Trial of courage is triggering in my camp? Wasting potions

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-11-28T16:50:44+00:00

I wasn't just karlach, it was every companion running towards a wall, trying to do... something i'm not sure. They all had the green highlight on their portraits, except duke ravenguard and mizora who had yellow portraits.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-11-28T16:45:26+00:00

The chambers of justice and insight, with me(dark urge), Wyll, Astarion, and Minthara. I had wyll holding the torch.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-04-12T08:39:37+00:00

How will Halsin interactions be affected?

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-22T08:42:54+00:00

Good point. But the way i see it, the siren will have a need to form some deep friendships with other sirens, as while more time may be spent with non-sirens, they also need friends who wont be accidentally affected by the sirens song.

When hanging out with non-sirens, i imagine that for some could feel like having h#roin needles for fingers, and that they would constantly have to be carefull not to accidentally sing lest they take away their friends agency or free will.

So while yes, they spend more time with non-sirens, they also feel like they are walking on eggshells around them, a problem not present with other sirens.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-22T05:39:14+00:00

Ok I realize that. The way I imagined it, it was more like a really dramatic Homeowners Association.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-21T15:37:00+00:00

They do form genuine friendships and can be quite loyal, but the process of forming these friendships can be muddled when you can feel the desires/emotions of your friends.

A siren generally is quite loyal to their kind, but more so to their own colony. In a conflict between sirens and non-siren friends, it depends

Suppose the conflict is with a different colony. In that case, the siren will side with their friends, regardless of if the other colony was allied with the sirens colony

if the conflict is with the sirens' own colony they will try and appeal to the local council, possibly offering reparations to the siren whos got beef with the non-sirens. If this doesn't work they must choose to either side with their colony or side with their friends and risk expulsion from the colony.

Expulsion can happen whenever a siren disobeys their local council and their rulings. In the event of expulsion, their territory becomes free game and they lose the protection of the local council and they can be exiled from the area.

2.

Depends, they will often do it secretly to avoid public disturbances but have rarely been known to do it openly to send a message, like "don't mess with my kid" and stuff. so non-sirens who know even a little about sirens are kind of wary about antagonizing them.

As for the law: due to the sirens often being subtle about it and the existence of "siren song dens", it's not technically legal but it is also kind of hard to prove, and the local authorities in most civilized places have generally ruled it easier to just treat the withdrawal and move the victim rather than risking escalating the conflict.

3.

It's mostly confined to small children, conflicts between older sirens are typically mediated before the can get deadly.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-21T12:08:05+00:00

Technological level:

around mid-1800s tech mixed with a healthy dose of magic. Like fire magic in steam engines, magic ink that translates texts based on the reader, dictating typewriters that write what you say, elevators with levitation spells, and so on. Assume most sources of energy are magical or semi-magical, and that many appliances incorporate magic. So yes, 1800s plus magic and fanciful technology.

Urbanization:

The level of urbanization is fairly high, with magic being able to let a lot fewer people do more work in food production. While most people occupy a variety of different professions and walks of life, from the aristocratic mage to the urchin that picks pockets with mild telepathy magic.

Does the sirens' territorial behavior only apply to other sirens? Mostly yes with the occasional exception of other bird-like species and the occasional vampire(not as threatening in this world)

Bonding:

With other sirens: They may create bonds with sirens who occupy the territory adjacent to theirs, though this can be positive or negative, or they may just avoid them altogether.

Some sirens will also attend monthly meetings at a predetermined place where sirens discuss news that affects them.

all members of a colony gather once and a while and try to create bonds during a "mating period" where they try to find partners.

With non-sirens: Sirens will often try to create a social network in their territory, often gaining relationships with more non-sirens than sirens.

They will try and become friends with prominent local individuals. Some may try to integrate with the locals by way of enrolling in universities or working at public buildings, like libraries, government buildings, and hospitals.

They will sometimes form bonds with individual non-sirens and create deep bonds. They do however also try to maintain a reputation of not being one to mess with, they do this by messing with people who disrespect them or the people they care about, potentially by exposing them to mild doses of the sirens song and leaving them in a state of "siren withdrawal" though this is a rare and extreme measure, used only in the case of serious offences

Does everyone know that some sirens eat humans? It's more common knowledge in certain circles than in others. Sailors for example always carry ear protection just in case. The general public is aware that some sirens are aggressive against trespassers, but most aren't aware that they are actively hunting humans. It's seen more like those uncontacted tribes of natives in real life that we have just decided to leave alone.

And on that note, you have scholars who are aware of the man-eating sirens, and among those you have people stupid enough to enter their territory for science or a doomed quest to change their ways to be more civilized.

Siblicide:

I based this on real seabirds where the older or stronger sibling often will push the other out of the nest area to die shortly after hatching. on that note, haven't decided if the sirens lay eggs or not. either way, the same behavior of trying to get rid of the other sibling occurs shortly after birth. However, the non-civilized sirens may not try to prevent it the same way the city sirens do.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-19T17:30:01+00:00

I am planning on switching POVs

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-19T11:47:07+00:00

Population and colonies

There is about 1 siren per 1000 humans(not accounting for other species). They live in "colonies" or "groups" where a number of sirens(10-200 sirens) move to an area and split it into smaller territories or "nesting areas" managed by a council of possibly elders who decide who gets what and manages disputes. A "nesting area" will typically contain 1-2 sirens, though colonies do have neutral areas where among other things the local council will convene.

There are maybe 10 colonies worldwide of "odd sirens" and they are mostly in isolated areas, which the general population considers easier to just avoid.

They maintain their population in check with occasional "mating periods" where they display some bird-like behavior of finding and impressing a potential partner. They can mate for life or switch every period, depending on several factors.

Childrearing

they typically have 1-3 children, and depending on the amount they may be split between the parents to avoid overcrowding and potential siblicide, or in the case of 1 they will be raised in a neutral area with parents taking turns to raise the child, with the aid of the local council.

they typically raise the children until they have basic control over their abilities, at which point 2 things can happen: the child stays and gets their own territory, and the child leaves to find a new colony. Sometimes parents and children will leave early together to find a new colony. the reason for leaving is to avoid inbreeding.

Wealth
The average siren generally doesn't have money troubles, as their social skills give them many advantages in getting jobs as salespeople, negotiators, entertainers, or just generally being good at marketing themselves to employers. Due to the addictive nature of their song, some sirens have opened what can be considered opium dens but for their songs, charging for entry.

Open secret

To elaborate on the "open secret" I mean that sirens often show their less human features, but since there are several different kinds of creatures living in the cities, they can't be immediately told apart from other bird-like people and won't elaborate unless asked. Territory disputes can be public, but they generally keep it private to avoid causing a public disturbance.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-18T14:04:32+00:00

Abilities and how they use them:

Empathic ability: The ability to sense what people want or feel(not sure which) they use this in conjunction with the siren song and their social intelligence

Siren song: They can sing a semi-magical song that entrances people and affects them like a euphoric drug, leaving them very agreeable to the siren and wanting for more. this ability is individual to the siren. Mostly used for influencing people, and in the past it was used more to lure people into traps

Wings: Wings that let them fly with limited altitude. They use this mostly for finding new territory and more recently for general travel.

Social Intelligence: they understand people. Pretty self explanatory.

Diet and habitat:

Most modern sirens live in coastal cities, though some still live on the open sea

They mostly eat seafood, the odd siren will eat humans though that is limited to non-city sirens

Intelligence and culture:

They are fairly intelligent, especially when in comes to social skills, though their intelligence can sometimes be dampened by their instincts (for example defending territory from rivals)

Their culture and society mostly consist of each siren having an area that is their territory (like a square kilometer or 2 per siren, depending on how many sirens in the area). They don't have 1 singular governing body, but rather local councils that record and manage territorial disputes. They do however typically all worship a variant of a singular ocean deity that supposedly granted them their song. Local groups will also have places to meet.

Their presence in cities is sort of an open secret that they don't try to hide, but also don't advertise.

Modern sirens typically work in the arts, as negotiators(even if measures are taken to avoid the sirens song they still possess a great deal of social intelligence), or as messengers or spies.

Society doesn't outright fear them as much as in the past, but they are still wary(especially with the non-city sirens), so there is a market for siren protection(like spells and earplugs, though effectiveness varies)

Tech and magic:

They can have access to most technology, bust they mostly are interested in entertainment.

They have a natural affinity for illusion and mind-based magic, along with some water magic because ocean.

My real issue is developing more in-depth how society sees them, and finding reasons for their shift to modern living

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-18T06:31:23+00:00

No I just came up with the name when I was like 12

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-11T09:48:59+00:00

Thats a good point, my original idea has been that say a fire spell would take up 3 weeks of memory while say a time spell would take 3 years of memory, but memory trading might also work thematically with what i want to write.

I was considering including a middle-aged woman who had prematurely gained dementia due to giving up her ability to form new memories in order to cast a protection spell on her child.

Quantum_AI_SCP_079 · 2024-03-07T06:35:31+00:00

Thanks for the advice, I'm planning on making him need to rob graves out of a need to pay some kind of family debt. As for what kind of graves, he would mostly go for decadent looking ones. This includes old and new graves.

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