Level Up (A5E) Sins of the Scorpion Age, Sword and Sorcery Campaign Setting

[Tales and Chronicles]

And, just for fun:

Mountain

Serpent:

Tempest:

Weaver

Beast

Underworld dude

 

[Steampunkette]

So... Looking into Sumerian weather and calendars and stuff.

1) They had 2 seasons per year. Summer and Winter. Winter was cool while Summer was 110F and humid AF. Every spring and summer the Tigris and Euphrates would flood thanks to runoff from the mountains of Turkey where they started melting massive quantities of snow off. To the point where there was very likely miles of marshland along the rivers.

2) Their calendar was 12 months each with 30 days, for a total of 360 days. But. Months and Years were counted separately, sort of. You had a Lunar month named after what you Do in that month (Planting Barley Month, Shearing Sheep Month), but the 360 day calendar didn't match up with a regular solar cycle... So they added a month every once in a while, just to keep it fresh.

3) They invented Astrology, and the Roman names we associate with the signs are things that were added almost a millennia later. Guanna, Mashtabba, Dub, Urgula, Absin, Ziabaabba, Girtab, Pabil, Suhurmash, Gu, Simmah, and Kumal were their original names... Also I'm looking at doing 13 Signs and putting them on 28 day lunar cycles, instead of the 30 day months... So that'll be fun!

4) Kinda liking the idea of a Sundial with 3 rings on it kept in a community's center, and someone goes out every day to turn the dial's Day, Month, or Holiday dial based on what's needed. Sort of a communal timekeeping right near the well or water source.

 

[Steampunkette]

So... I do love the idea of the Aquatic Underworld/Afterlife thought. Specifically, I'm thinking:

When you perish the Dweller takes you down into the Underworld and into the Great Sea. There, you serve out any penance for your sins while alive, your corruption is cleansed by the waters, and then you are deposited on a shoreline in the rewarding afterlife bit once you've fully been cleansed of your failings.

And people think that the Afterlife is just an Island somewhere out in Myr, far beyond the furthest anyone has ever traveled... and the farther you go, the weirder the Isles of Myr get. Helps reinforce the hope that that's where the Afterlife really is.

Possibly a function of the various curses.

Also I adore the various bits of Prose, @vincegetorix

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Also I'm looking at doing 13 Signs and putting them on 28 day lunar cycles, instead of the 30 day months... So that'll be fun!

Would you keep the same signs as our classic Zodiac?

Because some signs would fit perfectly for some ancestries, being a representative of an ancestry best points, like a not-twisted version of some ''gods'' (who could be aspect of a few Zodiac that went rebel and try to oppose the Stars, see FF12's Espers and Eidolon, in the secret back-lore). They would not be a ''good aligned pantheon'' though, more of a symbolic representation of the aspiration and personas of the Folk.

Ophiuchus the Maester ; the secret 13th Zodiak, the One that Sheds, Zodiak that represent the hidden power changes in all of us, attainable by achieving wisdom. Versus the Serpent.

Taurus the Supporter; strength, dedication, endurance. Versus the Beast

Libra the Regulator vs Weaver

Sagittarius the Wanderer vs the Mountain

Pisces the Healer vs Underworld baddie

etc

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Also I adore the various bits of Prose, @vincegetorix

Not mine, just to be clear.

Peter Mohrbacher, the artist behind the Angelarium (and some MTG cards!) is both a painter and a poet.

Very inspiring stuff, really.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

There, you serve out any penance for your sins while alive, your corruption is cleansed by the waters, and then you are deposited on a shoreline in the rewarding afterlife bit once you've fully been cleansed of your failings.

I think there's some nice possibilities in linking the salt of the sea as the residue of the sins/curse/shadow being washed from dead.

Then you have the concept that (in their in-game reasoning and thinking) the Shadow corrupt so much people that the salted water is engulfing everything, leading to the fast desertification of the land, becoming more and more barren because of the weakness of the Folk.

I think that would be a nice image, the salt being commonly use in mysticism and many culture as quasi-magic tradable good.

 

[Steampunkette]

Would you keep the same signs as our classic Zodiac?

Because some signs would fit perfectly for some ancestries, being a representative of an ancestry best points, like a not-twisted version of some ''gods'' (who could be aspect of a few Zodiac that went rebel and try to oppose the Stars, see FF12's Espers and Eidolon, in the secret back-lore). They would not be a ''good aligned pantheon'' though, more of a symbolic representation of the aspiration and personas of the Folk.

Ophiuchus the Maester ; the secret 13th Zodiak, the One that Sheds, Zodiak that represent the hidden power changes in all of us, attainable by achieving wisdom. Versus the Serpent.

Taurus the Supporter; strength, dedication, endurance. Versus the Beast

Libra the Regulator vs Weaver

Sagittarius the Wanderer vs the Mountain

Pisces the Healer vs Underworld baddie

etc

We're looking at doing our own.

So far we've got:

The Thresher (Essentially a Farmer threshing grain)
The Coucal (Songbird, a specific type of Cuckoo)
The Lamassu
The Gladius (Representing Warriors and Gladiators)
The Senet (Egyptian Board-Game like Chess with fewer squares)
The Mushussu (Snake-Like Dragon-Horse)
With an outside chance of Hydra.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

We're looking at doing our own.

So far we've got:

The Thresher (Essentially a Farmer threshing grain)
The Coucal (Songbird, a specific type of Cuckoo)
The Lamassu
The Gladius (Representing Warriors and Gladiators)
The Senet (Egyptian Board-Game like Chess with fewer squares)
The Mushussu (Snake-Like Dragon-Horse)
With an outside chance of Hydra.

Oh, I got another one:

The Shear, aka the month when the villagers gather the wool on Cloud Bisons (white, huge and fluffy bisons that replace our world's sheeps). Villagers make offering to the Weaver to make the threads solid and pretty and to the Beast to keep the bisons tame and docile during the shearing (a rear-kick by a huge bison would kill a man, no doubt).

 

[Steampunkette]

Got our list done. Working on traits, now.

The Thresher: Humble, Steadfast, Honest
The Coucal: Warm, Outgoing, Creative
The Mushussu: Strong, Protective, Considerate
The Lamassu: Wise, Stoic, Inquisitive
The Leucrotta: Strong, Swift, Insightful
The Gladius: Steadfast, Strong, Swift
The Horse: Confident, Bold, Assertive
The Senet: Thoughtful, Careful, Strong
The Hound: Inquisitive, Loyal, Determined
The Hyena: Brilliant, Humorous, Carefree
The Sovereign: Confident, Creative, Stoic
The Musmahhu: Fearless, Curious, Bold
The Artist: Creative, Curious, Steadfast

Not sure of the order, yet. Feel like we need to mix 'em up a bit. They're also meant to represent the 13 classes of LevelUp/A5e. >.>

 

[Faolyn]

Got our list done. Working on traits, now.

Not sure of the order, yet. Feel like we need to mix 'em up a bit. They're also meant to represent the 13 classes of LevelUp/A5e. >.>

You should probably include some negative traits as well.

The Thresher: Unyielding, Self-Centered (also, I would put Steadfast or Determined as one of its positive traits--you have to keep working to get that grain in!)
The Coucal: Bothersome, Loud
The Mushussu: (Unintentionally) Toxic, Wild
The Lamassu: Secretive, Holier-Than-Though
The Leucrotta: Deceptive, Mimicker
The Gladius: Violent, Showoff
The Horse: Easily Led, Panicky
The Senet: Time-Waster, Weak
The Hound: Sycophant, Dirty
The Hyena: Bloodthirsty, Wild
The Sovereign: Demanding, Imperious
The Musmahhu: Merciless, Indecisive
The Artist: Frivolous, Chaotic