go on

There's a tendency in fiction to deride foppish, vain dandies - it'd be interesting to have a culture where it's exalted as the ideal. Maybe they'd be surprisingly effective combatants - for all of their airs, each Peacock has a hard upbringing of honour duels fought over slights, snooks and impertinences.

Remember the Scarlet Pimpernel had a limp-wristed fop as his outward alter-ego.

>>15990640
your homebrew fluff doesn't sound like an offspring of christianity at all, but anyway

Delicious delicious copypasta.

>>15990688
it's a good one, then

>>15990688
I was just thinking that.

Peacock kung-fu?

Peacock kung-fu.

copy-pasta troll thread, reporting before the entire board is spammed with "I am making X, how do I make X not suck" threads

How ashamed should I be for looking at the OP image and thinking:

"... Ion?"

Didn't we already have an awesome thread about this?

Wait, what? Why would you want to include anthropomorphized peacocks in your setting?

OP confirmed for feather-fag.

>>15990674
You might want to check out some Restoration-era plays and literature. When Charles II restored the theatres, most of the plays were designed to appeal directly to his interests (to ensure his continued patronage), so every protagonist was a rakish Libertine - the guys every dandy wished he was.

>>15990685
I just like the sound of Peacock Pope.

>>15990741
It's more of peacock-themed people instead of actual peacock people.

Make them a cultural mashup of Mughal India (aka The Peacock Throne) and the assorted Persian empires (strong Sassanid emphasis). If nothing else, it'd be...interesting to imagine what Peacock Cataphracts look like.

>>15991069
>aka The Peacock Throne

Explain.

>>15990640

>But the tenets of the faith say that whoever is the prettiest and most fabulous is the most sacred. Males just have a genetic tendency to be so much more beautiful than the plain females, so the one who holds the title of Peacock Pope is always male.

ALL OF MY MONIES, OP

TAKE THEM

>>15991184
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_Throne
The name comes from the throne itself, shaped like two peacocks, and blinged out.

Actually we determined from the previous thread that since male peacock feathers are a sign of masculinity and display for sexual advances towards females, girls who wear peacock feathers have the gay.

>>15990674
>it'd be interesting to have a culture where it's exalted as the ideal.
Oddly enough, it was the ideal for a long time in the real world.

You could make it like a real society. Have the upper classes want to show how far away they are from the commoners. If they were physically strong that might indicate that *gasp* they used their bodies for physical labor.

>>15991274

So what? I'll take fabulous masculinity over GRR GRR MANLY MANLY any time.

I'm puzzled where OP image comes from. A quick search on danbooru turned up nothing.

>>15991330
>searches danbooru

There's your problem. Use IQDB.

>>15991326
If your nobility has any relation at all to a warrior class (and odds are that it does) then strength is still going to be prized as an indication of martial power.

>>15991392
Well, OP mentions that the society would have psionics. Maybe the culture things that the power of the mind is purer than strength of the body, so being strong indicates that people are inferior. Thus, the nobles aim to be as weak and smart as possible.

So it came to be that an entire country was filled with nerds.

THIS COPYPASTA AGAIN ?
... You know, I don't really mind after all. It's fun and /tg/ can get some silly shit done. So go on.

>>15991381

Thanks.

>>15991433

Then it's a magocracy.

Or, better,

*sunglasses*

nerdocracy.

>>15991274
>peacocks sign of masculinity
>r63 Pang Tong
oh you

"Ah, the beauty of your fighting skills. It almost rivals my own!"

>>15991433
>I'm so skinny. Look, you can see all of my ribs. I can barely stand up
>Oh god I'm so wet for you right now.

>>15991433
that's what nobles always try to do; but the effort to "stay smart" is through traditional education that's often pretty retarded.

hence, nobles by and large are useless with a few exceptions.

>>15991392
doesn't have to be strength. they could idolize martial arts like they would dance, giving you a civilization of little fuckers that you CAN'T HIT

>>15991570
Basically, women select for moe?

Actual peacocks are vicious as hell. They look pretty but can be mean if you piss them off.
Also perhaps in this society some male and female gender roles have been reversed. Maybe men are the ones who stay at homes being pretty while women go out. By this i mean that perhaps thier army is pretty much all female. The men are deemed to precious to send into war. The men stay back in civillisation, working on more intellectual pursuits.

>>15991433
>Thus, the nobles aim to be as weak and smart as possible.

>Obviously they specialize in powers of perception with their peacock eyes, and entrancement with their peacock beauty.

That sounds to me more like, to put it in D&D 4e terms, Wisdom/Charisma psionics. Like what ardents have.

>>15991603
Nahh. Moe doesn't include being smart. If anything, it's the opposite.

>>15991700
>Actual peacocks are vicious as hell. They look pretty but can be mean if you piss them off.

So, fabulous male peacockians that can blow you up with their mind?

Btw, I think the males don't necessarily have to be 'weak', they just need toned, slim muscles for whatever dodge-fu they do along with their psionics.

>>15990640
>implying peacock's aren't enormous badasses in real life
Holy shit, OP, I had a female peacock living in neighborhood for a while and she was fucking evil.

This feathery bitch kicked my neighbor's pet chihuahua to death, broke two tiles on my roof, tore up the garden, and pecked like a motherfucker when I tried to chase her out of the yard.

>>15992004
So the females are badass, vicious warriors, while the males are badass, vicious psionics?

Bumping with delicious peacock-themed classical art.

>>15991773
>That sounds to me more like, to put it in D&D 4e terms, Wisdom/Charisma psionics. Like what ardents have.

I like the sound of an ardent/paladin.

Is that a boy or a girl in the OP's pic?

>>15993170

A boy, of course. Just look at all those tantalizing feathers.

Ever read Top Ten?

King Peacock is a devout believer in Melek Taus and an incredibly dangerous fighter.

And a cop. And a family man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peafowl#Cultural_significance

Melek Taus (ملك طاووس - Kurdish Tawûsê Melek), the Peacock Angel, is the Yazidi name for the central figure of their faith. The Yazidi consider Tawûsê Melek an emanation of God and a benevolent angel who has redeemed himself from his fall and has become a demiurge who created the cosmos from the Cosmic egg. After he repented, he wept for 7,000 years, his tears filling seven jars

>he wept for 7,000 years, his tears filling seven jars
>wept for 7,000 years

>>15993475

>Melek Taus, god of BAWWWWWWW

>>15990640
Make peacock feathers a sign of death and associated with the dying. If someone expects you to die, they send you a boquet of peacock feathers to be at your funeral. A sign of respect.

Moths and Butterflies were known worldwide as spirits of the dead that comes to visit us. From south america all the way to japan and europe, before explorers. (Same with dragon myths)

>>15993271
"The universe is Satan. It is the absence of God. When God made the universe, he exhaled. When he drew his breath in, the world is what was left."

I was so impressed that Moore had the gall to have what could be a Satanist in the police force.

So, what levels of fabulous are you speaking of, OP?

Hair metal fabulous?

Or just plain androgynous?

because if it's the latter you have my full attention and the entire contents of my paycheck

>>15993601
>Or just plain androgynous?

>because if it's the latter you have my full attention and the entire contents of my paycheck

Doesn't the OP pic make it obvious?

>>15993542
>I was so impressed that Moore had the gall to have what could be a Satanist in the police force.

And to make him one of the most stand-up guys on the force.

Next to Kemlo, of course. One day I will play a dog in an exo-skeleton. All the bitches love him 'cause he's cute.

>>15993764
hilariously, people actually have that reaction.
Children, old people, and whoever just naturally go "Ow, look at the doggy", which either calms them down or distracts them.

The adoption story with him was also adorable

You damn well better have an obvious reference in your setting to this charming motherfucker right here.

>>15994332
What does Oscar Wilde have to do with peacocks?

>>15993507
That way all the warriors can be decked out in tons of peacock feathers. They bring death with them.

>>15995290
So like an eagle warrior, only peacock?

An entire kingdom ruled by Bards with Perform: Model, where the most fabulous is king.

A land where beauty is power, adoration is wealth, and splendor is both sword and shield. The changing fashions spurn arms races among the nobility. Disputes are held on the Dueling Runway, castigating the decrepit and exalting the magnificent. The poor toil so that the beautiful may share a brief glimpse of their glory upon them, all for the beauty of the Peacock Empire.

In the Game of Sewns, be fabulous or die.

Gaze weapons.

That is all.

>>15994640
A love of cock.

>>15994640
Metaphorically, anon.

If we're having a society were all the males are fabulous dandies, the absence of the quintessential historical dandy would be a grievous offense.

>>15999298
I see what you did there.

Well you can't really make them manly, but watch Kamen Rider OOOs.

Ankh is pretty much one, though without the looks. TaJaDor combo has some interesting moves in regards to a peacock tail.

Alternatively, GGG's J-Der Plasma Wing looks peacockish

>If nothing else, it'd be...interesting to imagine what Peacock Cataphracts look like.

You are smalltime.

Of course the armour's off in that image. Nothing less than this sort of shit for a good peacock.

>>15999298
>beauty is power

"Male, female, what's the difference? Power is beauty, and I have the power."

>>15999298
>A land where beauty is power, adoration is wealth, and splendor is both sword and shield. The changing fashions spurn arms races among the nobility. Disputes are held on the Dueling Runway, castigating the decrepit and exalting the magnificent. The poor toil so that the beautiful may share a brief glimpse of their glory upon them, all for the beauty of the Peacock Empire.

I actually kind of like the theocracy/psionics gimmick the OP has, mostly because it's not just "beauty lol," it covers some actual symbolism for peacocks from real-life mythology, and it brings up the "eyes" that peacocks have.

>How do I make peacocks not suck?

Make them dwarves.

So if these peacock people aren't anthropomorphic peacocks...

What are ACTUAL peacocks? Sacred animals?

>>16001433

Of course.

>>16001433
obviously. Just like cats for the Egyptians

In settings without psionics, I'm imagining the culture ruled over by androgynous and FABULOUS sorcerers and bards. In fact, I expect androgyny would have been selected for so heavily among the nobility that it would be unusual for men to ever grow tall, broad shouldered, or bearded - among the noble caste, at least. Probably not enough for racial ability score penalties, just a distinct human ethnicity. The commoners, of course, would not be so "lucky."

I really like the idea of perceived slights leading to all kinds of duels. Specifically, I'm picturing fast, brutal, bloody knife fights.

So, I have to ask, would homosexuality be more common than usual in the setting simply because of the degree to which the men would be androgynous?

>>16003974

Meh, beauty standards are in a constant fluxus anyway, so who cares? Could very well be that putting shitton of beads and silver bells into your hair and bead is the rage for a few years.

>>16003987
Why would it be? Beauty and sexuality are no more related than haircolor and ambidexterity. Just because the men are beautiful doesn't mean they're gay.

>>16003974
>That guy over there just called you a cowardly, cocksucking, scrawny little faggot.

"Bah, what would a boorish and uncouth brute like him know about the glory of my people?"

>His girlfriend also said you had a stupid haircut and lousy fashion sense.

"THAT BITCH, I'LL TEAR HER APART!!"

>>16003987
But men aren't androgynious. They're extremely masculine.

It's just that they have a different definiton of masculine (Colorful) and feminine (Drab).

So, a race of feathery traps?

All of my penis.

>>16004209
So, as the peacock, we're looking for masculinity based on beauty, colors and overall flamboyance.
Like, David Bowie with a peacock motif?

>>16004234

>>16004234
If beauty is manly, Bowie would be their version of Chuck Norris.

>>16004234
kinda, or, like a pimp.

>>16004234
Yes, basically.

>>16004261
>>16004270
Labyrinth-mind.

>>16004276
The Goblin King is just that damn fabulous, honey.

On a sidenote, I can't be the only one who sees camp-gay everywhere with this idea? Glorious - it's like the entire male half of the populus is from a Will and Grace episode, but without the man-on-man aspects!

So, honour-bound knife-slinging FABULOUS sorcerers/psychics. To their culture they're hyper-masculine, to ours they're traps. I have the strangest erection right now.

>>16004315
Just among the noble caste and people trying to emulate them. Peasants wouldn't have the time or energy for that.

If the thread is still up tomorrow, and if we're not going for huge bishies/traps like the OP pic, I might draw a few things tomorrow.
There's some potential for cool drawings, there.

The first time I saw a peacock, I was suprised as how much he looked like a sattelite dish

You could start by not building a nation of pedophiles.

>>16004315
It's camp gay where honor is satisfied by cutting up your enemy's face with your knife, forever exiling him from polite company.

>>16004325
Oh, I don't know, a lot of cultures managed to get a little color into peasant gear, too. It's just that the peasants probably only dress up for their equivalent of going to church on Sunday.

>>16004346
failtroll is fail.

>>16004358
It's a fight until death or a party yields - first blood is never enough. You'll often find successful nobles concealing scars under their accessories.

>>16004390
Would having no scars to conceal imply that someone is inexperienced or just damn good?

>>16004390
I guess that any potentially disfiguring scars just means you need MORE GOLD THREAD LACE.

GOLD THREAD LACE ON EVERYTHING. AND FRILLS! MORE FRILLS!

FRILLS FOR THE FRILL THRONE! EMBROIDERY FOR THE EMBROIDERY GOD!

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?585470-Strange-fantasy-races-Aliens-collection-thread!

my take on it

>>16004454
oh, damn, I was envisioning them as mostly human-looking, with feathers at some places...

>>16004390
With the male in-fighting and mortality rate as it is, it's no wonder that the women go to war instead of the men to keep their rare and precious men safe. I'm imagining harems less as a luxury and more as a necessity to keep breeding rates high enough to maintain a stable population. A man probably takes his opponent's wives into his harem if he kills him in a duel.

>>16004346
They exalt mind-powers. Children are undeveloped in body and mind.

>>15990685
its related to Malek Taus... so techically its the offspring of Islam and That weird proto-Islam Beduin religion.

>>16004500
Damn it man. Stop putting your fetishes in everything.

>>16004500
>it's no wonder that the women go to war instead of the men to keep their rare and precious men safe

the opposite, you mean, right?

>>16004500
I don't know, I kind of imagine the men as a sort of clueless Officer corps while the grey, drab women are the privates and foot-sloggers.

>>16004530
that does not sound fetish-y at all, you sex-obsessed weirdo.

>>16004358
>with your knife
>using tools
Darling, please. A culture of psionics fighting with their hands?

If you want to fight you have an entrancement battle. Both sides attempt to manipulate the other side into loving them.

I just realized... we have yet to actually NAME this new psionic peacock-people race.

>>16004547
>I'm imagining harems less as a luxury and more as a necessity to keep breeding rates high enough to maintain a stable population.
>A man probably takes his opponent's wives into his harem if he kills him in a duel.
Yeah, no fetishes here.

>>15993271
King Peacock was awesome, and his pants were ridiculous.

>>15993475
>>15993501
Hey he was the only fallen angel ever to be redeemed, 7000 years of weeping is a small price to pay to get back on Gods good side.

>>16004561
Hm. Good point.

Forget the mutilation, duels are fought by trying to psychically coerce the other party into kissing your boots while they try and do the same to you.

Incidentially, do they all have these psychic powers, or only the entrancing males?

>>16004567
no, no fetishes indeed.
you're making shit up assuming that the poster is finding it exciting, and ignoring that it makes complete sense.

stop thinking so much about sex just to be able to denigrate it.

>>16004567
>fetish

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Seriously, a harem culture would make sense. if one male breeds with many females, then the population can remain high even if said male is killed or otherwise unable to breed further at some point.

Like lions. One male rules over a group of many females.

>>16004563
Aren't they just humans with a weird culture?

Call them the Melekians or something like that. Mel-leek-ian, for the softer sound.

>>16004530
>>16004547
Yeah, I'm the guy who suggested it, I honestly expect that it's necessary to maintain the population levels. Normally cultures can be monogamous because they're close to 50:50 male/female. If duels to the death are a common thing, though, there would be a distinct shortage of men, of the sort typical of many cultures that tended to lose men readily to war. Those are the sorts of cultures where men tend to end up with harems.

Because of the vast rate of internal male mortality, though, they're likely unwilling to risk the losing what men are left to warfare. Hence women tending to fill the warrior ranks in their culture. That would also help to keep harems reasonably sized instead of vast, sprawling affairs.

It's not a tradition about sex, it's a tradition about procreation and marriage habits.

>>16004583
well, mutilations also sound nice, just a less elegant way of duelling

as for powers, we said: only males, because eyes, eyes everywhere.

>>16004592
If you're basing it off Melek Taus, Taus (or Tawus or several other versions) means peacock.

Maybe call them the Tauans?

>>16004561
>>16004583
Why wouldn't they be fought with mind powers AND knives? Two men trying to cut each other up while also trying to invade each other's mind, make their opponent slip up, give up, and then stab. Mind rape and knife fight at the same time in a truly brutal event.

>>16004583
>>16004605
Perhaps mutilations is still used as a punishment for particularly horrible crimes.

>>16004605
Might psychic males have a literal, physical third eye?

Is being a member of the noble caste a matter of heredity or a matter of psychic potential?

>>16004632
Why not have them call themselves the Melek Taus, and "Melek" is the short, informal way to refer to them.

Like, "Melek Taus" is the equivalent of "the United States of America" whereas "Melek" is just "America". They both mean the same thing, but one is shorter and less formal.

>>16004652
>>16004646
sounds good

what are they supposed to look like, again? anthro peacocks? Humans with feather hair and tail? something in between? just humans?

>>16004659
I think a mere three eyes wouldn't nearly be enough. There have to be dozens of them.

>>16004671
Ornamental feathers are enchanted/etc to provide additional psychic eyes. Strong nobility might have hundreds of feathers, and therefore eyes.
Perhaps when in use you can even see out of them?

>>16004670
I've been picturing them as humans with feather hair, but the eyes in the hair actually function as eyes. It's also possible that the feathers aren't physical feathers, but psychic feathers projected like a halo around any psychically strong Malek Taus.

>>16004670
They're just humans who decorate themselves with peacock feathers and FAB bling.
>>16004671
Three literal, physical eyes, dozens of decorative ones. Eye motifs on clothes, jewelry, and the iconic peacock feathers would appear all over the place in their culture.

If this culture sees power and social status as dependent on aesthetic beauty, how would this affect the perception of aging?

Since few men can retain their beauty past their thirties, would there be a massive market for plastic surgery, or would we see some sort of King of Jerusalem style veils and masks become popular among older aristocrats?

You know, I like the idea of the hair feathers being like a glowing psychic aura that takes the shape of peacock feathers, because when a Melek Taus dies, his brilliant crest of psy-feathers would fade away.

>>16004710
Veils, lots of veils.

>>16004710
>>16004691
>>16004695
oh, well, maybe they started as a freaky breed of humans, but have the biomancy stuff necessary to actually grow feathers and enhance their appearance. That could be an origin story.

>Why wouldn't they be fought with mind powers AND knives? Two men trying to cut each other up while also trying to invade each other's mind, make their opponent slip up, give up, and then stab.

Stab themselves. Make the psychic duel one of self-mutilation, where the more powerful mind forces the other to deface their own beauty.

Not only is it more symbolic, but it means the entire battle is fought without the stronger, more beautiful figure lifting a finger.

>>16004720
And the feathers would only manifest on those with psychic potential as a sort of splendid peacock corona.
>>16004710
I think veils, masks, and being magically/psychically youthened would be common depending on what you can afford. That the youthening can also extend your lifespan is almost a secondary concern.

>>16004710
Plus, there's the psychic enchantment factor - even as you get older, you retain your power to fascinate people and make them adore you, declaring you FAIREST IN ALL THE LAND even as you wrinkle up.

But once you go down that road, you have to entrance people all the time. And that's hard work, and tiring.

One day you slip, and suddenly everyone gasps. The Glorious King is old! And suddenly there's a precious new young thing everyone's carrying around and you're shuffled off somewhere where you won't embarrass the fashion critics.

okay, how do we include this fucker into it?

>>16004761
It's like when people realize that the king is too arthritic to hold a sword. It's time to have a new coronation.

>>16004736
I like it. They try to mindfuck their opponent into either leaping onto their opponent's blade or stabbing themselves.

Sounds like good shit, OP. Only one thing is a little off to me in your description, and that would be the function of the peacock "eyes." When you say that psionics gain power from extra eyes, it usually refers to the kind of eye that can be used to see something. Unless you're asserting that peacok feathers are covered in eyeballs, they don't have extra eyes at all. Now, say you were to re-write the rules and say that anything that looks vaguely eye-shaped can give you power like a real eye. That's fine too, but then wouldn't all mages be walking around in peacock-feather cloaks, or designing capes with even more eye-shapes on them? Or is this power unique to the peacock-folk... can only they use it because of a racial entrancement ability?

The heirarchy of nobility should be determined by beauty of feathers, beauty of the body, and physical strength. Feathers for obvious reasons, beauty of the body because it equates to overall beauty, and physical strength because birds are territorial and strength usually = muscle = beauty anyway.

I'm picturing peacock feather coronas and third eyes appearing on the forehead as visual manifestations of powers. When not manifesting powers, those wouldn't be there. So, they would still tend to wear things like peacock feather collars and eye-shaped golden bindis and such.

>>16004792
so far, they've got actual feathers, each eye functioning as a magical eye as well as an actual eye

as for muscles, why not, but not too much. Kinda like bodybuilders who are not actually fit or strong, just well-defined. Ectomorph body type, six-pack and all, but still very thin and lean, because if they're beautiful, they're powerful, and don't really need to be that strong.

>>16004817
I'm actually picturing people with whipcord muscles. Small amounts of hyper-toned muscle. Scrawny dudes. Perfect build for a fencer or knife fighter.

so basically Lorwyn elves

>>16004837
...who?

>>16004837
remotely. Those were obsessed with forcing beauty everywhere in the world.

>>16004725
>>16004710
possibly crossbreeding with elves to age slower, but elven features are scorned as too feminine- so you get those with too much elven blood resorting to tactics like bobbing their children's ears to hide the most obvious signs, but the too-angular frames you sometimes see are much harder to correct and thus usually mar those poor individuals beauty for life.

What would the neighbors of this grand and majestic empire be?

Would the soldier tradition among women make amazons the standard of attraction for females?

What physical sports and strategy games would be common forms of entertainment?

>>16004873
ulama seems to fit well as far as physical games go... or mabye that's just me wanting these beautiful men hip-thrusting at each other, and still picturing them as vaguely aztec.

I'm just going to leave this here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GEeLaPjGxY

>>16004902
NICE. I'd probably give them a long, thin blade of some kind, like a rapier, but other than that, looks damn good.

>>16004912
I'm picturing them as a mashup of Mughal Indian, Persian, and Meso-American.

why is this beautiful and glorious thread not yet archived?

>>16004902
That head's a little... small for how big the torso is, isn't it?

>>16004837
I fucking love Lorwyn elves.

>>16004952
Fuck, you know what? You're right. Sorry for the criticism. Keep being a baller.

Really like the idea of a psionic unveiling, members of this society remaining cloaked when in other territories, only revealing their mesmerizing might when hard-pressed. Also, female assassin/honor guard caste, drably clothed, possibly soulknives, to play up the psionic knife-fighting, conjuring the image of talons bared.

>>16004914

>>16005030
That is a sexy fucking knife.

I'll just leave this here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerewol
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/people-places-kids/nigeria-wodaabe-kids.html

>>16005027
I like the idea of female soulknives too. Male wilders, female soulknives.

>>16005054
>>16005054
>>16005054
Was just reminded of this, all clucking and eye rolling, trying to steal dem wimmins by being pretty.

>>16005048

Yeah, northern india and iran used to make really sexy knifes. Sort of bleeds into the greater region behind them too.

>>16005097
Ivory and bone handles are awesome.

>>16005115

yeah, they're beautiful.

So /tg/ now has two fantasy races and societies with major sexual dimorphism.

or if you're just out for something for stabbing... Keris.

>>16005027
I developed a culture based on psionics. It was a meritocracy based on the idea of whoever was most capable in any given situation was in charge at the moment. Soulknives didn't fit into that equation - they were outcaste, because the perversity of a mind that was so honed on the idea of killing that their psychic energy manifested as a literal deadly thought was anethema to the meritocracy. Such a mind could only be capable of one act that would proove necessary in a given situation, so they coulnd't be leaders....on the other hand, being outcaste let them be whatever they wanted to be in the society without being considered perverse or alien to the culture, making soulknives a haven for the 'odd folks out'.

Worked out pretty well, actually. Especially with the new psionics stuff from Dreamscarred making soulknives actually useful.

>>16005151
Why would I use that - it's not beautiful at all!

just an idea, and probably a bad one at that, but...

Using powerful divinations, the peacock princes, the most beautiful and deadly men of the society, determine the very moment when their beauty will begin to wane. Just before this time, they have themselves magically turned to stone, so that their beauty may live on eternally, and they can be brought back to serve the kingdom again in it's time of greatest need. A sect of monks exists, composed mostly of women or those men cursed with disfigurements, whose duty it is to maintain these statues beauty with polish, paint, and lots of feathers. Through their devotion the monks of this order strive to be reborn as a member of this beautiful upper caste, to live forever in eternal splendor.

>>16005223
That's probably a bizarre fringe group akin to people who have themselves placed on their funeral pyres while still alive.

>>16005223
What no one but the monks themselves know is that as disfuged and ugly as they are....they are immortals. They are a sect of elan, maintaining eternal vigilance over their charges, watchign the society for outbreaks of madness and influence by hidden forces or psychic enemies - or worse, aberrations from beyond the stars, bodysnatching monstrosities that hide within human flesh to cultivate the human masses against the Peacock King and his lands.

>>16005200
>not beautiful

beauty is subjective

>>16005223
>>16005276
I agree with this guy - >>16005239
it sounds like some kinda underground cult.

What campaign setting would this empire fit into?

>>16005427
pretty-much anything with psionics, but it's largely aimed at fantasy-settings of the D&D sort.

>>16005445
That used to be a railroad spike.

I wonder what sort of motivations adventurers of this race would have? I mean, when the typical adventurer usually ends his day battered, dirty, and with his weapons and gear covered in dents and tears and such... why would someone who strives to be beautiful want to enter such a filthy line of work?

>>16005482
The men wouldn't generally....but there are always exceptions to every rule. A politics based adventure would be ideal.

>>16005482
>>16005495
Women in this society would be adventurers as disproportionately as men are in other societies. Those men who do travel are either ones who feel they can keep pretty anyone, for some reason don't give a fuck, or are doing a political/city game. We keep focusing on the men, but the female amazon soulknives would be the typical adventurers of this nation.

>>16005479
so?

>>16005536
Males I could kinda see as an Errol Flynn-style rogue/swashbuckler/gentleman-theif sort...

"Oh, these wonderful jewels are far too beautiful for the likes of one so unglamorous as you... so I'll just take them off your hands..."

>>16005566
I think it's neat.

>>16005576
This.

A male adventurer from the Peacock Empire could certainly be motivated by a desire to free objects of great aesthetic beauty from the hands of their oh so dreadfully uncultured owners.

>>16005482
>I wonder what sort of motivations adventurers of this race would have?

Find enough shit to afford becoming and staying beautiful. Get away from the constant thug-of-war about who's the prettiest, for once be the prettiest by default as everyone in those barbarian lands around you is NOT AS PRETTY AS YOU ARE....

Then social reasons - be an official envoy, an inofficial spy, a trader, ect

>and with his weapons and gear covered in dents and tears and such...

Soulknifes do not dent and they'd prolly much simply go out in some sort of wide, flowing and easily washable overcoat that protects their prestige clothing. Think harem-pants and wide mongolian boots. Probably even with veils or light masks.

>>16005667
I think very few men would be soulknives - we're mostly talking about wilders for them. Women would be soulknives. Among those with no psychic talent, I expect knife fighters would abound, though.

>>16005482
In the case of the females, adventuring could simply be a protracted effort to gain the necessary funds and/or notoriety to actually be able to afford/deserve a mate.

>>16005810
Exactly. They're saving up a dowry to be accepted into their potential husband's household.

>>16004817

So the eye-shaped orbs on the feathers are all actual fully-functioning magical eyes? Wow. In that case, you should make rules dictating both that the magical eye ability of these feathers is entirely dependent upon the user's own abilities, and also that they are biologically bound to said user from birth (thus permanently locking the use of this ability to non-owners and especially to non-peacoks.) If you don't do this much, then you'll probably develop a problem with psychics trying to illegally acquire peacock-man feathers and have cloaks or clothing made from them, only to have their minds completely fry when they try to use the magical eye abilities.

Then again, that also sounds like it would be awesomely fun to play out.

Personally, I think it would be a lot more practical if the feathers just gave a major boost to entrancement capabilities, and the peacocks themselves were responsible for their psychic powers, but don't take my word for it.

>>16004827

I imagine them being much bulkier than something like whipcord muscle, namely because most birds are build with puffed out chests. It doesn't have to be huge bulk, necessarily, but definitely not much smaller than Bruce Lee on average, and of course you'll have people who are hugely bulky and some who are naturally more slender because of diversity. Like most birds, I think there should be a pretty big emphasis placed on strength, and it should be valued as a thing of beauty. Entrancement is great, but you can't physically damage another male with it, and even if you could it would probably be looked upon as dishonorable to make your opponent fall on his own sword.

>>16005934
I think Bruce Lee is pretty much the perfect example of someone with a whipcord build. As for the spots on the feathers functioning as eyes, I'm pretty sure we nixed that. An aura that looks like peacock feathers forms when they use their psychic abilities is all - it's their visual manifestation. Aside from that they just wear actual peacock feathers as decoration.

>>16005965

I always thought Bruce was a little bulkier than whipcord in some of his pictures? Well, no matter. I think they probably shouldn't be much smaller than him. If anything, I'd probably say a little bigger even.

As for the feathers as a manifestation of aura sort of thing, I think that's a great idea.

>>16006103
Brucey is definitely on the bulkier side, especially his back and sides. If any level of muscle is involved, I'd say it would have to be towards the minuscule and solely aesthetic, what with the ruling sense of "beauty" involved and the widespread adherence to a "psionics>>>physical" mindset.

More akin to Gackt, and certain thinner male models, maybe?

Just because we're talking about peacocks.

>>16006199
Behold the only portrayal of a Melek Taus woman!

I dislike the idea of these people being non-human. I think the idea works better with humans with peacock accessories and motifs everywhere than literal peacock people. If anything, it makes it more alien. If you call something an elf or a Melek Taus, or whatever new race this is, it's sort of expected for them to be weird and culturally different from us. It's more effective and it retains a bigger sense of alien-ness if they're just humans with an alien culture, one obsessed masculine beauty, psionics, and honor.

>>16006200
Damn you, anon, stop trying to turn me gay! D:

>flamboyant males
>obsessed with beauty
>feathers 'n shit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9AhDyCo9E&feature=related

Witness the Exile! One who's vision of beauty strayed too far, and who's power grew too great! Know, fear, and revile the heretic among you!

I think they would definitely be on the slender side. The whole point is that the men of this culture define masculinity in a way that we would find effeminate, not that they are emulating birds.

>A world of ridiculously FABULOUS men and their awesome psychic fights.
You called?

>>16006224
They're not human, but they're not anthro birds, either. Note our artwork.

>>16006334

What...what the hell.

What is this. I demand an explanation.

>>16006200
that works almost too perfectly.

>>16005965

Bruce Lee was muscular to a degree that was actually kind of ugly - I'd have thought that their ideal concepts of beauty would probably be more a sort of classical/neo-classical twink sort of build, think more lithe and willowy rather than ripped. They do have additional mental powers that mean they only have to be fast enough physically and their knife fighting style would have a heavy emphasis on getting superficial cuts on their opponents bodies. Past a certain point the amount of extra muscle needed for a mild increase in speed would probably mean there was a socially acceptable ceiling for how fast and therefore how muscley a man could get, every thing else past that point would be detirmined by knife skills and mental powers, both of which would be more socially acceptable to cultivate.

>>16006404

Only if we're using the Part 3 designs for Jotaro and his group. The only time Jotaro looks "right" to me is when he's in Fist of the North Star mode.

>>16006414
He is the Exile. One who sought to emulate the angelic properties of Melek Taus over the peacock elements, equating strength with beauty and transforming his body into the hulk of heaving man-flesh thereafter.

But yea no, that clip's from some random-ass anime, about a school populated by all manner of magical beings, and the dude is an angel who went too far with the "love thy neighbor"-message.

About the harems... I don't think harems is the best term really - these aren't going to owned women so much as these quite tough women who would have done some service either in the local military as grunt soldiers or done stints as a mercenary in foreign militaries to earn their "dowry". I can't see them being happy with marrying some guy who'll just get old or shanked and all of them losing all their status and social standing.

So maybe they'd be more sort of like "bridal corporations", within which you'd probably get a weird social strata, with older "brides" having most of the social status and power and younger "brides" who's job is to tag along with the husband as he goes about and try to stop him from getting his ass killed (which could be by brides from rival corporations as much as manly challengers).

You could even have a sort of limited polyandry within this system actually, maybe 10-20 "brides", but they're operating around about 3 "grooms", a young up and comer "bottom" groom who's being tutored and trained in the manly arts of makeup, dress making, knife fighting, psionics and politics/philosophy by the eldest "top" groom (who's retired from politics due to losing his looks or whatever), and when possible a third, "middle", groom who's got the seniority in the "marriage" and does most of the political intrigue and fighting on behalf of the rest of the marriage with rival "middles".

Of course middles must watch their bottoms for potential betrayal, and many an aspiring bottom has found himself cast out of their marriage by paranoid middles, and then out of society as he finds himself unable to secure a place within other marriages...

>>16006334
Please excuse me... I'm going to go crawl under a cold shower, assume a fetal position, and cry for a very long time.

>>16006570
That makes me think of an interesting idea in the vein of noble houses. The house is principally women who, rather than securing alliances through marriage, as we understand it, secure alliances through siring contracts where the man is expected to sire x number of children over y number of years with women of the opposing noble house in question in order to secure the alliance. The women of the man's own house would be sisters and cousins and, frankly, off-limits. A house would be dissolved if it loses all of its men, so the women of a house of their number of brothers and male cousins is getting particularly low.

>>16006570
I like the idea of the women working to keep the men's wrath under wraps, perhaps even going so far as to talk with the women of other houses to dissuade violence or at the very least limit the scope of the altercations that do happen.

Wow... an entire race made of butch chicks and metrosexuals.

>>16006798
Ultra-violent, mind-raping, knife-fighting, metrosexuals, and hard-working, bland, hand-behind-the-throne, butch females.

>>16006845
FABULOUS.

>>16006200
>>16006448

See, now I disagree here. Yes, they should be lightweight so they can fight with knives, but this lack of girth should not come from a lack of muscle, but a lack of fat and perhaps a lack of height as well. That's not to say they should be short, but rather they should average out around 5'9", which could be considered a little short for a human man. I think that should be agreeable.

As for their musculature, I think that in order to stay true to their bird theme, the peacock men should be a little bulkier than the average. If they are more slender, they should put a special emphasis on physical training so that they can compete with other men, and also defend themselves if an enemy closes in. As opposed to being "twink-like", they should be built.

It could just be me, but I have this mindset that a man from a race of knife-fighting psychics based on a species of bird known for its highly competitive males (they compete very heavily both on a very aggressive physical level with each other, and on a sexual level for female attention,) would want to be as jacked as possible.

If nothing else I think that because they're so prideful, they should not want to rely on their psychic powers alone.

>>16007096

And why do the women necessarily have to be butch or ugly, either? Can't they just be plain, and wear cloaks of female peacock feathers?

I think the vision I have of this race is very different from the one that everybody else came up with.

>>16007117
I get the feeling that most everyone else is discussing a culture based around what people see peacocks as, whereas you are talking about a culture that is like what peacocks actually are.

>>16007117
That's what I meant, plain, I just said "butch" because it was the closest equivalent I could think of to the metrosexual/camp-gay description we were using for the males.

>>16007096

Honestly there's probably room enough within a society for a variety of social standards of beauty - some geographical locations/time periods would favour less muscular psychers, some more ripped knife fighting specialists - it might be a thing that varies when the Melek go to war with other cultures, during peacetime "twink" builds and psychic conflict might be favored because it could lead to more non-lethal "mental domination" based wins during duels, which would favor the older peacocks and lead to fewer instances when there's a bloody struggle for the peacock throne after the peacock pope gets himself offed in a duel with some whippersnapper who got lucky and couldn't hold the position after winning it.

But before, during and after war time you'd see a bit more bulk and emphasis on the physical side of things, more peacocks going "yeah I could use the gifts Melek Tau has given me to mindfuck you to your doom, but quite frankly my dear I'd much rather tear open your chest, pluck out your still beating heart, wrap it up with a simply darling little sparkly ribbon and give it your wife as a gift on the dinner date at L'Restaurant Le Frufru we'll be having tonight, after I've finished washing your blood from my blade and my hands" than before.

>>16007340
>tear you heart out
>wrap it in sparkly ribbons

This is why you do not fuck with the campy dude wearing the peacock feathers - he can and will slaughter your happy ass.

Oh, neat, a thread about knife fighting. I've been doing escrima and krav maga for a while now with a specialty in knife fighting. I'm fairly bulky and muscular due to my normal activities and I have to say it's a big disadvantage. Being big and strong really doesn't help with a weapon with so little heft. The only thing that matters is agility - in fact, the only thing that matters is defense. The first person to bleed is almost always the first person to lose. Scrawny, fast, dodgy people have a massive physical advantage over big, strong people. I expect that men with a predisposition to having broad shoulders and being tall would, ironically, be the ones to focus more on their psychic studies. They are, frankly, at a disadvantage in a knife fight.

now if only this was usable in some way without people thinking I'm fapping to it after game sessions...

>>16008723
Just run an IRC campaign shamelessly.

this is more the image that comes up when i think of the militant female caste, minus the raccoon, of course.

>>16009845
Probably shorter hair. Hair that long on a warrior is just asking for trouble. Personally, I'm picturing short-haired women wearing leather scale armor, a knife sheathed on one hip and a longspear in hand. What do people of the peacock empire look like ethnically? Pale skin or dark? Dark hair, light hair, red hair? Short noses? Big lips?

All I can think about when reading this thread is that (a) the focus on charisma and intelligence among men in society would make for a military that's bug on tactics and flourish, but very weak on actually carrying through with huge assaults or long, protracted campaigns, and (b) these people are just BEGGING for a Conan-like adventurer to wander in and turn everything on its head.

>>16010163
>>All I can think about when reading this thread is that (a) the focus on charisma and intelligence among men in society would make for a military that's bug on tactics and flourish, but very weak on actually carrying through with huge assaults or long, protracted campaigns, and (b) these people are just BEGGING for a Conan-like adventurer to wander in and turn everything on its head.

Gotta disagree with you there Anon. The idea that the rugged, salt of the earth types always comes through in the end is favored by that type. They are mostly farmers, so what does that tell you about their place in the world?

Every general we have ever heard of used social-fu to get where they were. So in addition to any military genius we know them for we can add on a healthy dose of charisma.

Putting aside the bodybuilding, female auxiliaries and psionics that have been mentioned upthread, this is a society that breeds for ruthlessness, awareness and mental agility. Your lumbering barbarian doesn't stand a chance.

>>16010393
he just might, if he plays his cards right. I think that's a good thing for the society honestly- the fact that the society is "BEGGING" for conan to come in and mess shit up means your society is developed enough to make archetypal adventurers seem useful and interesting, and thus they'd have something to do in a roleplay, which is entirely a good thing given that this society seems to have been created for RPG settings.

The thing with rugged, simple types is that they have absolutely no defense against the Melek Taus's ALL SHALL LOVE ME AND DESPAIR stare.

>>16010522
except the barbarian's usual shtick- shaking off mental chains in order to smash shit. Which would just make him all the more interesting. If he was attractive he'd probably be offered the chance to bed with several warrior women in an attempt to civilize him. If not, then you'd get your barbarian rampage and he'd either grab some treasure and book it, or eventually be overwhelmed and perish. Either way, a fun little adventure.

>>16010520
>>16010571
Nanoc? Oh he's all the rage this week. You haven't heard? A delicious Niamerric mercenary and to call him uncultured would be an insult to those aspiring to that station. Currently embroiled in three different plots, though he's probably aware of two. He's not without a certain cunning. Odds are currently two to one that he'll rob Amin Changeez and make a run for it, but my wager is on him staying for a bit, after which Ghobad Mortez will suddenly disprove the impotence rumor that's followed him for so long.

>>16010648
Exactly, barbarians, as a rule, are either far too innocent, or far too cunning, to prove anything but fascinating when introduced into a world of courtesans, assuming they aren't just immediately killed of course.

>>16006448
>I'd have thought that their ideal concepts of beauty would probably be more a sort of classical/neo-classical twink sort of build, think more lithe and willowy rather than ripped.

You mean the medieval model of male beauty with a bit more definition of course?

Oh my god, is this thread still here?

>>16011307
Yes.

Conan would make for a superb rook to steer towards your enemies. If he wrecks collateral damage on the way before he's roflstomped, it provides a perfect opportunity to blame it on your enemies and declare a duel. Or, ideally, manipulate a third party affected by the collateral damage into declaring a duel on your enemy. Brutish adventurers ultimately make superb, if disposable, political pawns.

So has anyone actually written all this stuff down yet? I'm big on wanting this in one of my games

>>16005154
These are humans.

>>16005810
I don't know about that. Peacocks didn't develop their plumage because the women needed to compete for mates. If you actually wanted a peacock society, the men would have to fight to get women.

Adventurers could be men who aren't good enough to get mates, so they travel to try and improve their abilities.

So do we have a compiled information sheet for these peacocks?

>>16015243
Not really. Get to it, bro.

What do we call them? We need a good name, like we had for the Kalang.

>>16018388
I say Pavonisians, or Pavonians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavo_%28constellation%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Pavonis

>>16018388
Palawans, because:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palawan_Peacock-pheasant
>The male is the handsomest and most peacock-like member of the genus Polyplectron.
>the handsomest and most peacock-like
>the handsomest and most peacock-like
>the handsomest and most peacock-like
>the handsomest and most peacock-like

>>16018563
Pavonians, my vote goes for pavonians even if Palawans fits it sounds way too much like padawan and it's not as pretty as Pavonian or Pavians.

>>16018563
My vote goes to Palawans. I'm damn tired of seeing things obviously ripped out of classical western antiquity just because.

>Empire ruled by traps that are scantily clad entirely in peacock feathers.
>Take all my money.
>Also all my boners.

I'd say stick with Tawûsê or Taus (Literally peacock in Arabic), fucking sick of everything being derived from Latin, and i think the Yazidi link is the most compelling. Then you can use the title Melek (King, or angel) for those who have ascended to power.

>>16021565
I agree. Side note, just to make sure everyone's clear, this is a name for a human ethnicity/culture; the Peacock Empire is a nation of humans, despite the cultural quirks.
>>16021321
I know, right?

Now the real question comes about; What is the general social view of homosexuality in this male-beauty obsessed mind-murder knife culture?

>>16022252

I dunno. On one hand, since men are so awesome, isn't it much more awesome to fuck another dude rather than some stupid bitch? But on the other, doesn't letting some other dude get all dominant on you (and enjoying it) make you look like a huge loser?

>>16022252
>>16022275
The general understanding we came to earlier is that homosexuality is no more common here than elsewhere - the standards for beauty are simply changed. Men are considered masculine and attractive when they're slight, slim, soft, well-groomed, and dressed fabulously. Women are considered attractive when they're lean, strong, confident warriors. Men tend to want to get with women who closely fit the listed stereotype and vice versa.

>>16022294
So when a (wo)manly man from some nearby barbarian tribe appears, a strong confident warrior, what then?

>>16023394
He is made fun of. Then the slaughter begins.

>>16023394

Conan wouldn't be made fun of, Conan is basically a trap by Taus standards, what with his womanly hands and feminine dress.

A way to work Oscar Wilde into the setting actually, would be to steal that thing from RL where Wilde did a speaking tour of the american Wild West, so have this legend going around court about how Peacock Pope Wilde the first decided one day left the court to spread his concept of aesthetics to the barbarian north, and came back with many wives... though it is said he sired no children from those marriages...

Then when the barbarian PC sees a portrait of one of the wives and is all "by the sabretooth's meow! Why does this court of traps hang a picture of Thorgkil the Mighty?" "You are mistaken silly woman, that is a painting of Queen Cleolinda, Wilde I's second wife, who advised him on battle strategy during the second futa war."

Then the fighting starts.

>see this thread on sup/tg/ last friday
>see this thread right now
Bloody awesome. Shi/tg/ets done.

So, other than the Melek Taus and the Kalang, what other cultures/races that /tg/ has made collectively?

>>16021565
I agree, and I'm >>16018563
Much better name

I'm surprised this thread has survived so long and went so fabulously (heh) well. I love this thread, where it's went and once more reminded of why I like /tg/.

I want to use these guys somehow at one point.

Interestingly enough, I found an official WOTC listing of the Yazidi pantheon, listing the Seven Angels, domains and all, would be interesting to see clerics from this background.
* Yezidiism

Yezidiism is a religion influenced by ancient Mesopotamian beliefs, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Christianity, and Islam. They believe God created an angel named Melek Taus and six other angels to create the world, asking Melek Taus to worship nothing but Him. God then created Adam and asked Melek Taus to bow before Adam. Islam and some Christian legends hold that Satan was placed in a similar situation and fell for refusing to bow to a creature made of clay. This has lead some Muslims and Christians to believe that Melek Taus is Satan. The Yezidis teach that Melek Taus refused to bow out of his love for God, for which God was happy. The Yezidi also teach that they are distinct from the rest of humanity. Before Adam and Eve decided who would have what role in childbirth, they decided to see who could create a good child on their own. Both of them placed their seed in jars. Eve's produced insects, Adam's produced a handsome boy that married a spirit and fathered the Yezidis. The seven angels are regarded as emanations of God, and certain past kings and prophets were regarded as incarnations of the different angels.

>>16025292
-Melek Taus - Also known as Azazel, manifest as Yezid (the founder of the religion in its current form), dedicated to Sunday. LG, Fate, Justice, Sun, War

-Sheikh Hasan - Also known as Dardael, dedicated to Monday. LG, Fate, Knowledge, Moon

-Sheikh Shamash - Also known as Israfel or Artemis, dedicated to Tuesday. G, Skill, Sun, Trickery, Wilderness

-Sheikh Abu Bakir - Also known as Michael, dedicated to Wednesday. LG, Destruction, Justice, Sun, War

-Sajad-ad-Din - Also known as Azrael, dedicated to Thursday. U, Death, Fate, Undeath

-Nasir-ad-Din - Also known as Samael or Nisroch (as a king of Assyria), dedicated to Friday. U, Death, Fate, Sea, War

-Fahr-ad-Din - Also known as Nurael or Chemosh, dedicated to Saturday. U, Freedom, Sea, War


To follow, I have some ideas concerning their societal structure, i'll outline later, dealing with 7 governing houses (each a different 'eye' of the peacocks plumage, you guys'll like it). Then maybe we can talk about something other than their supposed dick-hunger.

All good religions have reforming heretics ranting in the streets. What about a former beautiful priest who has marred his own face by cutting off flesh, and who preaches true inner beauty? Could be an interesting cult with self-scarification badassry.

I just watched Rio with my nephew and daughter the other night. And this thread... well, here's the collision.

Imagine a fighting unit, led by these psychic knife-wielding, feathered, bronze-bodied warriors. You're sure to see them coming, closing the distance while dodging and deflecting your arrows, screeching their battle-cries. You brace yourself for the onslaught.

And then get a speared through the side of your face by the platoon of camouflaged she-soldiers you weren't paying attention to.

Okay, not too organized, but here's the basic outline of the ruling houses, each representing one of seven plumes on the nation's flag/symbol/crest:

Eye upon the Crown - Ruling class - These guys are the most flamboyant - Adherents to Melek Taus

Eye upon the Land - Agricultral/Infrastructre (Populist House) - (Beauty of the Land) - Sajad-ad-din

Eye upon the Horizon - Traders/Scouts (Nomadic) - Discovering New Beauty - Fahr-ad-din

Eye upon the Hand - Artisans - (Creating Beauty) - these guys make everything from pottery to clothing to those pretty knives spoken of above - Sek Shamash

Eye upon Man - Secret Police, all KGB up in this piece - (Beauty in Darkness) Adherent to Nasir-ad-Din

Eye upon the Blade - Military (Beauty in Strength) - Adherent to Sek Bakir

Eye upon the Sky - Religious Sect/Advisors - Beauty of the Soul (carry self inflicted scarifacation) - Adherents to Sek Hasan

I figure, title wise, the leader of the Eye upon the Crown would have the prefix Melek- (meaning King) and the other houses would be Sekh- (derived both from 'sheikh' and six, meaning a leader of one of the six other houses)

>>16025539

that sounds pretty cool

>>15993601
>>16003974
>>16003987
>>16004209
>>15990640
>androgynous

Either you don't know what that word means, or we have a case of serious logical fallacy. You seem to be basing a culture on a species with enormous sexual dimorphism, and one of the major ideas around here by making the males MORE similar to females, instead of LESS as it should be. The males should have DIFFERENT canons of beauty, and favour this canon over usefulness, not just look effeminate.

>>16025666

beautiful trap boys are better,shut up.

>>16025351

With a kingdom of psychers you could have the inverse as well, people who've done horrible psychic damage to themselves and now preach about true superficial beauty.

Not gonna lie, they're pretty mad bro.

Maybe it's just the association with large headdresses, but I'm getting a real Mayan/Aztec vibe off these guys.

If nothing else, can they at least have Aztec-style pyramids? Pyramids have the psychic association (if only through New Age crap).
I'd also like to throw my cap in for ritual dueling daggers.
I'm also a fan of the relatively plain getting-shit-done-while-the-boys-fight womenfolk.
Perhaps with roving street gangs of young latinas dressed in colorful feathers of different solid colors.

Fuck you guys, once I was thinking about setting with a kingdom ruled by traps with a social sistem like in this thread and I thought that those idea is cool and original and I must use it someday. But now It's just not original anymore and I feels bad that I haven't had the opportunity to use it before.

>>16022252

Standard not-modern one - the less powerfull one bends over for the more powerfull one and gets patronage in return for the butthurt.

the whole men are prettier thing has existed IRL. Pic related. Probably in some other places too.

don't think it made any of them less violent

>>15990727
>"... Ion?"

So did I, Anon. So did I...

>>16027448
So like Spartans, then. Cool.

I suppose I've got a few questions. What level of technology are we seeing here? Standard Iron Age Fantasy Society? Bronze-age (Greco-Roman Empire pre-Renaissance)? Stone-age w/knowledge of engineering (Aztec/Mayan)?

Bump for interest.

It bothers me that nobody's mentioned the Greek story of Argus. Dude was a BAMF until he lost his eyes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_Panoptes

Do they have any cultural, political, or economic ties to their neighbors, or are they fairly insular and isolationist?

>>16034339

Fantasy cultures are always perfectly isolated from each other, man.

Or rather, such aspects of soft, non-material history as cultural exchange do not factor into fantasy at all.

>>16029151

Moar like renaissance Italian city states, in fact.

Peacock Duelist

HD: d6

Requirements:
Able to manifest second-level powers
Base Attack Bonus +3
Male Human

Good Saves: Reflex, Will
Base Attack Bonus: High
Skill Points: 4+Int
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Listen, Perform, Sense Motive, Spot, Tumble

Peacock Duelists are proficient with all simple weapons, short swords and rapiers.

Force of Personality:
The Peackock Duelist adds his Charisma bonus to his Armor Class, up to a maximum of one point per class level.
This works even when caught flat-footed or otherwise denied dexterity bonuses.

Improved Manfestation:
At each level, the Peacock Duelist gains new power points and learns new powers as though gaining a level of his choice of the Wilder or Psion class.

Effortless Manifestation:
At 3rd level, the Peacock Duelist may choose to remove 4 from his current initiative to reduce the cost of any power manifested by 1, to a minimum of 1 power point.
This lasts as long as he acts at his new initiative, and can be stacked as long as his current initiative is 1 or higher.
At 6th level, this improves to one point per 3 initiative sacrificed, and at 9th level to one point per 2 initiative.

Deflect Arrows:
At 4th level, the Peacock Duelist gains the Deflect Arrows feat.

Effortless Parry:
At 7th level, the Peacock Duelist may add his Charisma bonus as a dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively or using Total Defense.

Self-Mutilation:
At 8th level, the Peacock Duelist adds Self-Mutilation (Telepathy) to his known power list.

Perfect Beauty:
At 10th level, the Peacock Duelist may completely ignore most conditions that would impede or otherwise restrict his ability to move or act freely.
This state can be entered at any time, with no action, and can be maintained for one round per day per Peacock Duelist level.
(Effects such as unconsciousness, sleep, magical domination and restraints may be ignored, but not physical objects.)

bump of interest

>>16034793
>2011
>writing crappy prestige classes for 3.5 instead of balanced paragon paths for 4e