All inuit folk tales are about old women using their gaping vaginas as sleds, or crafty women making walrus tusk dildos and becoming men or men fucking dogs and learning how to turn into animals.

I hope you've reflected this in your lore.

First point of order: What do the various peoples in this setting call themselves?

>>31977808
Source? Is to good to be true.

>>31977592
The Adlet (dog like people):

What we know is that they are the rivals of the natives, vying over resources in this scarce landscape. They are taller than natives, though shorter than the invaders, but are much more slight.

What we don't know is the culture. So, I propose such; they are actually settled into small, hidden hamlets that focus on small-scale agriculture mixed with light fishing and hunting.

There's also two subspecies of the the Adlet; a diurnal, more organized and settled species. They run the day-to-day activities, doing the farming and fishing. The other subspecies is the nocturnal Nightpact. These are Adlet that have made a Pact (note capital P, has to do with native magic) with the Adlet's protector deity. This Pact involves them replacing a piece of their soul with a part of the protector deities. This changes them, making them heavier set and more aggressive. They hunt natives that stray too far out into their lands at night and lead strikes against encroaching settlements.

With the incursions from the Invaders pushing many Adlet out of their hidden villages in the resent year they have become much more aggressive against all humans, which has been turning what was once much more of a rivalry into the verge of an all-out war between the two races.

File: fr15.png (617 KB, 812x533)

617 KB PNG

Do we have a magic system yet?

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

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

http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2013/10/17/review427-magic-words-from-the-ancient-oral-tradition-of-the-inuit-by-mike-blanc/

>>31977858
We have the bare bones of one. Magic is based around pacts. Usually between a mortal and a spirit. The rituals and such have not been discussed.

>>31977820
We don't have any names for the humans. We have been referring to them as the Natives and the Invaders.

For the non-humans we have the;

Adlet - A race of dog-like humanoids that have been longstanding rivals with the Natives.

Qualliputi(sp) usually referred to as Quall - Odd, troll, like creatures that cause storms by their presence. This increases in large groups. They are seen as more like forces of nature than a sentient race due to the time that most of them are seen (rutting season).

and finally the Inupa - A race of two giants, one that are immortal and massive, the first creations of the gods, and the lesser Inupa who were made after the first death so that the gods creations would never be lonely and could continue on even if the gods became distracted.

There's also crazy things like Wendigo, which are people who break too many Pacts with spirits, losing chunks of their souls in the process until they devolve into things more monster than man.

>>31977847
Some Inuit say there was once a great flood, after which two men Emerged from the earth and acted as if they were man and woman. When one of the men became pregnant, the other sang a ritual song that resulted in the penis of the pregnant man becoming a vagina for the delivery of the First child.

Another myth tells how a man came to a young woman only under cover of darkness. Wishing to know who he was, the woman blacked her hands with soot and held on tightly to him during their lovemaking. The next day, by the marks on his back, she recognized her own brother as her lover and in horror fled to the sky with a bright torch, where he followed her with a dimmer one. She became the sun, he the moon.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/inuit-mythology#ixzz313m5kNUt

When the world was young, children grew directly from the ground like flowers growing from Nunam’s body. Since Inuit women did not yet have vaginas they obtained babies by going out and picking the ripe ones from the ground. Later, after the moon god Tatqim created women’s vaginas, when the women next went out to “pick babies” the babies instead clung to the women’s ankles and climbed up their legs and into their new vaginas (showroom clean) where they took root and from then on babies emerged from that orifice. (So forget all that superstitious nonsense about sperm fertilizing eggs)

The tale of the moon god’s creation of vaginas and anuses goes as follows: long ago animals did not have either orifice, so the disemboweling goddess Ululijarnaq used to take her ulo knife and carve babies and waste matter out of people’s insides as needed. (Sort of like the Tooth Fairy but with a lot more disemboweling) Seeing how inefficient that was, Tatqim took his hunting knife and cut vaginas into all female life forms and anuses into all living things.

http://glitternight.com/2011/06/06/the-top-12-deities-from-inuit-mythology-2/

>>31977858
Also, the Invaders don't follow the rules of Native magic due to the fact that by the Native standards they don't have real souls and cannot interact fully with the spiritual world. This is because the Invaders start out as soulless, largely homogeneous automatons that gain a soul by being fuckawesome and their gods being like "dope, here you go." Their sorcery can only be used by the souled and basically involves forcing your will onto the physical world by abusing the spark of divinity left inside you.

>>31978002
Sedna instead had sexual relations with dogs and the “freakish” offspring of these unions were said to be white people and Native American tribes that the Inuit were often at war with.

A ghoulish twist to the story is how Sedna took to using her parents as food (a recurring theme in Inuit myths because of the scarcity of food in the frozen north at times and how instances of cannibalism during such famines were much-discussed). Sedna devoured both of her mother Isarrataitsoq’s arms and had finished eating one of her father’s arms before he was able to subdue her and take her out to sea in his canoe, intent on banishing her to the sea. Continuing to struggle, Sedna clutched the sides of the canoe as her father tried to submerge her, prompting him to take his long knife and cut off her fingers.

Since, to the Inuit, loss or mutilation of the hands was often seen as a horrific transformation into something new, the myth states that Sedna now embraced her fate, transforming her now-fingerless hands into flippers and transforming her severed digits into the various species of sea animals. When the one-armed Anguta returned to shore, where his still-armless wife awaited, Sedna, now fully realized as the sea goddess, caused a massive wave to wash over her parents, dragging them down to her new home to serve in her subaquatic court.

Sedna’s home in the deep is said to be constructed of a whalebone frame with walls made of all the clothing of people who have drowned at sea and furnishings fashioned from their bones and sunken ships.

>magical realm as fuck

>>31978056
An Eskimo variation, heard in Nain, Labrador, and East Greenland, is even crasser:

An old woman, blind, and lame, asked her daughter for a drink of water. The young woman, tired of tending her old mother, gave her a bowl of her own urine. The old woman drank it, and then asked: "Which would you prefer as a lover, a louse or a sea scorpion?" "A sea scorpion," laughed the daughter, whereupon the old woman proceeded to pull sea scorpions from the daughter's vagina, one after another, until she fell over dead.

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/aging.html#distrust

http://alternatehistory.net/discussion/showthread.php?t=222103

Insanely detailed timeline about the development of agriculture and neolithic/copper age civilisation in the arctic.

Also includes apocalyptic plague cults, cultural clashes with the vikings, shamanic postal network, more botany and zoology than you can shake a stick at and much much more!

>>31977852
So Quallupilluit (now referred to henceforth as the Quall for simplicity sake) are really misunderstood as they are only seen during their migrations during the warm seasons to the lowlands, were they fatten up and rut for the breeding season. This causes massive seasonal storms due to their grouping.

Normally, they are nomadic herders on the mountains, were they raise flocks of shaggy mountain goats for cheese and clothing, and eat a largely vegetarian diet. They are either a Matriarchy or a Hivemind (those are the two suggested). I prefer matriarchy, though a good argument for the hivemind could sway people.

>>31978190
Good stuff, thanks for the resource.

>>31978228
Matriarchy might be fun and kinda makes sense that if a large proportion of the men are herders and thus away from the sedentary population centres for significant portions of the year, the women have a monopoly on knowledge and crafting skills. Council of Wise Women?

>>31978228
Finally the Inupa. The original Inupa, or Great Inupa, were carved from the teeth left behind by the walrus that the hunter-god slayed to make the earth and sea (Natives myth). After turning the walrus' tusks into knifes/swords he found his land to be lonely, so turned the left over teeth into the Inupa. The Inupa were made ageless and fully formed, though not invulnerable. After some age has passed one of the Inupa died, either through accident or violence, and the creator realized that if he did not change something his creations would all die out.

So, he made the Lesser Inupa; still large and with the ability to live much much longer, but given time would still die of age and comparatively small when matched with their greater cousins. They had one advantage though; they could make more of themselves through breeding, which the creator gave them so that 1) they would never be lonely and could always just make more friends if need be and 2) so he didn't have to worry about them when he got distracted/went hunting space demon whales.

The Inupa live in hidden mountain villages, built into the very stone of the mountains. These settlements are built around one of the greater Inupa, who the lesser Inupa see as great teachers who they try to learn as much from as possible (I see them as being semi-Tibetan in inspiration, though probably not execution). They were slighted long ago by men, who have since forgotten what happened, and bear a grudge that has lasted hundreds of human generations.

They get along great with the Quall, who share the mountains with them. They like their goat cheese.

>>31977847
I haven't been able to find the ones I mentioned on the internet. I found them in a book about women in fairytales.

There's some good stories here. http://capa.conncoll.edu/duhamel.ww2v.html

>>31978365
Plus, you know, the men are stupid and dangerous during the rutting season. Even the women see them more as guards and beasts of burden than contributing members of society.

>>31978228

They basically sound like Glorantha Trolls, which is one of the most awesome nonhuman races ever, so I'm in on this idea.

>>31978448
What providence, I have yet to get a chance to read about Glorantha (people were suggesting it a lot in the last thread) and it's weird that I randomly came up with a parallel xD

Anyways, glad someone approves.

>>31978502
If you like myths and stuff, is one of the best settings. Also is a mix of iron, bronze and classical ages, with lots of bits of weird, funny, horrible and awesome stuff.

>IF you have an idea throw it up here.

Er...Aboriginal walking-worm-colonies whose hive mind takes the form of dreaming?

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

A people who lived in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago remembered in inuit legend as being "timid giants", mysterious and possibly magical.

The inuit are believed to have destroyed the culture both through direct conflict and outcompeting them for scarce resources.

>>31978590
Sounds cool to me, how do they work into the grand scheme of things? Do they have a society, or are they individual (in the mindset of observers, as they are colonies of worms) who just kind of wander the wastelands? Where do they come from? Are they dangerous? Aggressive? Helpful? Apathetic? How do they interact with the Invaders? The Natives?

Lets hammer these beasties into reality.

>>31978502

Well if you want ideas for well-crafted fantasy cultures and the interaction between them, Glorantha is probably the best inspiration out there. The dude who made the setting is an actual anthropologist, so he knows his stuff.

>>31978604
Totally works as a basis in reality with the Inupa. We can even have a couple off-coast, mountainous islands that they originally came from, being displaced due to climate or just cause they were wanting to expand.

>>31978660
I always enjoy when historians, anthropologists and linguists put their all into fantasy realms. It feels a lot fuller than the other stuff that comes out.

>>31978590
>>31978629
That sounds more like something that would be found in warmer climates; perhaps they live in areas with high volcanic activity, and their proximity makes it hard for other races to exploit the most fertile farmland in the region?

What's the rest of the world looking like?

Where are the invaders coming from??

>>31978730
>Don't anger the volcanoe worms bro, they will fuck you up

>>31978629
>how do they work into the grand scheme of things?
Probably mostly just errant wanderers. Perhaps like monks they'll share information or carry messages through the Dream.

>Do they have a society, or are they individual (in the mindset of observers, as they are colonies of worms) who just kind of wander the wastelands?
They're all linked by the Dream, so they have a semi-society. Each colony is made up of thousands of individual worms of little intelligence who have quite a lot of smarts when working together. Likewise, these people as a whole are mind-bogglingly intelligent when they are all synced up through the Dream, BUT each colony tries to keep itself relatively independent of the others. If one Dreams too much, they can be lost to it.

>Where do they come from?
It is a mystery, unknown to them even in the Dream. They do not remember if they were made or if they grew or anything like that. The desire to find their origins is fuel to many of them.

>Are they dangerous? Aggressive? Helpful? Apathetic?
Varies from colony to colony. Though those colonies that Dream a lot are probably more apathetic - the regular world seems a bit weary, stale, flat and unprofitable afterwards.

>How do they interact with the Invaders? The Natives?
I'd imagine people are scared of them - great big shambling masses of worms that are seemingly very intelligent probably freaks out a lot of people.

I hope we don't end up throwing in too much random shit.

>>31978730
Could be, I imagine that there are a number of volcanicly active ranges on the more southernly end of the setting location. They could have plenty of rare things that the Natives might really want to get their hands on (obsidian, gems, gold and copper, etc) and any journey there is a risk-reward assessment between potentially life-altering resources and potentially life-threatening risks.

It would make sense that they were a spiritual risk as well; maybe they come from something dark, something that maybe sleeps under their volcanic homes, that taints the soul. If the worm-men get their hands on you they could potentially strip you of your spiritual energy, severing the Pacts you have made with the spirits and your comrades and removing any chance at a spiritual rebirth or reincarnation.

Dangerous in more ways than just "FUCK WORM PEOPLE"

>>31978779
>>31978787
"As the writhing, teeming mass of Mind Worms swarmed over the outer perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well known that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae in the brains of its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack."
-- Lady Deirdre Skye, "Our Secret War"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L5JgTkxAkg

>>31978839
If thats the case, what would happen when some starving and foolish hunter realises that these worm people are giant balls of protein?

>>31978848
My Drone

>>31978770
The Invaders come from EAST, over the seas in their longships. Where beyond that? The Natives have no idea (heyho expansion material).

Besides that, I imagine it looks a lot like Greenland in structure; lots of coastline with a wasteland interior dotted with mountains.

>>31978787
>>31978819
I see them more as background than anything active, like high-end monster encounters for the aggressive ones and potentially game changing compatriots in the fight against the invaders if you can make it seem worth it.

That being said, let's cap off with the creation of more creatures until we fill out what we have already to a point that we find acceptable.

>>31978897
Abominations that put even Wendigo to shame

>>31978779
>>31978839
"As I draw close to the volcano day by day the dreams grow stonger. Now I feel them in the back of my mind even as I wake and the strangeness of them drives me forward ever faster so I may take leave of these alien thoughts all the sooner. When I sleep I feel sensations, supreme oneness and unity, yet fractured into countless peices, my body is my mind and all parts of me flow like a river past colours that do not exist. This is not the sacred otherness of spirits the shamans talk of, this is a sensation uterly against human experience, ot makes me feel as if my flesh were some lie, ready to warp at any moment, I, and I think any man, cannot bear to be under this dark shadow a moment longer than we must, even for the sake of such a vital task."

I made this point in the previous thread, but never got to reply to the people who commented on it.

Anyway, the main point here is that if we want the Invaders to be properly Norse-inspored and not just Orcs with a nicer image, we need to keep a couple of things in mind.

First of all they need a strong legal tradition. Norse society was anarchic in many ways, but it sure as hell wasn't lawless. The legal tradition was a huge, huge thing and the possibility of settling things by a legal dispute was basically the only thing that kept norse society from breaking down into a cycle of blood feuds. Hell, Norse society often broke down into a cycle of blood feuds even with the strong legal tradition present, and at some point enough people are going to stop and decide that they need some other way of settling things.

Second, their motivations need to be made understandable beyond the one-dimensional. Just like IRL, there should be multiple motivations for setting out and colonizing some inhospitableland way beyond the sea. Religion can be one, a lust for profit another, and political reasons could be a third. but for the love of Odin, don't fall back on some one-dimensional rule by the strong caricature. It would do a disservice to the setting as a whole.

>>31978972
>>31978972
aww yeah, Wormigo Armageddon

talking of wendigo (seriously one of my favourite beasties) check out the "Walker in the Wastes" cthulhu adventure. Wonderful fusion of mythos and Inuit tradition (admittedly much more the former).
Would post the pdf version but the blasted file is too big

>>31979117
Yes. So much yes. This is exactly how I would imagine it.

I think that, do to their massive intelligence and completely alien mindset, they sort of see humans (and the other more human species) as being little more than oddities who can barely understand the world around them. The nicer ones ignore humans. The crueler ones will play games with, forcing the Dreammind into their consciousness and using them as doll-servitors to spy and interact with outsiders out of some sort of dark playfulness. They also have a tendency to rip the spirit out of people and turn them into a crystal-like substance that they use to either decorate themselves and their lairs or that they consume to gain a sort of insight onto the weird mindset of the Fractured (not worm people).

>>31979178
>In Iceland the LAW is King

>>31979178
The first wave comes as explorers and adventures, there goals basically find some shit and profit off/ enjoy/ kill it. The second wave, this one carry more permanet civilization comes seeking new lands with new entities and peoples to be slaughtered for the glory of their god, from these small outposts of the adventurous and the devout larger settlements will overtime emerge.

>>31979178
It's more like motivation by the strong, not rule. They do have a huge number of reasons for expansion (glory, resources, a new land to potentially farm and develop society, because their gods say conflict is important to keep them strong) but I don't see that, at least in the setting so far, a strong legal tradition isn't necessary to make them feel not-one dimensional. Especially since this would largely be seen by the Natives, who aren't aware of how the Invader's society actually works (and vice-versa) it's easy to overlook what we have been implying but not necessarily directly saying.

Their motivation isn't BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, though that plays into it a little. They need land and resources to feed themselves and to keep expanding. They need violence and glory for the chance of winning a soul. Most of the invaders actually have very little in the way of personality, being more enthralled servants to the yrls (though, of course, there is some there or otherwise they would never gain souls). Oaths are very important, with the person you swear your Oath to having a large control over you, able to give you tasks to carry out.

We can totally talk about it but I personally don't feel like a set and largely defined code of law is necessary to make them 3-dimensional settings.

>>31979347
They hope, part of what drove a lot of the Greenland Norse society was that even in the good years they were living right on the knife edge. European crops are just not meant to be grown there, and once the Medieval Warm Period ended it was a slow and bleak decline.

Ice and Mice has a great discussion on this, but for the game it might be more interesting to play up just how unsuited the invaders are to the area. Gold and glory can be won in this northern waste but anything more permanent will be swept away by the winds

>>31979288
In the smaller settlements a leader is is selected by a meeting of all the adult population who will discuss and pray for 3 days at the end of which the citizen judged most just, noble and capable in war is elected chief until his death. In more civilized regions all the wise men and women and all the priests and all the war leaders convene and similarly discuss for 3 day, but they only select from the law-holders of the region, giving the task to whoever is judged most just, wise, pious, and necessary for the areas development.

>>31979267
The more they use the Dream, the less they see the small-minded as equals. I'd imagine there are ones that get a kick out of being benevolent and helpful to humans, that enjoy being the wise sage.

>>31979500
They also reproduce whenever the components of one colony cannot reach a decision, and split into the two different sides of the argument.

>>31979347
More like this. It's waves (this probably taking place at the VERY BEGINNING of the Second Wave) and being a lot more disorganized than would be expected; it's a lot of Clans getting similar ideas all at the same time and competing for the profit/glory of settling this new land. The Natives are more of a second thought, useful resources to take advantage of.

I don't even see them as being particularly mean to the Natives; they don't really torture them, or beat their slaves, or etc. Their are rapes (because hey, they ARE vikings) but the slavery only lasts for one generation. Any of the Natives taken as slaves still have the right to interact with each other and aren't treated like chattel, and their children are born as Freemen (not slaves, but still beholden at least a bit to their parent's master's wishes).

Think more like traditional Norse thralldom. It's just that the Natives who aren't captured don't see this side and in the end freedom is still much more preferred than slavery.

>>31979525
So sort of like atoms splitting into two separate paths instead of choosing one or the other? I like it.

Yea there are definitely some that are perceived as being kind by the other races, though it's more of a game than actual true kindness.

>>31979400

Dude, the legal tradition is literally one of the main defining traits of the Norse. Cut that out and you've not even got a functioning society left.

To be perfectly frank, what you're describing really doesn't sound like actual Norse society in any way. if you're just going for the Viking aesthetic then that's one thing, but if you want to have an actually Norse-inspored society then I'm sorry to say that you're on the wrong track.

Set in the Antarctic and starring penguins it may be, but Valley of Eternity really hits the nail on the bleak,inhosibitable and cruel landscape.

The Glacier being a malevolent force of nature and many of the anti-penguin powers seem right at home in this setting.

(again stupid file is 855KB too big to attach, sorry guys)

>>31979599
And of course since their minds and forms are so alien any human that encounter them would not be able to distinguish between apathetic, helpful or cruel action on their part. Making it even more like a game.

>>31979528
Hey, every civilisation likes a bit of rape after a bit of fighting.

>>31979604
I'd actually argue that we should keep a lot of made norse society actually tick and how that interacts with the natives but find a differnt aesthetic. Superficial not-vikings are overdone and the point of the setting was get away from that kind of thing.

>>31979604
That's your opinion. These aren't supposed to be cut-and-pasted expies of the cultures, they're taking influence and aesthetics from them and applying them to a fantasy setting.

You have to remember that we are more or less writing this as how it's perceived by the Natives, not the Invaders. The Norse inspiration comes from the fact that they are a sea-faring, expansionist, foreign race that uses much more advanced weaponry (iron) and doesn't seem to have any connection to the Native inhabitant's way of life. The higher end of the culture comes into play with the Souled, who could totally have laws that dictate how they interact and what is and is not acceptable. That doesn't change the fact that most yrl can pretty much force any of his subordinates into what he wants, as he actually has a force of will and completely developed personality. He is touched by the gods. The others aren't. Therefor until the gods tell him he's fucked up he's in charge of the merry little warband. How the wider scheme of interaction works is unrelated to the lowest rung, as the yrl is who dictates how the yrl and his lessors interact unless it comes into direct conflict with yrls and Souled.

>>31979767
(Sorry if that sounded biting, I appreciate your input it's just we put a LOT of discussion into it last night and I still haven't gotten much sleep).

>>31979767
While this is a consideration, the importance of the legal system (in a general/brief form) could actually serve to highlight the differnces in thinking between the two cultures without going overboard on detail.

Also, we need a name for the setting. Let's throw out some ideas. Also any draw- or cartogrofags want to put up a rough draft of a map? That could be useful for starting figuring out were everything is situated.

>>31979767
>You have to remember that we are more or less writing this as how it's perceived by the Natives, not the Invaders

And before you can determine that you need to determine how the culture of the invaders works and what their own motivations are, since these are what determine how they will act.

Also the pseudo-mindcontrol thing isn't consistent with norse society either. in fact it's not even consistent with any society of explorers ever. Norse society engaged in exploration precisely because it was a society of free men. Basically all the interesting dynamism of norse society comes from the fact that it was a society of free men. You're saying that we're supposed to take influence fron Norse culture, yet you're cearly not doing that and it's a bit disappointing to be frank.

>>31979869
descriptive name like Iron Winter or made-up language/pseudo norse type deal?

>>31979929
It's not supposed to be like Norse society in that regard. The original idea was that the invaders were literally soulless metal men driven purely to conquer by their queen gods. We left that (minimally) attached to the lowest rung in the society, who have minor self - motivation and gave more control of them to their Souled war leaders who for all intent and purpose act like much more Norse people, with Oaths, Laws, functioning society and more developed interaction between them and higher ranked and equally ranked Souled.

It's there, just moved up one notch.

>>31980008
What, like Herfinblargr?

>>31979854
How about the pseudo Norse peoples legal system is totally separate from their church(but totally based on their doctrine) whereas in the pseudo Inuit society the shaman is the center of any villages judicial system and disputes are primarily settled through divination and communion with spirits. As such the justice handed out in villages depends heavily on the skill and honesty of the shaman.

>>31980008
Either or. Whichever people like better.

>>31980108
Makes sense, especially with the much more direct nature of the Native spirituality. Most "laws" for them are closer to taboos put in place to avoid angering spirits, while the a invaders laws are more like mutually agreed on social norms that keep them from just eternally infighting (more like modern law).

That work as a compromise?

>>31979854

>First of all, I'd say that the greatest difference between the natives and the invaders would be that the former are a traditional tribal society with traditional tribal calues, i.e. in-group cooperation is completely necessary while out-group competition over scarce resources is as well.

However, the invaders are not like this. Theirs is a legalistic society, where the most important men aren't the chieftains, but the lawmen. Furthermore they don't show the usual pattern of cooperation and competition, for example old friends can come to blows or even kill each other over honour or for settling disputes, which would be near unthinkable in native society. While the natives don't know much, what they have seen further reinforces the image of the invaders as inhuman and frightening.

As for the invaders, the natives are mere savages who don't respect the Law and can't be reasoned with. While the warriors won't necessarily admit it the natives are frightening too, more like shadowy spirits in the shape of men able to appear from nowhere and kill for apparently no reason. They don't have a shred of honour and no respect for the virtues of proper society. Who's to say that the invaders haven't tried to contact the natives to establish trading opportunities and the like, but the natives quite naturally didn't know what was up and reacted badly, thus reinforcing the image of the natives as dishonorable savages in the minds of the invaders?

From the first thread, which someone should probably archive or save the good bits from if this is going to be a proper thing

>>31979869
Fucked around with Google translate, it spat this out: kalt líftíma cold and life cycle. Should probably tweak it to make it roll off the tongue more.

(Just realized I forgot to set trip code on my mobile, apologies)

Anyways, have class. Be back in about an hour 20. Keep things going while I'm gone.

>>31980223
arse, I cannot greentext

>>31980197
Seems good.

>>31980099
>The original idea
Eh, I've seen a pretty mixed package.

>>31980099

But that doesn't make for a society that would even bother sailing for god knows how long to set up shop on some arctic coast. Why wouldn't the Souled just set themselves up as God-Kings back home and lord it over the drones? And if they went a-radin', why not go for somewhere that isn't a frozen shithole? it doesn't make sense because there's a fundamental disconnect between the social structure of the society you're portraying and the motivations and role you want to give them.

See, these question will pop up sooner or later, and they will take people out of the setting. Even if you like the idea it's better to rework it into somethign that actually fits instead of trying to make the square peg go into the round hole.

( Apparently class was cancelled)
>>31980302

Well we have had a pretty informal concencus determiner. Basically if we don't keep talking about it and working it into other things then it's on the outs.

we need a voting system or something...

Also has anyone updated the pastebin?

>>31980099
>>31980302
The whole idea of literal iron men invading a tribal society is really cool but any form of mind control seem pretty fundamentally incompatible with the egalitarian, legalistic society we seem to be aspiring to.

So what part of this setting has anything to do with Inuits?

I've read the pastebin, and it's all about vikings.

I've read this thread and it's all about vikings.

The only thing that remotely has anything to do with Inuits is a brief rundown of some vague spiritual tradition, and that in itself seems to be missing the mark.

So are we cool with the worm people? Should I put them in the pastebin?

>>31980327
Because glory is the driving factor of the Souled. If they sit around doing jack shit the gods will just take back the souls that they gave them and punish the shit out of them.

Not only that but they just generally expansionistic as they like having access to lots and lots of resources.

Plus, it's not a barren wasteland. There's plenty of stuff there that is ripe for the taking, and rare on top of it, it is simply not a comfortable place to live. Plus, conceivably, the Invaders come from a harsh climate themselves.

It's like asking why the Norse colonized Greenland and Russia/Siberia. In comparison to a lot of places it's a frozen shithole but at least it's a frozen shithole that reminds them of home.

>>31980596
I don't know, man. I haven't really had time to read it all and I have to hit the sack now or whatever you say in the land of freedom. You could probably put it in there for storage/compilation whatever we end up deciding though.

>>31980596

I would, we at least talked about them enough and didn't really get any naysayers.

>>31980409

We have been woefully roundabout to be fair. If you have ideas post them. I did do a write up on their structure, though whether or not that has made it into the pastebin is a completely different matter (I have been way to busy/using my phone to do it myself also i don't know how it works and I'm scared of fucking up our progress

Basically, if you feel anything is missing it might be a good idea to sift through the other thread. If it's not there then post what you think and we will either use it as is or use it to inspire something else.

>>31980626

>Because glory is the driving factor of the Souled. If they sit around doing jack shit the gods will just take back the souls that they gave them and punish the shit out of them.

>Not only that but they just generally expansionistic as they like having access to lots and lots of resources.

None of this explains why they're here of all places instead of somewhere else, which leads into my second point.

>Plus, it's not a barren wasteland. There's plenty of stuff there that is ripe for the taking, and rare on top of it, it is simply not a comfortable place to live.

They don't know any of that beforehand. You generally don't look at somewhere where an Inuit-like civilization would live and see a land of milk and honey. Why aren't they taking the same route as the Vikings IRL and going for the rich lands of Europe? Surely there are other places in the world besides inuitland and wherever the Invaders come from?

>It's like asking why the Norse colonized Greenland and Russia/Siberia. In comparison to a lot of places it's a frozen shithole but at least it's a frozen shithole that reminds them of home.

Precisely because they were a society of free men, where almost any dude with enough charisma and balls could go off on his own initiative and see what was beyond the horizon and hopefully make it back to brag about it and make people interested in that place. And if you have enough of this kind of people it becomes increasingly likely that one of them will succeed in convincing people to sail out into the unknown. Also note that the pioneers weren't the leaders of society, they were men from the lower rungs.

This is how Iceland, Greenland and Vinland alike were colonized. This is how the norsemen made it all the way through Russia to Constantinople. This also just doesn't work unless you have a people of free men who are encouraged to act on their own initiative, i.e. the polar opposite of what you've described so far. That's the problem in a nutshell.

http://pastebin.com/eUQqPNnw
Entered some stuff about the environment, going to start on the races, tell me if I'm doing this wrong I've never used pastebin before.

>>31980909

To expand a bit, the problem we have is to make a group of societies that all have a good and believable reason to be here and do what they're described as doing. Inuits and Vikings work for inspiration because this actually happened, and thus it's relatable. However, if we want to change fundamental parts of either society then we must also make sure that the post-change society has a good and believable reason to be here and do what they're described as doing.

I contend that this isn't the case with the Invaders, due to the aforementioned reasons.

>>31980409

Essentially, what we got so far, is that the Natives are semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers that have been living in the land for as long as anyone can remember. They live in a careful balance with the spirits around them because without their aid it's very unlikely that they would survive.

Each tribe has a Chief who directs the hunters/warriors and is usually the oldest or wisest able-bodied man. He leads in time of war and defends the tribe.

Each tribe also has a Wise Woman, who is in charge of interacting with the spirits on behalf of the tribe. The wise women are trained by their predecessor, creating an unbroken line back to the first tribe. She is also in charge of laws and taboos of the tribe, with anyone who breaks one coming before her to be judged and given an appropriate punishment.

Spirits and humans are free to make Pacts between each other, where basically the human promises to do something for the Spirit, who in turn gives the human a fraction of it's power. If the human breaks the Pact the spirit takes a fraction of his soul as a sort of payment. This weakens the ability of humans to defend themselves spiritually and if it happens too often the person will devolve into a creature more monster than man, plagued by malign spirits and demons. These monsters wander the wastes and are referred to as Wendigo.

Group and group cohesion is extremely important to the Natives. They live in tightly knit tribes that depend on each other for everything.

This comes into play with close companions; their connection to each other sort of melds their essences together, forming a spiritual entity that represents the group as a whole. When a person dies and they are part of such a group (which not all people are, it is mostly for the rarest and closest of companions PCs[/spoilers]) they can choose to temporarily inhabit this spirit before continuing on, allowing them to aid their friends even after death.
(cont.)

i think you guys should focus more on the natives. the story is told from their point of view after all.

this stuff about the details of the invaders' society, the worm people, giants, etc. are nice, but in the end it's all ancillary fluff.

>>31980909
How about this:
The pseudo norse believe they are born without souls and must earn them in their lifetimes or else suffer some indescribable cosmic horror pain and emptiness in death. One of the surest ways to please their chief deity is to go out and conquer new land in his name.

>They don't know any of that beforehand. You generally don't look at somewhere where an Inuit-like civilization would live and see a land of milk and honey. Why aren't they taking the same route as the Vikings IRL and going for the rich lands of Europe? Surely there are other places in the world besides inuitland and wherever the Invaders come from?

In the last thread a some very strange and interesting ideas for other places were suggested, but were ultimately pushed to the background for being a bit beyond the settings scope.

>>31980909

>None of this explains why they're here of all places instead of somewhere else

Because they are expanding in ALL directions, not just to our corner of the world. They literally looking everywhere for a chance at glory. It just happens that this place is nearby and they need to get through it to continue on.

>They don't know any of that beforehand.

They stumbled on the land first and weren't neccessarily looking for it. They just knew that if that traveled west, they would eventually find SOMETHING. Once one person saw the place actually had something to offer, he sent back news and goods to trade.

>Precisely because they were a society of free men, where almost any dude with enough charisma and balls could go off on his own initiative and see what was beyond the horizon and hopefully make it back to brag about it and make people interested in that place.

This exists in the Souled and, to a lesser extent, in the Ceorl, who still do have free will, just not on the level of the Souled. To gain a soul you need to expand and do glorious acts, to bring the attention of the gods to you. I think the disconnect might be in the fact that you are misunderstanding the number of Souled that exist in the world. It would be comparibly to the Native population, it's just that the bulk of them are not in this land, but in some other.

All the things are there, we might just be doing a bad job explaining it. I shall attempt to rectify it.

>31981187

>They don't know any of that beforehand. You generally don't look at somewhere where an Inuit-like civilization would live and see a land of milk and honey. Why aren't they taking the same route as the Vikings IRL and going for the rich lands of Europe? Surely there are other places in the world besides inuitland and wherever the Invaders come from?

>Because they actually are, it's just out of sight of the Natives.

>>31977592
What are these, foragers for ants?

>31981024

(cont.) When all the people of one of these groups die, they can choose to be reborn into a single being, whether that be a purely spiritual one, continuing on into the afterlife, or to be reincarnated into a new, human body. These gestalts meld personality and ability and more often then not turn into the great heroes of legend.

There's still tons of room to expand, we just need to sit down and expand it.

>My Grandmother Is My Husband

I was left alone with only grandmother, as the youngest and oldest of our village, prohibited from the narwhal hunt. No one came back for years, not mother nor father, not the girls nor boys who I imagine would by now kiss my cheeks with snowballs, if they were still here. Luckily for me, my grandmother was magic. With a few words and a trance, she could turn herself into a man. Her seal-bone penis was always full of pleasure, her blubber-balls were always warm. And being a man, she was able to get food without as much danger. Her vagina transformed into a mighty sled. She created a team of dogs from her own lice. I spent my days hidden in the hut, sewing animal skins and singing.
Grandmother always returned by evening, sometimes with a ptarmigan, his dead feathered feet stiff in the cold. I learned how to cook all kinds of soup. This went on for many days of dark and light, many years and changes in my body. Sometimes I feared my handsome grandmother's death and wondered if I'd be able to hunt for myself.
How could I sleep without her curled into me?
It came to pass that I would have other worries.
One day when I was alone a man came to our house.
His penis was real skin and blood. He showed me his wrinkled testicles with pride. He wanted to know whose harpoon stood in the corner. Whose kayak leaned against the wall. Whose child filled my belly. I told him they all belonged to my grandmother, my husband. I kicked as he threw me over his shoulder, promising he would make me a happier wife. Grandmother returned that evening as usual, a walrus roped onto her sled. She cried out my name over and over, looking for boiling water, some proof that I was coming back. She saw no point in hunting or eating anything else. She saw no point in being a man any more. She undid her magic spell -- man or woman, it's all the same when a person dies alone.

>>31981195
>This exists in the Souled and, to a lesser extent, in the Ceorl, who still do have free will, just not on the level of the Souled.

I've been meaning to ask what the entire point is of making everybody except the top dogs mindless. What does it add? To me it just seems to make a potentially diverse and interesting bunch of people into a couple of maybe interesting and diverse people and a legion of mooks.

>>31981297
Actual Inuit lore has you reincarnate as a child that bears your name. Doting parents whose child had died would give gifts to people that had a kid by the same name, because it could have the same soul.

If a ghost meets someone with their soul, the split fragment returns to the living body and the ghost disappears.

>>31981195
>this place is nearby and they need to get through it to continue on.

To where? Usually arctic climates aren't anywhere between where you are and where you want to go, becasue they're you know, at the extreme ends of the world.

Seriously man, in all honesty you seem to be grasping at straws here. Maybe you should just rethink your idea a little.

>>31981499

It's more than just the "top dogs," it's at least a few thousand, if not more, people. It's just that since this is basically just the beginning of a colony, if it can even be considered that yet, most of them haven't bothered heading this way.

Or, you know, they are just in route.

>>31981571

You realize that Greenland is attached to a larger continent, yes?

You realize that the real-world Norse used this as a stepping stone to move further south, yes?

It's the exact same principle. There are more lands to the south of where the natives live. If the invaders don't set a permanent base here, they can at least use it as a staging area before moving further south.

I don't understand why this is difficult, it's the exact same pattern that real world Norse used when they expanded into the New World. Greenland was closer than sailing through open ocean, and made a good staging point before moving on.

And to be fair I didn't come up with the soulless idea, which is why I introduced the idea of the Souled, to give the invaders more flavor beyond hack n' slash. It's just the idea we have been using the longest so far and I have yet to see any real reason to change it.

http://pastebin.com/YXUXEYse
Alright added some stuff on the non-human races. Crammed in some temporary shit to flesh it out feel free to change it.

>>31981828

Works for me, thanks. I like the layout, maybe there should be some low scrubland set in the middle and running to the coast. Not very rich but there's more there than other places, it's were caribou and everything spend most of their time and were a lot of the hunting happens.

>>31981774

Sorry if I sound snippity but we have been arguing this point for like 2 hours and it's getting kind of old real fast and doesn't in the end better anything. Let's just move on and tackle other things before we come back to this with a fresh perspective.

>>31981774

>You realize that the real-world Norse used this as a stepping stone to move further south, yes?

This is wrong. Greenland was colonized mostly because Erik the Red was good at bullshitting and Leif Ericsson actually set out fron Norway when he discovered Vinland mostly by accident after being blown off course. There was no deliberate path of "stepping stones", only opportunistic journeys by dudes with enough charisma and cojones to sway people to follow him. And when I say "sway" I mean bullshit.

>>31981774
>It's more than just the "top dogs," it's at least a few thousand, if not more, people. It's just that since this is basically just the beginning of a colony, if it can even be considered that yet, most of them haven't bothered heading this way.

You didnät answer my question. What's the point of making any of the Invaders mindless? What does it add?

>>31981828
>http://pastebin.com/YXUXEYse
> Any meaningful communication with them is impossible.
I'd say it's possible, it just ranges from 'extremely patronising' to 'wallpaper paste eating toddler being lectured on advanced quantum physics by a professors who knows his shit but doesn't care if his audience understands'

>>31981923
By all means it's only meant to be the roughest 'sketch' of a map layout.

File: viking_voyage.jpg (427 KB, 1350x832)

427 KB JPG

>>31982045

I didn't come up with the idea, I just tried to adapt it into a way that makes sense. They aren't mindless, just not as individualistic as the Souled as they have no real personality.

They're the faceless foot soldiers that you see in every movie/game/book/etc. Just with a chance of getting rewarded with real personality for being a badass.

>>31982018
Image relevant. They used Greenland as a place to pick up resources instead of risking starving/dying of dehydration on the open seas.

>>31982046

Also, wut?

>>31982193
>I didn't come up with the idea, I just tried to adapt it into a way that makes sense. They aren't mindless, just not as individualistic as the Souled as they have no real personality.
>They're the faceless foot soldiers that you see in every movie/game/book/etc. Just with a chance of getting rewarded with real personality for being a badass.

Again, what does this add? Why is this here? What's its purpose?

>>31982237
On the worm people. You can talk to them meaningfully but they're working on a level far above you so at best they're talking down to you like they're Lassie and you're somebody who's fallen in a subterranean water repository, and at worst they're either just speaking jargon or making you understand by forcing it into your head.

>>31982193
>>31982257
I've got to agree, nothing is really added by this and it pretty heavily undermines the other aspects of the norse dudes.
Also since any stories in this setting are more likely to be small character driven affairs than epic world saving quests I would argue that anything that makes the people you encounter more generic or faceless is counter to the experience you want to create.

>>31982257
What do the 'not gnolls' add?
What do the worms add?
What is the point in viking citybuilding robots anyway when you're trying to build a meaningful setting about being an inuit tribesman? They're the antithesis of the very setting itself.

>>31982257

Nothing, in the end. Its a relic of like the first 10-20 posts of the beginning of the setting. Don't like it, suggest something better that works with pre-established ideas instead of completely replacing them and convince people that it's good.

How I see it and how you see it can be two completely different things. I am seeing it more as strong-willed individuals leading packs of cronies on adventure rather then them being literally soulless automaton. Ceorl are empty, not completely. They act independently, they have dreams and aspirations, shit they don't even need a Souled to get things done, which can be seen in the fact that they, somehow, need to bring glory to themselves to catch the eyes of the gods. It's that they know that, by hanging out with a Souled for long enough and keeping him on their side, that they have a higher chance of running into something that will give them the opportunity to win their own soul.

The yrl knows how they think (as conceivably he was exactly like them once) and basically uses this hope to extort their services, giving him disposable minions at little cost to himself.

It's complex, I just don't think we are explaining it correctly (or asking the right questions).

>>31982372
Well, inuit-inspired tribesmen.

>>31982328

Oh. Yes.

Sorry I was confused by the linking to the pastebin.

I imagine them to sort of be like True Fae in C:tL; sometimes their nice, sometimes their mean, but whatever they are they make very little sense from our perspective and are very, very, very, VERY dangerous.

>>31982413
Well, yes. The point is to replicate the experiences of a hunter gatherer culture in a world full of mystery and magic, not to play racial relations with a whole bunch of super intelligent or strong species that everyone will want to play instead of the little guy with the spear.

>>31982407
>Don't like it, suggest something better that works with pre-established ideas instead of completely replacing them and convince people that it's good.

Regular people with regular free will, led by charismatic dudes hopped up on the Power of Odin? You know, like actual Vikings except the gods really are real? This preserves the motivation of the leaders, as they don't wanna lose their badass superpowers while letting the Invaders also have a fleshed-out society of individuals instead of faceless mooks, which will open up far greater roleplaying opportunities.

Also you can call them Carls and Jarls, no need to make slightly edited versions on the words.

>>31982461

The object isn't to make any one race stronger, more intelligent, etc than another, it's to make a fleshed out world that has legitimate threats that can be used in any number of ways. And this is ignoring the fact that 'those little guys with spears' can literally get the land, sea, the stars, and everything in between to rise up and do their bidding if they are willing to ask for it, or turn themselves into gestalt superbeings, or have weapons that have the souls of hundreds of generations of ancestors fueling it's power.

I feel like a lot of stuff is missing from the pastebin that fleshed out the Natives more, and this makes me sad.

>>31982461
This, the other races are meant to be strange and alien presences to varying degrees.

>>31982535

Works for me. It reflects essentially the same stuff that I was trying to get across. It also helps that the Souled have crazy sorcery due to their partially-divine nature (what with their souls given directly by the gods). Usually people like having that on their side.

I was using the word because the guy trying to make Law the most important part of the invaders society suggested them and I didn't want him to feel excluded.

>>31982555
>or turn themselves into gestalt superbeings, or have weapons that have the souls of hundreds of generations of ancestors fueling it's power.
Gaaaay.

A group based narrative - you know, like a party based RPG is literally the perfect place for co-operative play along tribal lines, allowing you to develop as a hunting party and as a tribe. An inuit-style setting would work fantastically for that. It works terribly for anyone that wants to be a god/earn XP to level up.

>>31982557
Scrap them entirely, have various ghosts, pseudo-humans, hags, giants, nature spirits, animal spirits and shapeshifters.

>>31982555
>The object isn't to make any one race stronger, more intelligent, etc than another, it's to make a fleshed out world that has legitimate threats that can be used in any number of ways. And this is ignoring the fact that 'those little guys with spears' can literally get the land, sea, the stars, and everything in between to rise up and do their bidding if they are willing to ask for it, or turn themselves into gestalt superbeings, or have weapons that have the souls of hundreds of generations of ancestors fueling it's power.

Thing is it doesn't work like that, things can only be achieved if you have something the spirits consider valuable enough to trade for, which they don't. That's why trekking to the volcanoes is so important, it a source of thing the spirits value other than souls. Also consider that the Norse people have almost completely abandoned this form of magic in exchange for iron age technology so it can't be that good.

>>31982638
Almost all of those have been brought up at some point, they just haven't been given as much discussion, presumably because people are already familiar with the concepts.

>>31982657
It's not things that you trade. Like, physical things. They can be but that's rare. It's usually tasks or rituals that make the spirits happy.

>>31982657

Actually it should be able to be that good depending on how good you are at spirit-wrangling. The drawback should be that the more spirits you have, the more contracts you have to fulfil. Therefore it would be concievable to see some actually superpowered shaman wandering about, but theu'd constantly be living on the razor's edge and probably have to spend a ton of time fulfilling whatever bizarre demands the spirits have.

This also puts a handy and justified cap on how powerful the PC:s can become. Sure, you can be the mightiest shaman of them all. Now spend all your waking time desperately trying to keep some spirit from becoming offended and fucking you over.

>>31982657
Actually, to expand on that:
Superhuman beings, the sort that go on to become mythic hero's owe measure of there power to their being tied unusually closely to an unusually powerful spirit through some machinations of fate.

>>31982723
Maybe, but inuit folklore is 80% body horror, 20% fear of nature.

You know what's scary? A whale sinking your boat.

You know what else is fucking scary? Childbirth.

Cue stories about cannibalistic babies that tear their mother to pieces, then devour the entire village.

>>31982775

You get it perfectly, exactly as intended.

>>31982608

Actually the norse placed a heavy emphasis on their legal system, but that legal system didn't work like we'd expect a legal system to work, mainly because there rerely was a central enforcing authority.

>>31982770
Well lesser spirits might value things like volcanic glass for it's aesthetic value but I was more thinking that certain volcanic minerals would have particular mystical properties or roles in rituals, so I guess we're agreeing?

>>31978056
>the disemboweling goddess Ululijarnaq
Inuit myths are horribly MAGICAL REALM, but this is so fucking awesome, I'm going to put a deity of DISEMBOWELMENT in my campaign.

>In the beginning was Slashy.
>Slashy started cutting up the mud
>She cut it into a human form
>Then she cut open its mouth to listen to its screams
>Then she cut it an anus.
>After getting bored of her creation, she left it her knife, to go flay and disembowel all other creatures.
>This creation was man.

>>31982845
Also true. A mix of all the things, dependent on the individual spirit.

Going to a work party. But let's focus on something that we haven't touched on much yet; cosmology. So, get your god caps on and get ready for some theological discussions, I will be back in like an hour, hour and a half.

>>31982848
>I'm going to put a deity of DISEMBOWELMENT in my campaign.
You'd probably want one if you spent half your time carving animals up.

The main failure of this thread is that nobody seems to understand the different values system implicit in a hunter-gatherer culture and the ways in which this influences the behavior of an Inuit tribe, or the fact that the fundamental concerns faced by them would be entirely different from those of an ordinary fantasy setting.

Alien races are a concern for Europeans, because of a culture of warfare, and corruption by different ideologies. Inuits don't need this, when they're afraid of their own society.

You don't need all sorts of other races to create conflict, when the tribe next door are liable to paddle up to your house and kidnap your women while you're out hunting, or when your daughter can get raped by the guys that live just over the hill or when a stranger that marries into the tribe could be some hideous monster or bring some terrible curse with them. Making war is not a concern, and you do your best to avoid other cultures, because fighting is dangerous and you've got enough problems getting by as it is.

I desperately need to go to bed. I think some of these ideas will definitely be of use to me.

>>31982461
They won't know what we know now. I'd imagine a game would be heavily obscured.

>>31983279
But there's less reason for them to find anything out.

You see a bunch of living worms, the last thing you do is go let the supergeniuses condescend at you. You nope the fuck out of there as quickly as you can.

You see some nature spirits? You nope the fuck out of there. You ain't no shaman.

You see some horrible monster? You nope the fuck out of there.

You see some nasty looking human? Do they look like a pussy? Stab them if they do, if not, revert to plan N.

>>31983339
Not to mention that there's very little cultural shame in running away. Everyone runs away sometimes.

What is shameful is laziness, or sucking at hunting, or failing to please your woman, or bullying your children, or letting your guard down for long enough that any of the terrible shit out there can crush your skull with a rock, tear out your entrails and wear your fingerbones as a necklace.

>>31983502
>Not to mention that there's very little cultural shame in running away. Everyone runs away sometimes.

This is true. There is little to no machismo in traditional societies, because taking dumb risks is very likely to get you killed and then the elders will be telling the story of that idiot who got himself killed like a moron for decades to come.

Bumping, will be back in about 30 minutes.

>>31983133
I was in the original thread and just popped back in for this one. I suggested the idea of pact magic partially due to the inuit mythological structure, trying to give reason to how random and harsh living in the arctic was. Spirits are inhuman and bigger than you and need to be appeased in order to keep things running. The idea being to emphasize the connections you have with those close to you and the harshness of the outside world, the same reason the Inuit had animism in the first place.

The alien races (sans mindworms) seem personifications of the forces of nautre, and how tribes cope. To create a world where conflict like you stated is understandable because everyone is just scraping by.

The drive to understand the world comes from desperation at new circumstances (the quall grouping up, the invaders etc) and the search for a solution

Thoughts about having a loose federation of tribes formed to repel the invaders? Most tribes still don't trust each other, but there is a growing federation due to the rapid changes brought forth by the recent changes. They seem good now, but many elders refuse to join due to fears of what happens when the invaders leave.

>>31985974

That would make sense to me. Or you could leave it open at the start of the game and have that be a goal within the campaign.

So, anything come up with any good cosmology stuff?

The two gods I've had in my head are The Hunting God (no name yet, just a loose idea). He's decked out in furs, has his trusty walrus tusk swords and wears a mask carved from the bone of a Demon Space Whale that he killed long ago. He created the mortal world (in the Natives beliefs. I imagine that all the cultures spiritual beliefs are, in their own way, correct) and made the Inupa to watch over his creation.

Then there's Ululijarnaq, the disembowling Goddess, who made humans and taught them how to kill the things that the creator made. He was real upset about this at first but eventually conceded that it's ultimately a good thing, so he taught them how to stay in balance with spirits and how to only kill what's necessary.

>>31986631
Not fond of the idea of gods one can be on good terms with, like in greek or egyptian mythology. I like the idea of gods that you just work really hard not to piss off.

The first seems to work in that idea, however the inuit believed that all living things had the same -life- as it were, so paying proper respect to kills would be a thing as well. Perhaps the hunting god hunts down those that don't...because what is the difference really?

>>31986915

I was thinking the gods had very little to do with mortal world in general, being more focused on awful monsters from beyond attempting to break into the world. They had a handle in making things and have largely left it alone. It's more like he taught them so they didn't fuck up creation, not so they could be on 'good terms.' In fact we could even say that the last tribe that tried to get a hold of the Hunter God actually got wiped out, simply because he was pissed that they interrupted whatever he was doing at the time.

The disemboweling goddess is just going to cut you. That's what she does. You don't get anywhere near her unless you want to die an awful, horrid death.

>>31987046
Actually the only reason why the hunter god hasn't gotten rid of her is because he's not sure that even he could take her in a fight. She's just that terrifying.

>>31987046
Don't flesh out what the gods are actually focused on? That way they stay large and unknowable.

The gods of the natives would be objectively more powerful than those of the conquerors, but the spirits forbid anyone actually contact them. Basically the conquering gods would be on the deity level of the greek pantheon whilst the native gods would be on the level of the primordials nyx and hemera.