A narrow path

on September 7, 2019
Posted In: Culture, History

“…and so the Ascendant became the Incarnate, and all who saw her were amazed…“
Verse 2410b

The room was filled with a thick and strong-smelling fog. Powerful drums like a beating heart echoed all around. The dark room seemed like another universe to the huddled children. Tense seconds and minutes… a hissing sound…

THOOM

The kids shrieked. Before them stood Oraq, the God-empress herself. Cloaked in sparks and lightning – just like the stories! Her pearl war mask shone with an aura as a tell of her unearthly power. Each methodical step she took seemed deafeningly loud in the cavernous room. 
She slowly raised her armored hand and pointed with authority at the group. Each child felt that she pierced solely them. Her words were slow and mighty.

“CHILD OF CONCORDA! FROM MY THRONE IN PROVIDENCE I HAVE DESCENDED AND COME TO YOU! WILL YOU PROVE YOURSELF AS STRONG IN RESOLVE AS YOUR ANCESTORS?” 
Cold sweat. Though fearful, the children stammered a staggered ‘yes’.
“WITH RESOLVE, CHILD. WHAT IS THE SPIRIT OF MAN?”
The teachers chanted and the children followed. All knew the words by heart.
“Sovereign empress incarnate! Our call is to carry the eternal flame!”
“WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?”
“To light the new age! That all may see the glory of Allano!”
“WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?”
“That our children may carry the flame forward! To succeed in their spirit!”
“AND THE NAME IN WHICH WE REJOICE IN OUR TRIUMPH?”
“To our queen, God, and ancestor!”

As suddenly as she appeared, Oraq vanished. The choir leader began chanting the familiar hymn The Bravery Lost and the children began to sing along.

Though muffled through the walls, it was just possible to make out moments of her partners’ booming song. Walking behind the curtain and onto the street corner behind the odeon, Malatye sat down and removed the pearl mask. She shook her frills and took a deep breath. The thing was so stuffy. If Oraq’s helm was like this one, no wonder she had such resolve. Thank the Gods for a breeze.

“You dishonor Her by making Her into a tame plaything.”

The actress looked over her shoulder. There stood a small elderly woman, a cold disapproval on her face. Malatye now found herself the one being pointed at.

“Do not mock the Incarnate with such blatant irreverence.” said the woman. Malatye sighed. Heard this before. Countless times.
“Look, I know what you’re going to say-”
“Do you?”
“…Our portrayal of the God helps the children understand Her better.” she sighed. “ We know our portrayal isn’t real. We aren’t trying to- hh- cheapen her calling or her message–”

The woman spit at Malatye’s feet.

“The God is so far beyond us that any portrayal is mockery! How can you claim to follow her path if you do the very thing she despises?”
“How is helping the children understand our faith despicable?”
“Man is not on the same level as the divine! You’re playing a puppet! You’re giving them false standards! They can’t save themselves without knowing the true goal!”
“The goal? ‘Our call is to carry the eternal flame? To light the new age? That all may see the glory-’”
“-How can you speak those words?”
“Because they’re true?”
“Don’t mock me-”
“Elder, please… why can’t you let us teach in a way that helps the kids? Ask any one of them- ”
“You are destroying them beyond the grave!! How DARE you take away their right to ascend?”

Silence.

“…I respectfully disagree, elder.” Malatye said, quietly.
“The God would never be played by some slave. You must be the one in charge. Is this what now passes for piety? You lead the children in worship? A weak-willed whore like you? Selling yourself to false standards of eternity?” she scowled. “…You will never be able to free yourself.”

Malatye narrowed her eyes.

“If She could save herself then there’s hope for all of us. Or have you forgotten your teachings as a child?” the actress said firmly.
“The Incarnate found the path.”
“And so can we.”
“She was the God.”
“She was once mortal too. And she had no one to show Her the path. But I will show them in a way they understand.”

Another moment of silence. The woman simply turned and walked away.
Malatye looked to the sky and held her rosary tight. Oraq would understand. Surely…


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The butterfly effect of technology

on August 14, 2019
Posted In: BLOG

An idea. Technology doesn’t progress in the same sequence in Motherland as in real life.

People in real life often take for granted that technology progresses as it currently does. Many feel it as this inevitable thing but I disagree. without specific people with specific ideas, specific inventions would never have come along at the same time, and they never would have influenced others in the same way. There is no reason something like the compass couldn’t have been invented centuries earlier or later than when it was. The vast majority of people only know about inventions because they are already known and recorded. Say the concept of global magnetism was never discovered. Do you think you could invent a compass single-handedly without ever seeing one before or knowing the mechanism of its function? I never would. I only know about it because someone told me, who was told by someone else, who some where back in the depths of time was discovered by some sharp (and perhaps a bit lucky) individual who caught something that everyone else missed. I think that’s incredible.

As far as we know, the world population didn’t even hit 1 billion until the 19th century. We have septupled in population in just over a hundred years. Some estimates place the entire world population at 1000AD around the current population of the United States. Think how much more rapidly group knowledge and learning occur in the current environment compared to the days when cities of 30,000 were considered massive. I don’t think we’re smarter now than we were in the past, we just have more access to the knowledge of people before us to build on.

When it comes to technology as related to different eras, I see the same pattern constantly – especially from european-influenced works – history is inevitably shown as going from: ancient -> classical -> medieval -> renaissance/neoclassical -> industrial -> modern -> future. This is hardly the only way it could have gone (and it only represents the sequence in a small corner of the world anyway). I want to play with this concept a lot in the comic. Not to mention the Motherland world is not earth – different wildlife, climate, seasons, chemistry, etc. This changes a lot. I threw around an idea that fire is either nonexistent or difficult to create due to the atmosphere composition. Just imagine life on earth if fire wasn’t a thing. Apart from the obvious like heat and cooking, imagine trying to forge metal without fire. No metal means no tools, and much later down the line no industrial revolution. Coal and oil would be useless commodities. But what if electricity was discovered early? Lack of fire would mean coal generators to power the current wouldn’t be viable, leaving hydroelectric generation as the primary source. Maritime nations having access to electricity while neighboring regions without river or sea access would drastically change the balance of power practically overnight. The butterfly effect can be extremely pronounced with even minor changes.

Obviously the effects are different in the Motherland world, but just think about it as an example. Who is to say some bright individual wouldn’t come up with an alternative to fire that no one had ever thought of? What if a unique chemical compound from alien fauna not found on earth combusts without access to oxygen? What if the planet has ready access to geothermal power? Tons of possible ideas and solutions. Just because something wasn’t done in real life doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done. What if the cure to cancer is the one mundane compound everyone overlooked? What if the secret to time travel is peanut butter? How would you know?

Humanity is much more naive about the world than it likes to think. I’m okay with that.

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Character concepts 4 – armor again

on August 13, 2019
Posted In: BLOG

Did some more concepts. looking again at a lot of real life designs, these have elements influenced by a variety of asian and middle-eastern pieces from cultures like the Mughals. It’s difficult to come up with original designs that are practical, because most of the practical designs people came up with in the past were already made. Generally if you can think of a ‘unique’ design there is often a reason it wasn’t used historically. A major issue with a lot of fantasy armors is they are often impractical on or off the battlefield, sometimes both. Designing a bulky suit of armor to provide ultimate protection might work for its intended purpose but would be extremely heavy, hindering its user in combat. Not to mention something oft forgotten – you end up wearing a suit of armor out of battle much more than in battle. I doubt anyone would want to wear an extra 60-100lbs (or theoretically more in the case of many fantasy designs) any more than they had to especially when marching on foot, sitting down for dinner, etc. People in real life sure didn’t.

People tended to wear what they could get away with and what they could afford. Armor was expensive and difficult to manufacture, especially large plates of metal. European knights were often wealthy and could afford plate armor, the lower status footsoldiers and such as far as I know generally wore cheaper materials. Mail and lamellar was cheaper and easier to make than plate armor or more people would have used it. I’ve heard that some cannibalized common tools like scythes into helmets and such in emergencies which wouldn’t surprise me. Thick fabric is also much better at protection than many people think. If something was useless in real life it quickly died out, but even a crummy helmet is better than none at all.

Feudalistic societies don’t really exist in the current Motherland setting and the economics of resin production and crafting is different than that of metal (easier to create large sheets), but the general principle of cost and practicality is still very applicable. People are still people even in alien lizard land.

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