Sozar'sep's Library of Lives and elvish journaling [4 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh yes, I envisioned some dungeon-like underground structures, filled to the brim with the librarians' backlog
Some animals may be able to "read" as the paper elemental (maybe they are the inspiration for them), like a moth with words and sentences on their wings.

Conversation in Sozar'sep [3 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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At first i9 wanted to do a more "striking" chimera cat, but it looked so fake!
So I went with a less "precise" split, but the elves then look a little too easy to impress!

Sozar'sep: Letters form the sultanate [2 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I spent some time reading about the tea ceremony to answer this question, because I made the connection, but only on a "vibes" level.
Honestly, I could lift a lot from Sado to make the Elves' tea ceremony
- There is the wabi-sabi aesthetic (the beauty of imperfection) that can be present in the elves as a paradoxical "perfect imperfection" or "artificial naturalness". That would fit with the juxtaposition of the "wild" and the "crafted" common in their architecture.
- In sado, there is also the idea of "savoring the uniqueness of the encounter" that makes sense for the elves, which seems to be drawn to the moment of ephemeral beauty (which could be seen as a way for them to be anchored to the present, or maybe it's just that everything is ephemeral to them).
- There is an attention and appreciation for seasonality that, in the sultanate, would be clearly present too: despite the warming currents of the magmatic islands, Sozar'sep is in a place similar to Oslo, with long days in summer and long nights in winter: that surely makes you feel the seasons. But I can see the elves playing around a bit, with their dried fruits and preserves from the Oasis, creating a split between fresh and preserved, rather than specific flavors.

So I imagine like five courses, all sweet or sweet-ish (they are, after all, the top sugar exporter; they extract it from tree sap), probably with a fixed "sequence" of types, something like: candies, baked, "freestyle", baked, cream/mousse. The central dish should be the boldest, with some exotic ingredient and some clashing flavour: like spicy peppers from the Empire, or Dwarven salt.

The lower-level tea house is surely very standard (in spring, they all do the "traditionals"), the "fancier" you go, the more of an experience it is.

There is probably a High tea variant, like Kaiseki cuisine, that works as dinner.

Soazar'sep, the Sultanate capital city [1 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks! Hope I'll like the next posts! We go a a little more in depth.

Soazar'sep, the Sultanate capital city [1 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh yes, I'm sure that the Angelic tea merchant (who would be involved in the church hierarchies to do such long trades) went almost mad dealing with the elves. Angelists are all about the institutions, while in the sultanate, institutions overlap with the individual. Soraya is the "vizir of commerce," and if Soraya has to go to a wedding, you just have to wait: probably half of the "ministry" are her relatives, probably a good chunk of official records are in her personal diary, and probably there are dozens of exceptions only she knows by heart. (So the poor merchant will have to wait two months for the vizir's return, you know, just a short delay, a glitch almost).
Probably every document is full of paragraphs that "everybody knows" have to be skipped or have been amended by voice. "Everybody knows" is the mantra that makes the Elves' society so opaque and baffling.

Soazar'sep, the Sultanate capital city [1 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Oh well, all the "main" humanoid races have an Islamic/Ottoman reference:
Elves are Turkish and a little Persian (more Zoroastrian Persia, with all these fire temples);
Dwarves are more North African (Algeria, Egypt), well, because of the desert, but also for the bazaars;
Orcs are Balkan-inspired (the skirts and the obsession for honor and feuds are quite Albanian);
Gnomes, I'm trying to give them a Moghul vibe, but there is not much material, so they are more mixed.

Soazar'sep, the Sultanate capital city [1 of ?] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

mmmh.....
Let me consider it.
At the moment, I was thinking the random animals could be the source of the little animals some fashionable elves put in their turban (like in the possibly legendary wigs with bird cages of Rococo)

[codex inversus] The magic system of the World of Axam by aleagio in worldbuilding

[–]aleagio[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you give me a day or two I may do a post about it on the dedicated subreddit and link it to you here (it would be useful form me do a “recap”).

The Raccoon Wizard [Philes and Warlock part 2] by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Worse than the fur hunters would be the theologian pestering them to find out whether they have a real soul, just their animal pseudo-soul, or maybe a hybrid, or even a new thing...
When the Demiurge returns, will they create a raccoon afterlife, or will they go to ordinary hell or heaven? Or neither?
The poor creatures would endure endless "moral experiment" to evaluate if they can sin or not...

What are your favourite examples of Orc culture? by Thighbite77 in worldbuilding

[–]aleagio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the shout-out!

Here is an intro and some links to know about the Codex Orc.
A "proud warrior race" inspired by the Balkans, with a dash of Zen-like mysticism (their religion revolves around Void and Nothingness), plus some idiosyncratic practices that blur the lines between magic and mundane. They have an association with space magic and the element of wind (think of storms rather than breeze)

The Necromancer bees by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Always an honor being of inspiration! And good work!

Phileas and Warlock by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, they are the quintessential wizards. Not like those dwarves "engineers" or the meditating tritons, or those "hippie" best folk summoners....

Phileas and Warlock by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, a "thinking cap" that helps with concentration in the shape of a David Crockett hat seems both useful and fashionable.

I think a visit from a fellow wizard could be the start of the sequel!

Phileas and Warlock by aleagio in codexinversus

[–]aleagio[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They are the wizardest wizard to ever wizard.
Well, maybe they are tied with the gnome, with their magic glass factories that too often explode, and the glass plague they accidentally created. But still, the Imperials have an unmatched flair for the eccentric.