The Stand Still, Stay Silent Fan-Forum
Worlds and Stories => SSSS & ARTD Board => PerSSSSonas => Topic started by: Fauna on October 11, 2015, 08:09:30 PM
-
Lets play a fun little game!
Since vast areas of land are still most likely unexplored, do you think there are isolationist villages and cultures within the black areas of Scandinavia? The red areas are only the KNOWN world - the areas that have contact with one another! But in the chaos of y0 and the trollocapypse, people must've fled all over the place, seeking refuge in the countryside and the wilderness. A return to viking aesthetics would've hardly been the first thought to everyone, would it? And in the case of Sweden, they have no mages to help influence their religion or faith, and even in Finland and Norway we have no evidence pointing toward the kind of dreamwalking that Reynir was up to, so contact with the rest of the world would still be very limited.
So... the game is to make up wacky cultures and locations! It's like making OC's, but with groups of people instead. :D For example, what would happen if a cult of crazy Christians were stranded in Lappland, still thinking that the Rapture is coming to pick them up? Or if there was a colony where only young children survived, having to re-discover culture, order and making-sense-of-the-world all over again? A remote mental warden somehow making it through, or a bunch of survivors holed up in a gigantic chicken farm where they had to co-exist with endless chickens for eternity, afraid to step outside due to the disease, eventually creating a chicken religion and a chicken-based world view as they were driven to madness across the generations? Or maybe just a fairly normal little village, that never the less had to come up with their own explanations to explain the madness of the world.
Lets just have some random fun :D
-
Got a few from Arbet's travels to various places, but don't think they're very isolationist. Mostly trying to kill each other.
-
I imagine there must somewhere be a community that worships the Rash out of fear like some wrathful god. I figure they would leave sacrifices to the trolls, beasts, and giants. Maybe they would even go so far as to honor those who became those monsters, the immunes thinking they are unworthy or something to not be touched by the illness, or mourning the dead who were not strong enough to withstand the "transformation of the gods." It could even be that when people became infected, they would send them out as sacrifices, chosen by the gods to be transformed into a creature to worship or simply to die.
-
I imagine there must somewhere be a community that worships the Rash out of fear like some wrathful god. I figure they would leave sacrifices to the trolls, beasts, and giants. Maybe they would even go so far as to honor those who became those monsters, the immunes thinking they are unworthy or something to not be touched by the illness, or mourning the dead who were not strong enough to withstand the "transformation of the gods." It could even be that when people became infected, they would send them out as sacrifices, chosen by the gods to be transformed into a creature to worship or simply to die.
I... well. Damn. This is surprisingly awesome.
-
I... well. Damn. This is surprisingly awesome.
Really? Thanks!
-
I imagine there must somewhere be a community that worships the Rash out of fear like some wrathful god. I figure they would leave sacrifices to the trolls, beasts, and giants. Maybe they would even go so far as to honor those who became those monsters, the immunes thinking they are unworthy or something to not be touched by the illness, or mourning the dead who were not strong enough to withstand the "transformation of the gods." It could even be that when people became infected, they would send them out as sacrifices, chosen by the gods to be transformed into a creature to worship or simply to die.
1. Speaking of crazy Rash cults, RandomTexanReader came up with a brilliant riff on how that might look in her homeland...
https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=24.msg26245#msg26245
2. The ancient Greeks had similar ideas -- for example, epilepsy was considered both a curse and a "gift of the gods." Apollo was worshipped as both the bringer and preventer of plague (conveyed by his swift arrows). He was addressed as Mouse-Apollo because he supposedly had power to chase away mice, which the ancient Greeks knew to correlate with plague even if they didn't know how it was transmitted via their fleas. (The Navajo and other native cultures of the U.S. Southwest have supposedly also considered mice, pack rats, and other small mammals taboo to touch, which is of course a very prudent measure against the bubonic plague they carry.)
In fact, many pagan cultures considered plagues and their vectors both cursed and sacred -- monsters likewise. C.S. Lewis's novel "Till We Have Faces" gives an interesting view of how primitive people might have viewed the people who were designated for sacrifice as both culprits/sinners and specially gifted.
-
or a bunch of survivors holed up in a gigantic chicken farm where they had to co-exist with endless chickens for eternity, afraid to step outside due to the disease, eventually creating a chicken religion and a chicken-based world view as they were driven to madness across the generations
So.... basically a village where everyone in town picked the chicken infested (50% chance of retrieving a chicken from your pack instead of the item you were looking for... no we don't know where the chickens came from either) commoner flaw?
Neat.
-
So.... basically a village where everyone in town picked the chicken infested (50% chance of retrieving a chicken from your pack instead of the item you were looking for... no we don't know where the chickens came from either) commoner flaw?
Neat.
I have never heard of this, but it is beautiful :'D
-
I'm imagining a society where the original survivors went underground to escape the spread of the disease, and future generations may have evolved to have different abilities, like being able to see in the dark and live longer without food. They would fear the sun, and embrace the darkness. Their diet would probably consist mainly of fungi and insects. They might even be living right under Mora and no one would know they were there!
-
I'm imagining a society where the original survivors went underground to escape the spread of the disease, and future generations may have evolved to have different abilities, like being able to see in the dark and live longer without food. They would fear the sun, and embrace the darkness. Their diet would probably consist mainly of fungi and insects. They might even be living right under Mora and no one would know they were there!
This is so many early post-nuclear-war SF stories.
Pity the ISS isn't self-sufficient.
-
Pity the ISS isn't self-sufficient.
Yeah, if they had a way of growing food up there they would be almost self-sufficient.
-
Yeah, if they had a way of growing food up there they would be almost self-sufficient.
Do they have potatoes? And poop? ;D (Guess who saw "The Martian" recently...)
-
Yeah, if they had a way of growing food up there they would be almost self-sufficient.
Possibly. I'm not sure how often they restock water and air.
-
Possibly. I'm not sure how often they restock water and air.
I thought that the plants would balance the oxygen levels and they could extract water from human byproducts.
-
There are issues with development from early stages in low or zero Gs. It might not affect plants but i know for sure even basic animals have problems. So they might not germinate on the ISS.
-
I thought that the plants would balance the oxygen levels and they could extract water from human byproducts.
The system isn't 100% loss-free, though.
-
The idea that mammals the people of the Known World aren't aware of can't catch the Rash is just plain genius.
Also there is a tribe on North Sentinel island that is still shooting anything even vaguely human shaped that shows up, while shouting, "See, we were right! See? See????"
-
Havnnes, a small trading outpost a short distance from Tromsø. Has lifestock, running water, and maybe fifty visitors a year, maksimum. I imagine they, if they took the Rash seriously from the beginning, could instate a very strict quarantine on any visitors, as the only way on to the island is through a ferry that can easily be regulated. Also, midnightsun, so they're pretty much safe all year round.
-
Havnnes, a small trading outpost a short distance from Tromsø. Has lifestock, running water, and maybe fifty visitors a year, maksimum. I imagine they, if they took the Rash seriously from the beginning, could instate a very strict quarantine on any visitors, as the only way on to the island is through a ferry that can easily be regulated. Also, midnightsun, so they're pretty much safe all year round.
It doesn't look that far on the map to the mainland. How common are small boats?
-
It doesn't look that far on the map to the mainland. How common are small boats?
Pretty common, but there are only three, very small towns nearby.
-
I'm sure someone has imagined this before, but norwegian petrol extraction platforms could create a community that lived of fishing and local desalination?
-
I'm sure someone has imagined this before, but norwegian petrol extraction platforms could create a community that lived of fishing and local desalination?
The raw materials would quickly became a problem...
-
The raw materials would quickly became a problem...
They could make contact with passing boats, and trade fish for whatever they need - by year 90 maybe establish themselves as a sort of city-state.
-
They could make contact with passing boats, and trade fish for whatever they need - by year 90 maybe establish themselves as a sort of city-state.
This require a boats to pass, firstly. And during the first decades, when the Iceland mantained the isolation, there hardly were much traffic in sea. Well... the icelanders probably required oil, but it would be simpler for them to just took over the platforms they need.
-
The raw materials would quickly became a problem...
Idk, I imagined some expedition for supplies ("some go well enough, some never come back" sorta' thing) and just... you know, doing-without as a form of life. And adapting the platforms for some sort of agriculture, maybe. I imagine they would have some boat of their own (can platforms keep boats around in harsh weather?)
-
There's also the issue of leviathans. We don't know just how smart infected whales are. Even a single leviathan hanging around could make life on a platform incredibly difficult. And if it was smart enough to understand that there are tasty people on top of the platform...
I really like the idea of civilisation surviving on oil rigs, but there are a lot of problems getting it to work in Minna's world!
-
There's also the issue of leviathans. We don't know just how smart infected whales are. Even a single leviathan hanging around could make life on a platform incredibly difficult. And if it was smart enough to understand that there are tasty people on top of the platform...
With the Leviathans we have one important problems; they need to breath. All time. Not only at night, but in daylight too. And there are no hideouts in sea.
So, they are basically forced to constantly expose themselves to sunlight. We knew, that while beasts could survive sunlight better than trolls (generally because the beasts have more reasonable design, they have no exposed ograns) they by no way like it. The life of average Leviathan seems to be... really unpleasant (on the other hands, the constant exposure may snap them out of Rash-induced maddness and actually make them less dangerous with the years come...)
Anyway, it would be really interesting to estimate the intellect level of 90+ years whale.
-
With the Leviathans we have one important problems; they need to breath. All time. Not only at night, but in daylight too. And there are no hideouts in sea.
Well, we were talking about those silly humans setting up metal umbrellas in the middle of the sea for them to set up camp under .......
-
Well, we were talking about those silly humans setting up metal umbrellas in the middle of the sea for them to set up camp under .......
I tried to imagine a bunch of infected whales, huddling under the oil platform... which they firstly need somehow to reach, through the daylight, too. IMHO, not gonna work, unless the leviathans are actually more clever than average beasts and able to at least partially co-exist with humans.
"So, that's the deal; you don't hunt us at daylight, and we don't try to wreck your metal hut at night. Agreed? No flipper... hand shaking!"
Which actually may be... interesting situation...
Emil: "What. Is. That. THING IN WATER?!!!!"
Sigrun (without much interest): "Oh, it's just our local leviathan hiding from the sun... don't panic, he is part of the family."
-
Emil: "What. Is. That. THING IN WATER?!!!!"
Sigrun (without much interest): "Oh, it's just our local leviathan hiding from the sun... don't panic, he is part of the family."
Heheheheheheh "You can call it Libby"
-
I tried to imagine a bunch of infected whales, huddling under the oil platform... which they firstly need somehow to reach, through the daylight, too. IMHO, not gonna work, unless the leviathans are actually more clever than average beasts and able to at least partially co-exist with humans.
"So, that's the deal; you don't hunt us at daylight, and we don't try to wreck your metal hut at night. Agreed? No flipper... hand shaking!"
Which actually may be... interesting situation...
Emil: "What. Is. That. THING IN WATER?!!!!"
Sigrun (without much interest): "Oh, it's just our local leviathan hiding from the sun... don't panic, he is part of the family."
Restarting a thread, I know, but this is actually an interesting take. We know some trolls maintain clear enough heads to plead for help or lie down and wait for death, and we’ve met one (spoilers!) who remained almost perfectly sane despite the pain her body was going through. Perhaps there’s something similar that happens with the leviathans–a certain amount of clarity permitting interaction with humans far out at sea? Or even some sort of timekeeping, like a few trolls on the mainland, where they don’t attack if boats come by at a certain time of day but every other time is fair game for both parties?
-
I actually wrote a fanfic on a plane two years ago about one of these. (I will not post it, since it is bad.)
Essentially, there are villages in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, highly insular and protected by layers of walls. They have cleansers whose job it is to expand the uninfected areas so that the people can go hunting without the risk of getting the "rot", and maybe someday expand the village. The people, at least the ones in the village the fanfic focuses on, are mainly Protestant Christian, which affects their magic. I thought it would be cool to see more mages like Pastor Anne.
One twelve-year-old boy begs to take a trip with the cleansers (he likes fire) into the middle of the cleansed area. Upon reaching it, he wanders out and meets a giant. The giant says some very spooky things into his head, then charges him. He escapes by running super fast and then standing still and staying silent inside a hole, AYO, and after getting a stern talking-to, eventually gets to start his mage training.
-
Sounds interesting! Why not put it up for us to read?