Let me tell you about the pirate ship Clairvoyance. It’s crewed entirely by a hodge-podge of bush mages who are bringing together a wide diversity of magical talents. None of them are exceptionally powerful and as individuals any of them can have circles run around them by any Royal Navy Wizard. But, when working together they are incredibly effective. Unmatched at sea when it comes to tracking their quarry, laying ambushes at sea, and then disappearing without a trace.
Continue reading “Living Pirate Ship”Category: Worldbuilding Tales
Different Habitats
Sexual dimorphism is a strange thing. Some creatures don’t have it at all and even careful observation cannot tell the difference between the sexes. Some creatures only have one or two key features that distinguish the sexes but otherwise follow the same basic size and shape. Other creatures will have such extreme differences that at first glance it is difficult to even tell they are the same species. Humanity is an especially extreme case where the different sexes don’t even typically occupy the same habitat.
Continue reading “Different Habitats”Single Minded Twins
For as long as anyone can remember, the typical human pregnancy produced two fetuses. Near-identical twins, with one male and one female body. However, despite giving birth to two babies, a typical pregnancy also only results in one mind. This mind is shared between the two bodies as a form of a localized hivemind.
Continue reading “Single Minded Twins”The DroCh
In their own tongue, they call themselves the DroCh. “Ch” is used to represent a voiceless uvular fricative, a sound that does not exist in the common trade languages but is common in the language of the DroCh (also known as DroChlaCh). They are an isolated people that have little contact with other races, but when that contact does occur, they are referred to as either “Dwarfs” or “Dragons”. As a species, they are an example of extreme sexual dimorphism and a resulting high degree of division of labor along the lines of sex.
Continue reading “The DroCh”America: A Nation of Monsters
The early 1600s was a tumultuous time in Europe. Religious wars tore through the continent causing many to flee to other parts of the globe as refugees. No Europeans were affected more strongly in this than the non-human species who hid themselves within the various human populations. What made matters especially bad for them was the English independence from the Catholic Church.
Continue reading “America: A Nation of Monsters”There Are No Women Dwarves
To the many other sentient races, dwarves are a strange people. All anyone ever sees of them are burly men with no woman in sight. This has led to a few people joking that women dwarves don’t exist and that dwarves simply pop out of holes in the ground fully formed. It comes as a surprise to many to learn that this is completely accurate.
Continue reading “There Are No Women Dwarves”The Rise of English Wizardry
In the mid-1500s, the dominant magical tradition in Europe was that of Catholicism. Priests would use mass prayer as a power source and religious iconography as focusing devices. These were old methods that dated back to before the Roman Empire in various forms and were well ingrained into the tradition of Europe. However, the Protestant Reformation threatened to undermine this tradition.
Continue reading “The Rise of English Wizardry”The Romanian Empire
Vlad Tepes (also known as Dracula) was Voivode of Wallachia in the mid-1400s. During his reign, Wallachia faced expansionist invasions by the Ottoman Empire. Vlad used every strategy available to him to stop the Ottoman invasion. Eventually, he turned to darker methods and allowed himself to be turned into a vampire. This granted him the power to turn the Ottomans back, but it came at a cost.
Continue reading “The Romanian Empire”Hivemind
About 300 years ago, there was a French fur trapper who lived near Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit. Unbeknownst to him when he moved there, he possessed a unique genetic mutation. It was upon the birth of his first child that he noticed the effect, even if he didn’t understand that cause at the time. Everyone with that particular allele had their brains networked together functioning as a single mind with several bodies. An odd interaction with an unrelated protein code that was closely located to this allele on the chromosome caused it to be Super Dominant in that if present on one Chromosome, it would become duplicated on the other one. Only a tiny fraction of children end up not carrying the allele.
Continue reading “Hivemind”Succubus Cheese
Succubus cheese is considered a rare delicacy and is traded like a black market drug.
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Crayshack 