. Still, we could make sure some differentiations were present were we to choose to include them.

I'd be in favor of including ents as a rare and ostracized race.

As for undeadies, we could have some sort of carrion-eating race that is essentially immortal, sort of like a cross between vampires and zombies? Possibly make them a bit werewolfy, too? (I'm not sure if vampires, werewolves, or zombies alone would be regarded as civilized by everyone else, but if we sort of splice them together we might have more wiggle room. x3)

Do we want just humanoid races, or are things like dragons possible as well? Regardless, I would support having merfolk. Merfolk are always pretty cool. Ooooh maybe even like a race that is like merfolk but living in the sky, like, they would be to a mermaid as a bird is to a fish. Might be interesting. >u<;

Other suggestions: Satyrs, leprechauns, cyclopes, wendigo, giants, lilliputian-style beings.

Angels: Your average winged being with high spectrum mental abilities and aimed more at nature stuffs. Dryads with Wings basically.
Demons: Men like beings that like the darkness and stuff.
Dragins: Dragons, except cute and stuff.

No I am not that bad at describing these are just ideas.

I think a Draugr or Golem would be the closest thing to which Mata is describing.

Oooh golems, I like those!

I'll think about Gnomes, probably as a counterpart to the totally-non-existent Leprechauns who sow the seeds of mayhem and discord among the peoples of the land of *not yet named* in complete secrecy. Nope, totally a myth they are.

Also, yes as I think more about the Ents I like the angle of them on the deepest side of the scale of prejudice, and being pretty rare. For instance, in our current population left of between 30 and 40, there would be about 2 or 3. As well, this rarity and prejudice might even increase what with the world currently undergoing an industrial revolution. Due to the fact that 6-7 ft trees aren't always the strongest, especially when dealing with fire, they would probably help best with research and other scholarly stuff. O the irony when they're forced to put up with writing on paper.

I also like the sound of civilian Draugr, if my fantasy knowledge of Skyrim is correct. They'd probably be on the prejudice scale, but above the Ents, and not as limited and rare. The Ents, what with how much disregard if not outright hate they get, are probably tight-lipped about their issues, so it's natural to assume that Draugrs might be more active in that.

Despite the presence of the romanticist 'fluffy cloud' Heaven and 'fire and brimstone' Hell, I don't think I'd be able to incorporate humanoid Angels as civilians without them being too GMod. Probably roaming the world, but not as civilians. And humanoid Demons are extinct now that the WS has blown up F&B Hell.

Don't feel too down about a lack of balance in afterlives, though: Hell immediately reformed in another plane in the form of Xoobe's Jazz Lounge, the Chateau Foo-Loo, the Hippenist Happenist Hellhole this Hillside of Hades.

Did I really just write that? I can't believe I just wrote that.

I suppose I only did think about bipeds when imagining the Civilians. Nice call. Not sure how I can change this, but I suppose there could be outsider quadpeds who are sentient who find it pretty rude how they aren't allowed civilianship.

Although I did imagine a sort of Beastmen, a bunch of beastial biped tribes. Probably have a lot of them as different kind of animals, like one would be reptilian, one mammal, etc. They'd probably land on the lightest side of the prejudice scale, in that it's not like they're barred from the best lunch tables, but in that they're all usually counted as 'Beastkind', even though there would actually be several different tribes and kinds of Beastkind.

I really like the Skymaid idea! It might be difficult to have them as citizens, but sometime in the second part I did imagine a Sky Pirate story arc. Perhaps as soon as we touch cloud we might start meeting a few Skymaids.

Alright, so Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Beastmen, Draugr, Gnomes, and Ents are what we so far have. Monster races will be far, far more varied. Now, question concerning the Walking Singularities: should we give them a bizarre, unnatural looking body (like their skin looks like a starry sky or something) or should we just make them look like plain Humans (albeit, of course, protruding an aura of being 'a bit off')? And for that matter, does anyone have any names for the most recent, 5th WS?

Depends. Are they like, invincible? If so, why not let them show off a bit with their physical forms; if not, they might want to be a bit more subtle.

As for names, what kinds of names might a WS have? o:

Well they're not physically invincible, but rather invincible in the sense that they usually carry a death ray that shoots at the speed of light in their pocket.

I wanted to make them androgynous, but that might change if we go with a Human form. Or not, maybe.

As for names, I suppose it might depend on their personalities. A more pretentious WS might go with something mysterious and Latin sounding. However, a sillier WS, like the 5th, might just call himself something simple sounding.

I'd vote for the subtler aura then :3

Hmm... What aboooooout... Lucinious Disopterotha? I genuinely did not just make that up right now as I was typing this. Genuinely.

Lucinious Disopterotha. Holy crap. I mean, it definitely does not fit the 5th (whom I suppose I should've mentioned was our most recent WS), but it's absolutely perfect for the WS I imagine would've erased the magic from the world.

Which reminds me, while making the doings and personalities of the previous 4 WS's would be fun, I think it would be better if I let the other players think them up. Although I will mention for my own thoughts that the 1st WS launched a continent into the planet's orbit, thus creating the Moon, while at least one of them time-travelled back and pimp-slapped the now-extinct resident race of magic brings, aborting them from time and launching their power-granting magical crystal into space.

Yay I'm helpful :D

Yay helpful people like my RP! :D

Well, if it is a silly name you want, I think Odd would do. Maybe Todd. Somewhat silly, and very unexpected compared to the absolute crisp name Mata gave.