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Civilization on Priapus Prime
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Topic Started: Feb 7 2015, 12:49 AM (1,683 Views)
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Ànraich
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Feb 7 2015, 12:49 AM
Post #1
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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I decided to try working a bit on this project despite my lack of time or inspiration, so I'm going to organize some of the information I already have to make it easier for new viewers to browse the project.
POLITICS

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Population: 2.98 billion Size: 514.7 million sq km Approx. 85% water/15% land
Although there is an international space exploration authority, Priapus Prime remains a planet divided by nationality, race, philosophy, and political opinion. Civilization began around the South Sea, Central Island, and Eastern Continent with particularly powerful cultures appearing on the Southern Island, North and Mid Peninsula, in the South Sea, and the western coast of the Continent. The cultures of the Strait influenced much of the Peninsula's political and philosophical thought, much like the Ancient Greeks or Romans of Europe. And in turn the Peninsulars went on to found empires and republics (sometimes not mutually exclusive) that would spread that influence to the rest of the planet.
The North Island Union is the world's leading economic power, dominating the world economy through trade. It is the most culturally and racially diverse nation on Priapus Prime, the result of a legacy of the ancient slave trade, colonialism, and and open immigration and egalitarian policies. It is a federal technocracy made up of several former colonies of many nations, giving it a history of multiculturalism.
The Great Imperial Republic is the industrial and military superpower of Priapus Prime, using its superior navy and army to keep the global political climate stable (and occasionally to bully other nations into economic or territorial concessions). The East Imperial Republic often clashes with the Great Imperial Republic over control of the food supply from the fertile Mangrove Republic and the River Republics (which were once a single River Republic, prior to the clashes). The two are currently in a state of cold war that has been ongoing for several generations, and both nations have used technology and media to spread propaganda and undermine each other effectively. This tension has been the driving force behind world politics for the past six centuries and led to the development of nuclear weapons, though after a brief nuclear exchanged both nations have disarmed and now work together to regulate the nuclear weapons that remain at large in the world.
The North Sea Imperial Republic once dominated the oceans and held a vast overseas empire, but these days its only distinguished by being the artistic capital of Priapus Prime. They are infamous for their role in establishing an organized slave trade that was responsible for practically depopulating the Southern Island of its native population and making them one of the largest and most widespread ethnic groups on the planet. The North Sea Imperial Navy remains the largest and most powerful naval force on Priapus Prime and the NSIR has naval bases in almost every nation with a coastal region. Rumors that they engage in privateering and allow known pirates to go free in exchange for brides are officially unfounded, regardless of any and all evidence to the contrary.
The Great Canopy Empire has for centuries been the breadbasket of Priapus Prime, growing large avocado-like fruits in vast gardens in the canopy, collecting them by catching them in vast nets they string up below; however, since the introduction of genetically modified crops a few generations ago the Peninsular Moor Confederation has produced enough food to essentially end starvation on Priapus Prime. Most Canopites live traditional lives in farming villages amongst the massive canopies formed by the arborimundae: gigantic tree-like organisms that dwarf even California redwoods and grapple each other with their branches, some of which are the size of city streets (and some of which actually are city streets), but many young Canopites are seeking higher education in neighboring nations and emigrating to more modern areas, which has created a major population crisis resulting in conservative and isolationist policies being instituted by an increasingly authoritarian Philosopher-King.
The Continental Union was formed by various groups of refugees after the Continental Imperial Republic invaded and colonized their original homelands on western coast of the Continent. They were driven into the drier, inhospitable regions of the planet around the south pole, where Priapans have trouble retaining water and respirating (they absorb oxygen through their capillary-rich skin, so their bodies must stay moist or they will "suffocate" slowly). They were aided by nomads, who had lived there for thousands of years and sympathized with others who had been forced from their homes and left to wander the wastes. Together they formed their own civilization, eventually culminating in the Continental Union. This nation is mostly underdeveloped, with most of its populace living around the more temperate eastern coasts in large cities. It has the largest amount of natural resources in the world, but lacks the infrastructure and manpower to harvest them. Due to the massive, uncharted and unsettled frontiers the Continental Union has become known as the home of pioneers who emigrate from all over the world to seek their fortunes, escape persecution (or prosecution), and to start their lives over.
The Central Island Federation is the last nation worth mentioning. It is a federal republic consisting of the Central Island States, which were the only Island natives to avoid being colonized or conquered by foreign powers. They have their own unique culture, and it is the most ecologically diverse nation on the planet, stretching across many different types of habitats and biomes. The inhabitants are fiercely proud and independent, although the infrastructure of the nation is greatly outdated and it is somewhat lacking in modernization and industrial development. Even so they manage to make excellent money through outsourced foreign manufacturing and the export of exotic goods. The nation recently overthrew a long-standing dictatorship which imposed harsh isolationist policies and sought to expunge all foreign influence from it's native culture and united the entire Island under its rule. Political opinion remains heavily divided in the aftermath, and there's a good chance the nation may collapse into smaller states.
As mentioned earlier, the eastern areas of the Peninsula, particularly around the River Republics, are wreaked with warfare. The two River Republics on the map are really just scapegoats created by the Great and East Imperial Republics; in reality nobody in those regions, save for the puppet governments, consider themselves to be in a "River Republic." Historically there were many small scribocracies (the priapan equivalent to kingdoms in ancient times; ruled by an oligarchy of scholars that appoint successors rather than a hereditary monarch) and chiefdoms. In modern times the situation is somewhat the same, except that territories are ruled by warlords and syndicates (the priapan equivalent of a corporation, not a criminal organization, although there are those too) rather than a council of scholars. There are constant skirmishes and small civil wars in the region as every now and then one overambitious despot attempts to reunite the region and reform the ancient empire that once thrived there (in fact the culture of the East Imperials is derived from said empire).
There is also massive amount of economic disparity between the regions of Priapus Prime. The South Island Confederacy, once the wealthiest region in the planet's history, is now plagued with poverty; 99.8% of its citizens live on the bare minimum amount of money it takes to survive. Africa, the poorest region on Earth (all 10 of the top 10 poorest nations are African nations), is about as wealthy as France compared to this single Priapan superstate. The reason for this dramatic change is obvious just by hearing the name of it's capital; Slaver's Harbor. Although slavery still exists in most nations on Priapus Prime, it is no longer in the form of the mass subjugation and brutal forced labor of certain races and ethnic groups. Instead slavery is now a punishment for criminals and a career option for the destitute--much as it was in ancient times--as with industrialization and modern technology slaves are no longer the largest source of manufacturing power. Slaves are protected by laws and well treated, most working in shifts and being allowed to own their own property; some even earn wages they can spend on whatever they like, possibly their freedom. Most slaves are owned by governments or syndicates which lease them out to people, thus ensuring their safety and well being.
Oddly enough, while the biggest problem with human civilization is the preservation of Earth's natural resources and biosphere, Priapus Prime has the opposite problem: nature is too damn pernicious. Nearly 90% of all priapans live on the coast or on the banks of a major river, mainly because the planet has a very stable global climate. Although the planet has an axial tilt similar to Earth's it has a thicker, super-rotating atmosphere and larger amount of surface water which causes heat to be more equally spread out across the planet's surface. The pervasiveness of this tropical climate is accompanied by the odd lighting situation. A massive, icy ring surrounds the planet, and the reflection of sunlight off of the ice that composes it creates an effect called ringshine. This ringshine is brighter than the full moon on Earth, bright enough for humans to distinguish color at night. With this plants can undergo photosynthesis at night, and massive tree-like organisms called arborimundae ("world trees") dominate much of the Peninsula and Island. These canopies are difficult to navigate and settle though, and harvesting natural resources from them is an enormous investment under even the best circumstances. This limits the economic growth of many regions, and without the funding to update agricultural infrastructure to modern standards there just simply isn't enough food for the global birthrate to remain anywhere but stable. Not only that, but because of life taking a different evolutionary path early in its history Priapus Prime has little to no fossil fuels, limiting technological development. Priapan civilization has reached a major hurtle it must overcome before it can continue to advance, but the priapans are a fiercely determined and inventive, if not peculiar, species that almost certainly can one day overcome their problems and spread out into the stars.
I lost the original files in a hard drive failure, so I can no longer edit the actual map, and I don't want to make a new one, but there should be a few notes here. A scribocracy is kind of like an oligarchical technate in which groups of wealthy scholars run the nation. Think of it like a country run by its most prestigious (and rich) universities. It's a very ancient form of government, more or less the first kind of government system to develop. In early human civilizations it was usually priests who took control but on P. Prime it was the scribes. Due to their biology limiting the ease of interracial communication writing became an early form of unity: you may have trouble speaking the same languages but if you can read the same language you can communicate. Those that controlled writing controlled the future of those around them. They made cooperation and large scale trade possible, bringing prosperity. They standardized taxation and created codes of law, bringing order. They recorded important events and inscribed them on great monuments for future generations to marvel at, bringing prestige. It was only natural they would assume positions of power, and that tradition continues in many places today.
Imperial republics are a lot like pre-Caesar Rome was. They have a democratic society that elects representatives from among the populace to lead them, and in the past (and sometimes in the modern era) these leaders would sometimes decide to ensure the prosperity of their people by engaging in the conquest of related racial and language groups. The conquered would in turn be incorporated into the government, bringing greater wealth and comfort for all. In theory, anyways. They also often engaged in wars of attrition and genocide in order to expand their territory for new frontiers to colonize and secure access to resources to gain self-sufficiency. These kinds of governments are the most common, though there are also true, non-imperial federal republics and confederations that arose in the modern era. It should be noted that in the modern era the term "imperial republic" is often just a traditional name and most are either true federal republics or authoritarian states, in much the same way that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is in no way democratic nor a republic.

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I've been toying with some ideas with what kinds of national symbolism Priapans would use, and flags and banner have been a common way of representing groups throughout human history. The Wholesale Fireworks across the street from work has these advertising flags that are readable regardless of how fast the wind is blowing, and since the winds on Priapus Prime would be rather fierce due to speed and increased atmospheric pressure I thought something similar might work for the Priapans. So here are the flags/banners for three nations: the Great Imperial Republic, the North Sea Imperial Republic, and the North Island Union.
The Great Imperial Republic is ruled by a military junta that has ruled the nation for over 60 (Priapan) years. It is by no means an oppressive ruling body, and in fact the citizens enjoy a great amount of freedom. The nation was previously ruled by an oligarchy composed of the wealthiest merchants and industrialists, but they were overthrown in a military coup after the brief Great Imperial-Western Imperial Nuclear Exchange 86 years ago. A dictator ruled for 16 years (quite a long time as the average lifespan of a priapan is only about 20-25 years) and soon after her death a council of the highest ranking military leaders was appointed to lead the nation during the on-going cold war between the Great and Western Imperial Republics following the Exchange. The nation practices a form of exceptionalism and many of them believe it is their ultimate destiny or goal to unite the world under their rule in a "march of civilization." Their flag reflects this with a stylized priapan holding up a globe on a crimson field.
The North Sea Imperial Republic is a federation of various small states found on the island sub-continent off the northern coast of the Peninsula. United through conquest by one of these ancient republics centuries ago the North Sea Imperials are culturally distinct from other Peninsular priapans. They practice a form of shamanic sea worship and have a deep spiritual connection with a kind of amber-like substance found only on their shores: the remnants of giant tree-like organisms called arborimundae that thrived in the area when the sea levels were lower millions of years ago. Their flag is green and amber, with stylized waves at the top and four green bars representing each of the four corners of their island home.
The North Island Union is a federal republic of former colonies that united during the end of the Peninsular colonial era 150 years ago. It is the most racially and culturally diverse nation on Priapus Prime, as well as the wealthiest. The people there have the highest standard of living in the world, and their currency became the basis for the global standard currency that has been used in most nations on the planet for the past 30 years. The flag is an overlapping of three fields: crimson, orange, and yellow representing the skin coloration of the Peninsular, Island, and Continental races respectively (though it is somewhat exaggerated). The three circles are meant to represent the three original colonies that first formed the North Island Union, though two more colonies and three smaller native nations later joined them.
Here's some flags I did, I think I like the idea but may continue to toy around with it. This was mostly just something I did out of boredom, not really important.
RELIGION

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The priapans have very different religious ideas than humans. While humans believe in gods and afterlives, priapans have no concept of continued life after death (in an individual conscious manner, anyway), and rather than gods they have a concept called thoughtforms These thoughtforms are kind of metaphysical manifestations of ideas, concepts, or knowledge. They are not gods, though at first they may appear to be more or less the same thing. The difference is that gods created humans (if you believe that sort of thing), whereas either the priapans indirectly create thoughtforms with their collective beliefs, emotions, actions, etc. As Terry Pratchett might describe them, they are anthropomorphic manifestations (or in this case, priapomorphic manifestations). For instance, the thoughform of war is not the source of war, as the various gods of war of human mythologies occasionally are, but a product of priapan warfare. It is literally the physical embodiment of the entire concept of war, and exhibits traits attributed to warfare such as cunning and deceitfulness. Gods are either a part of nature, such as the Greek pantheon, or transcendent of it, such as the Judeo-Christian god Yahweh. Thoughforms are neither a part of nature nor do the transcend it, but rather they are a part of the priapans themselves.
Like gods, priapans also have no concept of souls, which is a concept found in pretty much every human religious belief system. Most priapan cultures believe that death is the end of an individual in both body and mind, and that nothing of them lives on (as in you die and you stop existing as the person you were, period). However they believe in a kind of "life force" which I call essence, which kind of takes the place of souls in most of their belief systems. Upon death this essence flows into some sort of collective stream of essence, which is different depending on what culture or religion we're talking about. The essence then enters into a new lifeform (and in some beliefs, possibly an object), allowing it to be born and live a lifespan dependent upon how much essence it took in. This also embodies a belief similar to fate in many priapan religions, as your lifespan is directly related to the amount of essence you were born with and once your time in the parking meter of life is up it's time for the essence to leave your body and find a new parking space. This could be dying from natural causes such as old age, or perhaps once you run out of essence you make the fatal mistake of ignoring the rustling in the bushes and get eaten by a predator. It's a lot like reincarnation, except the outcome is pure chance instead of karma. Now onto the actual religions, which I will summarize.
By far the most widespread religion on Priapus Prime is Ancestralism, which is Peninsular in origin and has four major sects (a lot like how Christianity is one of the biggest religions in the world, but Christians can't seem to agree on what exactly their beliefs are or how they should be practiced). The differences between them are mostly superficial, rituals and and minor beliefs can vary from region to region, but the tenants of Ancestralism are more or less the same regardless of which sect we're talking about. Thoughtforms aren't particularly worshiped in Ancestralism, but occasionally may be prayed to for assistance in specific matters; kind of like how Catholics don't worship idols, but may ask saints for help in their respective fields of expertise. Thoughtforms in Ancestralism are mostly used in stories and such as sources of moral lessons and spiritual support. As the name implies, it is the ancestors of Ancestrals that are important to the religion, and those that practice Ancestralism literally worship their ancestors. Worship is often focused at towering mausoleum-temples found in most large Peninsular settlements and at public or household shrines in smaller, more isolate communities. Priapans lack a concept of family or familial attachment, so everybody worships the ancestors of their respective community (or the home community, if they are an immigrant or moved for whatever reason). Some sects regard specific people from myths or historical events as being more important than other ancestors, while other sects believe that all ancestors, regardless of their accomplishments in life, are equally important. Ancestrals believe that essence leaves the body upon death and is drawn into the Cosmic River (the ring around their planet, which looks like a milky river of light from the surface due to the thick atmosphere).
One of the more interesting religions is the Church of the Holy Vendetta, a pseudo-monotheistic religion based in the Great Imperial Republic. The history is unique in priapan religious development, as it is a Jesus-like situation. In most Peninsular religions (and priapan religions in general) thoughforms don't interact with the priapans that worship them, but this is the most notable exception to that rule. The story goes that long ago what is today the Great Imperial Republic was a large number of tiny squabbling kingdoms and nomadic herding tribes that were slowly being conquered by a lost empire to the south. One kingdom in particular successfully repelled the first invasion and called on the other threatened states to join it in pushing this empire out of their collective lands for good. The empire struck back (no Star Wars reference intended) and devastated this kingdom, wiping out the entire scholarly class (which in Peninsular history tended to be the ruling class). Most of the time this spelled doom for the entire culture, and the people would forever be scattered into the slave markets and ghettos of their neighbors and conquerors. In this case the warrior class, usually much lower on the social ladder than scholars, rose up and united their people and then the squabbling states. They retaliated against the empire and destroyed it so thoroughly that to this day not even its name is known. After this even the united states reorganized into the Great Principate (which later became the Great Imperial Republic). During the Great Principate era a mythos developed about the war, and this mythos became the Church of the Holy Vendetta. This religion has similar beliefs regarding death as Ancestralism, but ancestors are revered rather than worshiped. Worship is limited exclusively to the Avatar of Vengeance (the thoughtform that embodies the concept of just revenge), which manifested itself into mortal form to become the first High King that united the states and destroyed the lost empire. They believe in other thoughtforms as well, but they are not worshiped and are mostly found in the same or similar stories to those used to teach moral lessons in Ancestralism. To this day the Great Imperial Republic is ruled by a High King, chosen by the highly organized and dogmatic clergy as the next Avatar of Vengeance after the death of the previous High King (kind of like the Dali Lama). The High King is more of a figurehead and religious figure, like the Emperor of Japan is; the actual official that acts as head of state is called the Hand of Vengeance and is elected by (most of) the people.
Another unique religion is Sea Worship, which originated in the North Sea Imperial Republic (NSIR for short). Unlike the Peninsula the the Island, which are covered mostly in thick canopies of skyscraper-sized tree analogs and steamy mangroves, the small island continent that makes of the NSIR is covered in temperate forests and open foothills. This is unfortunate, because Priapus Prime lacks grain analogs and most crops are somewhat fruit-like (though rather than come from flowering plants they are modified megaspores like those found on ferns and other Pteridophyta that reproduce without seeds or flowers; not really important, just kind of interesting). As such the people of the Great Isle (as the subcontinent is called) have always relied upon the sea to provide for them, as well as to protect them from frequent invasions from the mainland that were common throughout history prior to the island's unification. Their spirituality is centered around the sea, although they share many beliefs with Ancestralism (and although it isn't on the map many North Islanders practice a North Sea sect of Ancestralism), particularly their belief in essence recycling. Like the Church of the Holy Vendetta, Sea Worshipers do not worship their ancestors but instead worship the Avatar of the Sea, the Avatar of the Wind, and a sort of demi-thoughtform called the Amber Idol. Amber is very important to their religion, and it washes up on the shores of the Great Isle frequently in large amounts (it is rare everywhere else, nobody knows why so much amber comes from the North Sea while it has to be mined in small amounts at great cost everywhere else). Sea Worshipers believe that this amber is the life essence of those unfortunate enough to die at sea, which prevents their essence from flowing to the Cosmic River and being reborn as a new life. The amber is used to create religious artifacts in some cases, but most of the time it is burned to release the trapped essence in large festivals held regularly during the various amber seasons that occur each year across the nation's shores.
Cosmicism is the only truly organized religion native to the Island, and it is very different from Peninsular religions. Cosmicism can be summed up in three concepts: self-worship, death-worship, and enlightenment. Rather than believe in the thoughtforms of ideas or concepts, Cosmicists believe that a sort of personal thoughtform develops from an individual's experiences and thoughts over their lifetime. The thoughtforms of important historical and mythological figures can be revered or worshiped, but the most important thoughtform is the one developing inside you. Upon death this personal thoughtform is "born," and rises to a higher plane of the world. This personal thoughtform is not a continuation of the self, although it is similar to the person from which it was born. A good analogy to explain this would be fruit (which is actually an important symbol in Cosmicism because of this analogy): a tree (the world) produces an apple (a priapan), the apple ripens (life), falls and rots (death), and a new tree grows from the seeds within (personal thoughtform). In this sense the corporeal self is but a vessel for an even greater entity, and a person can take comfort in death knowing that their death will mean the birth of a new thoughtform that will shape the world on an even greater scale than one could in their short and meager life. The Avatars of Death and Enlightenment (both unique to Cosmicism, except for in a single case) are both worshiped as the heralds of this greater existence, which leads me to my final point regarding Cosmicism: enlightenment. A person that makes good effort to live their life free of hatred, greed, undue violence, and other negative emotions and actions achieves enlightenment as they actively and deliberately shape the developing thoughtform within them, and as such they become one with their thoughtform and through it one with the cosmos. A person that lives wickedly will create a thoughtform weighed down by their destructive actions, and it will be unable to ascend to the Cosmic River (which they call the Path of Enlightenment). It will remain stranded in the mortal plane of the world, and like an evil spirit of sorts it will spread havoc and misfortune, causing all the bad things like natural disasters or devastating accidents. Cosmicists do not believe in essence.
Naturalism is pretty straightforward compared to the other religions. It is a religion native to the Continent and focuses around the worship of nature. They accomplish this through the worship of special thoughtforms called natureforms. As the name implies, they are like thoughtforms but rather than be a metaphysical manifestation of priapan knowledge or action they are the divine embodiment of natural phenomenon, much like the Sea Worshiper's Avatars of the Sea and Wind. Naturalism isn't very organized, and it's a lot like Hinduism in the respect that it has millions of natureforms that are worshiped, but different regions and communities have different priorities regarding which ones are more important. Rather than have temples or shrines like the other religions, Natrualists worship by keeping gardens, communal farms, or even terrariums for those in urban areas with no space for the previous two. Naturalists believe that essence slowly seeps from the body as it is consumed by the earth (preferably in one of the aforementioned sacred gardens) after death and is carried away by the wind to be absorbed by new life forms.
Shamanism is another religion native to the Continent and shares a common spiritual ancestor with Naturalism. Shamanism is far less organized than Naturalism, and the term in fact refers to a wide variety of religious ideologies that share many overlapping beliefs and practices. Shamanism isn't the best description of it, because shamans are the bridges between the world of the living and the world of spirits, and for priapans there is no spirit world, just the world. In fact religion is also a bad term, as it's more akin to mysticism than an actual religious belief. Shamanism is more or less the same as Naturalism, but where Naturalism has prayers and organized worship Shamanism is more or less just "magic." They practice all sorts of strange rituals reminiscent of the practices of Wicca, Voodoo, and such (which is why it is called Shamanism) to do just about anything they could want or need done. These rituals could involve divining knowledge through geomancy or arithmancy, summoning rain with music, ending a plague or deluge (Priapus Prime is way wetter than Earth, there's no such thing as a drought there; just way too much rain and flooding) through animal or priapan sacrifice, or perhaps the use of potions or auto-cannibalism to accomplish something. Shamanism shares the same beliefs about death as Naturalism, but they leave the dead to decompose in the wilderness and believe that essence can be recycled as natural phenomenon such as rain or earthquakes (depending on the region and what particular Shamanic beliefs they have there).
North and South Avatarism are probably the most familiar to humans, and the oldest organized religions on Priapus Prime. The basic idea is that it is a lot like the ancient Greek religion: they believe in a pantheon of thoughtforms and most communities and cities worship a number of patron (or matron, although in most places on the planet thoughtforms are sexless as they don't reproduce) thoughtforms. North and South Avatarism differ mainly in the beliefs that have been introduced through cultural exchange. Having developed on the two islands on which the earliest known priapan civilizations began, they were originally a unified set of beliefs that slowly grew apart as what is now known as the Strait League expanded its early empire into the Peninsula, and the South Sea League likewise into the Continent and southern Island. The original afterlife beliefs are long forgotten, but North Avatarism now prescribes to the Ancestralism belief and South Avatarism to the Shamanic beliefs. Early Cosmicist beliefs of enlightenment (though not the Avatar of Enlightenment) also made their way into the North, while some Shamanic practices such as ritualistic auto-cannibalism and animal sacrifice made their way into the South. Other than that their rituals and practices are much the same, the only real differences being that the North includes the Avatar of Death in their pantheon and the south a few natureforms.
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.
"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming
Tree That Owns Itself
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Ànraich
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Feb 7 2015, 06:21 PM
Post #2
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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LANGUAGE

Priapans have a very limited range of phonemes available for use in languages. They have a total of 33, very close to the minimum needed for a complex language. Most priapan languages use them all, although there are many that will forgo two or three in favor of visual cues such as biolights (patterns of biolights used in languages are known as luminems) or gestures made with an appendage. Priapan Common--a constructed language used as a common global language for all priapans regardless of race--uses them all and only uses a few, very simple luminemes to add emotional content. Phonemes are divided into three clades: guttural sounds, mastagealizations, and radulations. Guttural sounds make up 19 of the 33 phonemes and consist of sounds made with the stomach or the muscles within the body cavity such as gurgles, burps, gags, and hacks. Of the remaining 14 phonemes 8 of them are radulations while 6 are mastagealizations. Radulations are the "clicks and clacks" made with the pseudoradula (the "jaws" on the underside of the body that protect the mouth and gonads). Mastagealizations are sounds made by manipulating the mastax in the throat that makes up the inner jaw. They act as vowels do in human languages, and in Priapan Common there is not much importance placed on them as they are not as common used as they are in, say, English.
On the subject of morphemes (combinations of phonemes that make up syllables), Priapan Common is a synthetic language. This means that it uses and relies heavily on words consisting of multiple morphemes rather than just one or two, as is the case with most older Priapan languages (making them isolating rather than synthetic). Priapan Common uses mainly compound words to make it simpler to learn, so sometimes a conversation may seem to drag on while other times they may seem so short there could hardly be said to have been a conversation at all. Guttural sounds make up the majority of most syllables in any priapan language, and the same is true for Priapan Common. As in almost every language radulations are used in conjunction with guttural sounds and are almost never used on their own, and very rarely are they used with mastagealizations. In Priapan Common radulations always follow guttural sounds, though guttural sounds can be used on their own or in conjunction with mastagealizations in any order.
Syntax widely varies amongst priapan languages, but in Priapan Common it's pretty simple. It's based on a subject-object-verb arrangement of words, so to say "I bought food" one would say "I food bought." Demonstratives that describe a subject or object such as adjectives and pronouns come after the word they are describing. So to say "I bought tasty food" in Priapan Common one would have to say "I food tasty bought," or just "food tasty" instead of "tasty food" for clarification. This is not the case when the subject is a person, in which case the demonstrative always comes before the person's name. So instead of saying "John is happy," one would have to say "happy is John." On that subject intransive verbs, that is to say verbs that do not require an object, are also very simple in Priapan Common. Since I doubt most people will know what an intransive verb is even with the explanation, I'll give the same kind of example Mike did in his guide on dA (as I have been doing this whole time). Intransive verbs are mainly verbs in which the subject is implied, mainly in cases where the subject is performing the action upon itself. Mike used the example of sleeping in "I slept." That makes sense because you're talking about something you're doing to yourself, as opposed to saying "I bought" which makes no sense without the object to which you are referring to, since you are not the subject. In cases like this Priapan Common just drops the reference to the self, so instead of saying "I slept," one would just say "slept," and it would be inferred from context that you are talking about yourself sleeping. This stems from an old tradition regarding etiquette in peninsular languages. It was considered rude to talk about yourself, so people rarely made references to the self in social settings (private conversations between two close individuals was not the same, one could reference the self without being rude). The commoners would emulate the wealthy and aristocratic by dropping the reference to the self, so instead of saying "I slept," as would be proper, they merely said "slept." In Priapan Common this has become the proper way to speak since that old tradition became a vestigial trait in most peninsular languages' slang anyways.
Imperative verbs, where it is implied that the listener is the subject, are not as simple and still require one to refer to the subject. So instead of saying "pay attention" to someone knowing that they'll infer that you were speaking to them, one must say "you pay attention" and reference that person directly. This relates to the earlier point about etiquette in old peninsular languages; in the same way that it was considered rude to refer to yourself in conversation, it was also considered rude to not refer to someone directly when speaking about them. This is because of the belief that if you are speaking ill of somebody you shouldn't refer to them while you do so that they won't overhear you (an old superstition that is akin to the Japanese belief that you sneeze when someone is talking about you behind your back).
I think my usage of prepositions will work, but I'm not sure. To avoid confusion I've decided that properly larger sentences will be broken up into smaller bits of information. So to say "I was in the embassy in the city of Bigrocks, in the Continental Union" one would have to say "I the embassy, Bigrocks city, Continental Union in in was." That doesn't make sense, so to break it up one would instead say "I the embassy in was. Bigrocks city the embassy was. Continental Union Bigrocks city was." But most people just use slang and shorten the whole thing into "I the embassy, Bigrocks city, Continental Union was." They just drop the verb and go straight to the tense since the verb is obvious based on the context. You aren't the actual embassy, so you must have been in the embassy, and the priapan usage of "in" means something more like "within the general vicinity of." You could say "in the embassy" and mean inside the actual building, or on the embassy grounds, or just outside the embassy on the street. People would get what you mean by context, so there's no actual need to say the verb. In the same way instead of saying "I was at the store buying food" with "I store food at was buy," one would just say "I store food was." You weren't being sold as food at the store, so in the context one could infer that you were at the store buying food since that is the only logical usage. Usage of tense in place of a verb is not always used, and many prefer to always use the tense and verb. Some place prefer to drop tense and just use the verb if the tense is obvious in context. It's not hard to pick up another dialect of Priapan Common.
Plurality is built into sentence structure for ease of use, so to indicate plurality you must always use a specific or general range. Like to say "fruits" one would say "fruit many." Or "ten fruits" as "fruit ten" ("ten red fruits" as "fruit red ten").
Most written languages, not including Priapan Common, are logographic, meaning they are complex languages like the old Chinese and Japanese languages. Some of them are ideographic, meaning that the symbols they use in their language represent whole ideas, and could be very complex. One very intricate character could represent the message behind a simple sentence, for example. One could say "the red plant with white flowers out in the jungle" with a single character, but something like "the apothecary went out and gathered the red planet white flowers out in the jungle" with several. Priapan Common is an abugida, or alphasyllabary, which means that it uses a system similar to an alphabet but common usages of mastagealizations are not used. So instead of saying "bar" since ba was so common I would just have "br." But since bo isn't as common I would still do "bor" instead of "br" again. I feel like it simplifies thing, and Priapan Common is meant to be easy to use and learn. It's used in almost ever nation on P. Prime as a spoken language (native written languages tend to be popular outside the Peninsula, where written and spoken Priapan Common tends to be the primary language used). Not everybody knows it, but in most major population centers on the planet most people either know it or know enough to get by.
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.
"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming
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Ebervalius
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Feb 7 2015, 06:25 PM
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I always considered Priapans to be one of the most fleshed-out alien societies I've ever seen...
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The Sirens of the Land of Fire Codex Ebervaliorum
Spoiler: click to toggle  "Who are you?"
 "I am you but stronger"
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Ànraich
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Feb 7 2015, 09:27 PM
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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Their society has definitely been the main focus of the project, that's for sure. I'm trying to do more of the other life on the planet but I always just end up thinking about the priapans themselves.
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.
"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming
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Ànraich
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Feb 10 2015, 10:06 PM
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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Here is a basic historical progression of political borders on Priapus Prime going back 7000 years. I'll do a more detailed image this weekend, as well as a more detailed history but for now a few key points will suffice:
- 7000 YEARS AGO: Cultivation of the local environment to encourage the growth of plants and animals used as food by the priapans gives way to true agriculture and civilizations begin to develop on the Island, Peninsula, and in the waters between them. The first cities are built and the first empires arise rapidly among several key culture groups. An isolated agricultural civilization develops in the Transpeninsular River Basin as well, and spreads the idea of civilization to pastoral peoples in the region.
- 4000 YEARS AGO: Civilization has spread throughout the Island and the western Peninsula, some pastoral peoples in the eastern portion of the Greater Continent (Peninsula and Continent together, like Eurasia) begin to establish large empires of their own. Sailing technology develops as trade between the Peninsular and Island states booms. This era is rife with warfare as many small states vie for dominance over the resources of local regions.
- 2000 YEARS AGO: Large, powerful empires grow in the southern and central Island, the South Sea, and eastern Continent. The South Sea Empire is the largest, spreading across the coast of the southern and western Peninsula as well as the whole of the southern portion of the Island. Their colonization will spread their culture across the Peninsula, which will become the basis for later Peninsular cultures. Warfare is not as common in this era, but widespread violence puts many population migrations into motion that will shape the Peninsula for centuries to follow.
- 1200 YEARS AGO: The South Sea, Central Island, and Transpeninsular River Empires have expanded to their full extents and are all in rapid decline. Rebellion, war, and unrest drive the migrations of colonial peoples from the South Sea Empire deeper into the continent, where they begin to establish settlements of their own.
- 600 YEARS AGO: The collapse of the great empires of bygone eras has created many new states, and in some regions whole new empires have begun to form. What will become the Great Imperial Republic has established itself as a dominant power in the eastern Peninsula while the inner Continental peoples have blended with the influx of South Sea Imperials and created a new culture group that dominates the Continent by default.
- 300 YEARS AGO: The Great Imperial and Eastern Imperial Republics have come into their own and have started their rivalry that will come to define much of modern political and military history. The inner Continental peoples have established the state that will eventually become the Continental Imperial Republic, Continental Union, and Great Canopy Empire. Half the Continent remains inhabited only by nomads. Many modern states find their beginnings in this era, which is known as the beginning of the Mechanical Revolution: a slow industrial revolution that begins with the development of clockwork mechanics. Peninsular state begin practicing colonialism in the northern and southern Island, driving the central Island states to come together to avoid conquest.
- 100 YEARS AGO: Peninsular colonialism begins to come to an end and new states emerge from the ashes. All the modern states recognizable in the present now exist, with only a couple of exceptions. Industrialization comes into full form and large scale warfare becomes the norm. The development of nuclear energy also leads to the creation of nuclear weapons, and an atomic war between the Great and Eastern Imperial Empires kills several hundred million priapans, with the radioactive fallout from it later bringing the total death toll to over one billion: one third of the planet's population is killed. This leads to the establishment of organizations for international cooperation and diplomatic efforts. Both superstates survive and rapidly rebuild.
- 50 YEARS AGO: Both the Great and Eastern Imperial Empires engage in a three-way cold war with the Continental Union, which has risen into a superpower in its own right with the advent of space flight. This cold war splits the Transpeninsular River Republic into two states via proxy wars. Modern borders are established during this time and international cooperation continues to grow, eventually forcing an end to the cold war and the banning/destruction of all nuclear weapons on the planet. Radiation clean-up continues, and by the present will be complete except for sections of the ocean, where most of the fallout ended up drifting.
- PRESENT: Not much to say. Technologically equivalent to the early 2000's, very little warfare, international space exploration initiative, global common constructed language, the creation of an internet analog, first successful supersonic flight (a bit harder to achieve in the thicker atmosphere), etc.
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.
"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming
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Ànraich
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Oct 28 2015, 10:28 PM
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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I've talked a lot about the priapans, but I've never actually depicted them much, least of all in color. I'm working to remedy this, but in the mean time I've found a use for the work in progress.

Here is the coloration of the nine major races of priapan. As you can see they have much more variety of color than humans. This chart does not take into account the differences in average size or some of the slight physiological differences that can be seen in some of the other races. The one missing a label (not sure what happened, it's still there in the photoshop file but disappears when saved in image format) depicts a mid peninsular individual. Interracial breeding is relatively rare in priapan culture, though in some of the more multicultural nations it is becoming quite common, but typically an individual with parents of differing races will have dark gray to black skin, and, rarely, calico-like coloration. This calico coloration is more common than, say, albinism or melanism in Earth organisms but is still rare enough that it would garner some undue attention.
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.
"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming
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Vorsa
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Oct 29 2015, 05:45 AM
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Mysterious tundra-dwelling humanoid
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What happened to the picture in the history post? Also, are you still including that picture of the ancient market place as I can't find it.
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My Deviantart: http://desorages.deviantart.com/
Birbs "you are about to try that on a species that clawed its way to the top of a 4 billion year deep corpse pile of evolution. one that has committed the genocide you are contemplating several times already. they are the pinnacle of intelligence-based survival techniques and outnumber you 7 billion to 1" - humans vs machine
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Ànraich
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Oct 29 2015, 02:24 PM
Post #8
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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I've lost that marketplace picture but I plan to do more pictures as I improve with my tablet.
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.
"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming
Tree That Owns Itself
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