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Chronicles of Terrene: Choose Your Own Adventure Game!
Exciting news! Chronicles of Terrene will be available as a Choose Your Own Adventure video game for Android systems, and hopefully in a browser-based option as well. This is a joint project between myself and Vincent James.
ETA: N/A
Synopsis: Choose between Teng, a Seem Mystic, Vendra, a Hovarthian Mystic, and Salul, a stranded Hiat Mystic, as your hero to play. As you endeavour to return the Hiat Mystic to its homeworld, an abandoned Aether ship is discovered that you must repair and make space-ready for a voyage of adventure amongst the stars in the highest Steampunk fashion.
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The World:
The Chronicles of Terrene are a collection of tales that happen on and around the Planet of Terrene, and the inhabited planets of Ogrun Na and Selook.
Peoples:
Automeran: The Automeran Empire is made up of native Hovarthians who have made major modifications to their bodies with alchemical and technological advancements. So far, their Empire is just gaining steam. They are organized, dour, practical and ambitious. They have built up an empire of scientists and inventors, and have (through arms peddling) gained notoriety and wealth. They are increasingly seen as a threat without any reasonable response.
Berunese: The Berunese are the real wild men of the woods up north. They are berserkers and madmen, savage and unstoppable in their battle fury. Like the Latimians, they too have an in-tune understanding of nature, but the Berunese are all about animal mastery, and mastery of the body. They use a lot of altering substances and stimulants. And as a mercenary force, they are highly saught after. The Berunese are thick-haired and thicker bodied. While the Latimians are tall, well-proportioned and elegant, the Berunese are just BIG. not quite giants, but built like gorillas. or like dwarves only a normal-shaped. They're all about piercings, bodily modification, beards, braids, tattoes, scarring and some even file their teeth.
Cascadian: The Cascadian Empire is a more old-fashioned, declining empire of old-fashioned sensibilities. They have been struggling with a great deal of debt from their wars against the Spheran Empire, a great deal of social turmoil in their outlands, and a broken line of emperors. They are the collapsing Rome, but their culture is more Turkish-Ottoman-Russian. They are known for their Nobles Oblige, their duelling and their elegant manners.
Entera: The Kingdom of Enteria is an artistically influential place. They set a lot of the cultural trends, the best artists, painters, philosophers, performers and such come from there. They are a sensuous, affluent, excessive, opulent people, very much given to largess and excess. Their country is decadent and yet still very wealthy. Their peace is bought and counterbought by other nations for duties, and they rely on both honest merchants and crooked taxes to pay the circles. Think of them as a cross between the Italians and the Arabs, specifically, those of Morocco or Cairo. The Enterians are caramel skinned, black haired and blue eyed, and from a combination of a natural lithe build and styling seem rather effeminate. Their fashions keep them oiled, waxed and adorned.
Hovarth: The Hovarthians are hard-working, stocky land-workers. They have tanned skin and pale hair, often going to strange pastel colours like mint or baby pink. They are very much content to stick to themselves and mind their own business, and it was such a mentality that allowed the Automerans to nearly wipe them off the map. The Automeran roaming cities were too weighty to handle travelling too close to the continent's edge, and so now the native Hovarthians are reduced to clinging to the sea shore and trying to prevent their extinction through subversion, creative inventions and getting the hell off the continent before they're slaughtered or converted.
Klergian: The Klergians are a more zealous version of the Seemians in culture. They believe that the Mystics are in fact Gods, and warn of their fiery wrath for the soul in death, and the casting out from the Mystic Paradise. They are a dictatorial republic, with an often violent approach and/or reason to religion. On a singular level they believe what they are doing is for the greater good, and they believe that as many souls as can be must be saved, for the more souls taken unto the Mystics, the stronger the gods will become, and therefore the wrongs on the planet will be more easily tended to. Their expansionist efforts have been based solely in conversion, missionary and Holy War justifications. The Klergians are ruddy-skinned, a red-brown brick colour, and rather sharp-features. They are often tattooed or painted, and their religious leaders have solid white eyes.
Latimians: The Latimians are these nearly elven/druidic tall people from the north. They are kind of wild-man/woad raider fighters, very in-tune with the elements and able to survive in incredibly harsh circumstances. They are great hunters, and trackers, and live in communities and clans rather than cities. They are pale-skinned, red-haired and often-freckled. They are also often confused with the Berunese, despite the fact that the Latimians are interested in the flow of energy and the personification of the elements.
Ogrun: A race of beings from the world of Ogrun Na.
TYPES OF OGRUN:
Mystic: A collection of races that hail from the planet and moons of Selook.
TYPES OF MYSTICS:
•Adre~ From the Preyuu Moon, known as The Silver, they received the gift of power. They can create and dispell curses, break the magics of other Mystics and are generally adhered to and revered. They have the skill of telepathy.
•Arbas~ From the Arbas Moon, known as The Temple Acolytes, they received the gift of immortality. They keep the writings of the Mystics, their histories and their Mystic Arts. They are the most diverse magical casters and can live forever unless they choose to die or are destroyed by force.
•Dakk~ From the Dakka Moon, known as The Crescent, they received the gift of aether manipulation. They can attact and reform aether both from residual aether dust and from stagnant leyline energies. Through its use they can boost their Mystic arts, fly, and survive unprotected in space. This is helpful considering their moon has no natural atmosphere.
•Elok~ From the Leenooktituk of Selook, known as The Storm, they received the gift of warding and defense magics. One of the two partially intangible mystics, the Elok can combine and join with other Elok to create offspring or generate power. They are masters of protection magics and attacks. They also have the skill of teleportation.
•Hiat~ From the Asron Moon, known as The Shifting, they received the gift of changing form. They have a root form, but from it they can become any shape within 200% of their normal size. They can transform into things with working parts, and can become both animate and inanimate objects. It is even possible for them to join up with other Hiat to create creatures or objects beyond their mass limitations. This is the source of the Hiat Golems that build their great cities.
•Kold~ From the Thiy Moon, known as The Blind, they received the gift of precognition. Physically blind and quite reticent, the Kold tend to keep themselves and their visions private. Their ability to see the future exponentially increases with age, and their elders are said to be able to not only look forward, but also back into one's memories to glean information.
•Oolih~ From the Oolih Moon, known as The Shadow, they received the gift of invisibility. The Oolih are a stealthy creature, able to use manipulative Mystic Arts to no parallel. They are masters of martial prowess and self control. They are incredibly fast, agile and dextrous, and combine this with their natural cloaking abilities to pose as the physical army for the Mystics' protection when the defenses of the Elok have been breached.
•Selu~ From the Gorlobadanob of Selook, known as The Mist, they received the gift of healing magics. The Selu can become intangible at will, and when in their intangible form can float and fly to great speeds. They are also capable of passing through solid matter in this state, and are said to be impossible to contain. Their specialty is the ability to heal wounds, disease, poison and even age. They can prolong life, including their own, and it is believed that their flesh and crystal growths contain healing attributes without the casting of Mystic Arts, and so they are a poaching commodity.
Seem: The Seemians are very peaceful, mild people, very faithful, and the first to learn of the Mystic Arts. They preach compassion, humility, making the least impact as possible, peaceful support etc. They are kind of like Tibetan monks, with smooth, simplistic Asian features, and almond shaped eyes. Also, all Seemians are born with markings on their face, generally around the eyes, though a few have had them on the brow, or cheeks or chin, or some combo of that. The colours of these markings are earthy, natural tones: moss green, plum purple, brick red, stone grey, flower yellow, earth browns, tumeric oranges.
Sphera: There's the Spheran Empire, which for ease we can equate to a cross betweent he British Empire during it's conquering of India, and the French Empire during the Tudor period. It's wealthy, influential, power-hungry and expansionist. They currently have (stable) territory on three continents. Their biggest trading partners are the Hovarthians and the Enterians. Their biggest rivals are the Automerans and the Enterians, and increasingly, the Seemians, but purely through political-religious reasons. The Spherans are pale skinned, generally some version of blond or brown haired. They have green, brown or grey eyes. They are short to middling in height, with 6'2" being on their utmost tallest for men.
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| Black Jack Finnegan |
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The Characters:
The characters are all of the current time period of the planet of Terrene, and can be found in the RolePlay readable on our Blog: Storytime with SAS.
Black Jack Finnegan
The Brass Duke
Cymbalene the Songbird
Adrienne the Velvet
Professor Skylar Raynes
Madame Gunslinger
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The Terms:
There are a number of terms that may seem foreign to one approaching Terrene, so here is a short Lexicon to get you better aquainted with the world:
Concepts
•Aether: Aether is space, the universe in which one travels.
•Aether Dive: A process that enables one to cover vast distances of Aether in a single moment. Jack uses a contraption called the Crown Eminator (designed and built by the Brass Duke).
•Aether Dive Generator: equipment that converts stored Levy energy into force needed to perform an Aether Dive.
•Aether Lines: A trail of energy left in the wake of a ship, can be followed or used as tug ropes by other ships unless scatter is completed.
•Aether Ship: A ship worthy of space travel.
•Air ship: a ship designed for planetside use.
•Alembic: A piece of equipment that converts gathered Aether dust and/or leyline energy into usable energy sources for the engine to utilize.
•Anchor or Sink Achor: An anchor that settles a ship; Sink Anchors generate standstill and immoverability in space.
•Aura: The protective energy emitted by a Gravity Core to protect the ship from travelling through planetary atmospheres and being in space.
•Balcony: Mounted areas of a ship that are normally only accessible planetside, unless one has an Eminator.
•Berth: Ports from which ships can dock and repair, as well as registry information and sailing clearance personelle.
•Bridge: The command centre for weapons, defenses, manual control, survey panels etc.
•Brig (Brig Tiers): The hold and storage compartments of a ship, sometimes levelled in tiers. Ptarmigan has three tiers, the top one for supplies, the second for lock-ups and repair equipment and weapons, the third off limits for his connection to his Key of Troves and his treasure storehouse.
•Captain: A trained pilot of either an aether or Air Ship outside of the military.
•Colours: A registered crest granted to each ship as its identification.
•Domestic: Designations for ships as homes, like house boats in the sky. They normally have berth verification via which they need to gain permission to take off or land whether that be planetside or into aetherspace. Jack uses the special capabilities of his Crown Eminator hooked into his Medal of the Galaxy Lords to avoid these permissions.
•Eminator: A rare piece of equipment that generates a protective layer of Leyline energy around the ship like an aura but also provides cloaking and increased energy. If installed with the Gravity Core, it can push the Gravity Core's radius outside the ship, enabling one to walk on outer balconies etc out in space without harm.
•Engine Chamber: the engine room, stoker's post, Aether Dive generator etc.
•Galley: The kitchen, larder and pantry of a ship.
•Gravity Core: Equipment that converts ship's internal atmosphere to suitable conditions fothe inhabitants while in space. It also works to keep the ship together and cohesive through space travel, enabling the bizarre and non-dynamic shapes of many Aether and Air ships.
•Gunwalls: The defenses mounted on a ship.
•Keel: The bottom of a ship including its docking tethers.
•Levitation Core: A piece of equipment in engine rooms that gives the ship lift.
•Levy Sphere: Equipment that detects and siphons Aether for the Alembic to generate energy for the Engines.
•Leylines: Areas in space where potential energy pockets lie; they are super food for Levy Spheres.
•Navigation Core: A piece of equipment that plots courses for an Aether Ship
•Navigation Chamber: The control room of an Aether ship, its helm. This room contains the mechanisms that connect to the rest of the ship and is often used to refer to these mechanisms, rather than just the room in which they are housed.
•Observation Deck: A fully sealed recreational/scientific area of a ship. They are optional, but often contain navigation instruments or research equipment and normally feature wide glass windows or sky lights.
•Port: The lefthand side of a ship.
•Propulsion Combusters: Equipment outside of a ship that moves it forward through a vacuum (not present on planet-bound air ships).
•Quarters: The offices and sleeping cabins of a ship.
•Starboard: the righthand side of a ship.
•Threshold: A door or hatchway entrance to an Aether/Airship
•Thrusting Engines: Engines that manouver a ship in planetary atmospheres.
•Turret: The highest point of a ship from which its colours are flown.
A Note:
Mid = Middle/Central
Nord = North
Suud = South
Vesta = West
Est = East
Far = Colony
So you will often things named with these prefixes, i.e. MidSphera, or Platina Suud.
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Naming Guide:
Berunese:
Like the Latimians, the Berunese use nature-themed names, but theirs are half-title, half-boast. For men they combine an action with a subject, usually predators. For women they combine an adjective with a subject, usually an element or prey animal.
Male: Crushing-Wolf, Singing-Eagle, Hunting-Fox, Leaping-Badger, Running-Bear, Creeping-Serpent, Laughing-Raven, Falling-Stone.
Female: Soft-Spirit, Radiant-Mist, Black-Feather, Clear-Water, Lost-Fawn, Beautiful-Dawn, Giddy-Toad, Sharp-Sparrow, Happy-Starling, Blue-Tulip, Acrid-Pipe.
Enterians:
Male: one to two syllables plus the suffix of in -ien.
Tullien, Geslen, Predien, Hadelien, Medien, Sorelien, Varien, Moresian, Vanourien, Nemien, Mearien, Tethien, Lothien, Sirien,
Female: one to two syllables plus the suffix -ene.
Cymlene, Arasene, Cerene, Selanene, Palmene, Perdene, Tarlene, Myanene, Cymbalene, Lothene, Predene, Medene, Varene, Anastene.
Hovarthian:
The Automerans and Hovarthians have the same language and the same naming:
Male names are one to two syllables and end in a hard consonant, usually a G, K, T, D, B, V or P. The females are two syllables and end in an A, or are a feminized version of an existing male name, in which case they are modified with an ending a.
Male: Toug, Varshek, Vosag, Hred, Ghozig, Yeshnik, Zerved, Toltak, Svenit, Sorav, Zheneb, Leezeb.
Female: Nordla, Vestha, Estha, Midla, Sundla, Farla, Vothla, Vendra, Baertha, Hreda, Zerveda, Touga, Svenita, Toltaka, Sorava.
Klergian:
Male: two syllables, ending in a consonant, often utilizing double letters;
Hasook, Lapett, Radik, Peleez, Anaang, Habrin, Badaan, Moresk, Matang, Ergen, Lalies, Hopred, Tamnuk
Female: Three syllables, ending in either a consonant or a vowel, sometimes female versions of male names;
Vasouna, Renanu, Hatoret, Dogana, Hasooki, Lapetta, Radiket, Peleezet, Habrina, Laliesel, Moreska, Badaanet.
Latimian:
The Latimians use common objects as names, using the masculine associated ones with boys and te feminine associated with girls.
Male: Braid, Arrow, Blade, Key, Ax, Lock, Coal, Seed, Bone, Bird, Marrow, Shadow, Sky, Cloud, Stone, Ore, Twig.
Female: Leaf, Rain, River, Moon, Sun, Snow, Ember, Dance, Song, Star, Stream, Berry, Nest, Branch, Pebble, Bone, Clay.
Seem:
Male: Single syllable, ending in a consonant;
Sook, Ges, Yao, Yoen, Teng, Zan, Zett, Mir, Bas, Nod, Poed, Gatt, Yos, Mak, Nen, Abb, Mern, Ash, Nen
Female: two syllables, ending in a vowel;
Tana, Hadi, Yeni, Kasi, Sani, Prana, Vesu, Bene, Tali, Viru, Wesu, Aspa, Mana, Emni, Nene, Otta, Une, Dona
Spheran:
The Spherans gained the power from the Empress to take Titles. It is believed (and it is true) that if one learns a Spheran's full name, they will have power over them. As such is the case, the nobility gained the power to grant multiple names to those in their care (the exact number of names is proportionate to the power of the family). This enables them to protect their namesake from being manipulated. this also means, that they often gain or modify titles. These titles have to do with what they are known for, for instance, The Grey Hound, The Brass Duke, Black Jack Finnegan, Cymbalene the Songbird (although she is an Enterian), The Historian, Professor Skylar Raynes aka The Royal Alchemist.
Their actual given names are often familiar to us, things like Jonothan, Simon, Iago, often a historical tint to them, especially names from fiction, Old English or the likes. There are often discrepancies in the spellings of them, often to look more genteel. (i.e. Jonothan, rather than John; Geoffray instead of Jefferey; Jaimes instead of James, etcetera).
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