September is coming to an end, and with it, the calendar of Feeria's 'adventures' â a series of tasks that unfold at the boundary of the real world and other, virtually-imagined ones â is also concluding.
Below you will find the second part of my personal impressions related to 'completing' these 'quests'.
The beginning of the 'adventures' (events from September 1 to 8) and a brief introduction are described
Globally, the concept is outlined
Feeria. The story continues
September 9. Day of the Observer
QuestAnalyze which Houses different members of your family belong to and determine the main House or Houses that your family is part of.
Watch a movie that corresponds to the season or themes indicated by the main House. You can postpone a full viewing, but at least watch part of the film or read the synopsis and view some stills.
Most of my family's birthdays are concentrated in the summer sector; previously, there were more in spring. So let it be the House of Summer.
I picked this film â the recently released series 'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'. It's a prequel to the old fairy-tale puppet animation that many later drew inspiration from (including the developers of the Final Fantasy game series). From the trailers, it fits the concept of 'the end of summer' â a bright world that is slowly beginning to face danger.
I've already watched the first episode. So far, it's looking pretty good. At least it's about what I expected from the trailer. The graphics have been modernized, but partly they still use puppets, which move quite lively, so it looks atmospheric and original, unlike completely 3D films.
September 10. Day of Personal Interest
QuestChoose one of the main or secondary characters from the film you watched yesterday. Determine the House of the chosen character, based on the birth date of the respective actor/actress. Pick any of the activated places of power (created by you or other representatives of the Context, or one of the offered basics), and that is where this hero will live. Come up with a new name, race, and a specific gaming class or profession for them.
In the series 'The Dark Crystal', my favorite character among the main ones is the girl living underground who ventures to the surface in the first episode. Her name is Deet.
The film is a puppet movie, so there are supposedly no people, and I initially considered using the series premiere date (August 30) as the character's birthday. However, it turns out that the voice actors have their dates listed.
The character is voiced by Natalie Emmanuel, who was born in March. Consequently, my heroine will belong to House Spring.
She will live in a Magic School and will be a doppleganger (able to take the form of other living beings, although her eyes always remain similar â amber). She will be engaged in magic technology â designing various devices powered by magical stones. Her name will be Ifra.
September 11. A day of expressive stories
QuestIn the afternoon, find and open today's horoscope for the sign of the character created yesterday. Come up with a story featuring this character based on the forecast, detailing what happened to them today. An artifact may also be involved if you awakened it on the 8th day.
The birthday of the character created yesterday falls on March 2, making her a Pisces. Let's check the 'fish' forecast for today:
The horoscope predicts a lot of disagreements that nevertheless do not result in conflicts, as it is possible to reconcile everyone. The arising difficulties do not prevent the task from being completed. Successful purchases and unexpected pleasant visits are likely.
The story will go like this: in the morning, the heroine finds out that the blueprints for the magical flying backpack she previously discovered are incomplete. This means she will have to search for others. In the magic technology lab where she works, two of her acquaintances start arguing over the only spiral stone, which is urgently needed for an important experiment, and both want it.
Ifra decides to give them her stone, which was needed for the backpack, thus resolving the emerging dispute. She sets off to get the blueprints, but the library turns out to be closed today for inventory. The master of magic engineering she consults is also not in the mood because an artifact that grants wishes has gone missing. Ifra offers to help find the lost item, hoping to lighten her spirits since the day hasn't started off well.
After wandering through the halls and corridors, she eventually discovers a group of students arguing about the skin color of lizard people. Taking on the form of a reptiloid, Ifra resolves their problem and asks if they've seen the missing artifact. One of the students reveals the secret â the artifact hasn't actually gone missing from its place. An illusion of absence has been cast on it, so it could be retrieved later when everyone comes to terms with the loss. The student also makes Ifra promise not to tell the elders.
Ifra agrees, but after thinking it over, she figures out who might have cast such an illusion and heads to speak with a young illusionist witch. She declares that the first thing she will do is silence those chatterboxes, but agrees that since the rumor has spread so quickly, it would be best to dispel the spell herself. In her room, Ifra sees a broken magical backpack lying in the corner and trades it for a bracelet.
In the evening, familiar magic engineers from the laboratory visit the heroine, thank her, and give Ifra two charged spiral stones.
September 12. A Day of Searching for Another Life
QuestFind images of interesting architectural structures located in other countries. Choose one of them and imagine what unusual creatures might inhabit this building inside the Fae Realm. What would their race be called, what might they do, and what role does this particular structure (which could very well be something other than a building) play in their lives?
Take a closer look: there are 4 hidden combinations of Power and House, for example, House Winter has no Solvent, House Summer has no Battery, and so on. Create a hero from Faerie who would belong to one of these "unreal" combinations and belonged to the race you invented. His name, appearance, occupation, social position, abilities.
Out of curiosity, I decided to explore not Chinese or Australian architecture, which was my first thought, but Canadian. I liked this structure (Royal Ontario Museum, ROM):
Inside Faerie, it would be a chronostation, maintained by representatives of the race of shadows. They would travel through epochs and experiment with various temporal technologies.
In House Spring, there is no Transformer. So, the hero from the shadow race would be a Transformer from House Spring. He would be a wandering bard named El, flowing with darkness, in a red half-scarf-half-cap, playing a temporal violin.
Later, I sketched the concept of this bard in 3D software
September 13. Day of Healing Transformation
QuestOn this day, certain changes occurred within Faerie (the nature of which you will need to invent) that affected one of the power places of your choice (created by you or other Context participants), stripping it of its meanings and name. Come up with a new name for this power place and 9 accompanying concepts.
Changes are occurring in one of the power places. With the onset of autumn, a special portal opened in the Magic School, leading to the autumn version of the school, and gradually people began to move there. For a time, the summer school maintained its former appearance, but with the departure of the main masters, it began to change under the influence of the magic of these places.
Magic School
After short rainfall, the summer version of the Magic School transforms into Elven Temple. Trees have grown right through the architecture, displacing some parts of the building, connecting others, and intertwining with yet others in a peculiar way. In some trunks, openings have appeared, from which awakening stone elves began to emerge.
New concepts accompanying this place:
1. Stone
2. Awakening
3. Change
4. Lightness
5. Branches
6. Creatures
7. Key
8. Dream
9. Message
September 14. Day of Communion
QuestImagine what the clothing of a Context adept should look like from your perspective. You can either jot down your thoughts on this or search for images of various wardrobe elements.
Thoughts on the clothing of Context representatives. As I mentioned in the main article, it should be something that blends reasonably well into everyday life, meaning not a special costume for cosplay, but slightly elaborate yet somewhat casual clothing.
Again, there is no requirement for a strict dress code; rather, it's about a set of wardrobe elements that symbolize belonging to the group and can be taken all together or separately. Each person can decide for themselves what to wear and with what combinations.
Accordingly, at special events, these accessories can be supplemented with something, leaning into cosplay. And in principle, why shouldnât the Houses develop their own styles â this could be one of their areas of activity.
To be more specific, one of the iconic items could be a jacket. It could have a zipper or buttons, with a random sleeve length ranging from sleeveless to long sleeves. Most likely in a monochrome color (black, gray, white) to start with, but possibly in a color suitable for a particular season.
It could have various interesting elements â additional zippers, straps, dangling features (like large/small fringes, some short 'tails'), fantasy runes or a technological pattern/texture. In a more fantasy-oriented version, the jacket may consist of interwoven straps of different widths, having gaps in its structure. In a more technological interpretation, it may include sewn-in reflective strips and metal details.
The jacket may also display the House's symbol (likely centered on the back), while the sign of Power can be indicated on a more concealed part of the clothing (but not necessarily). The material would likely be denim or leather/faux leather, possibly corduroy/micro-corduroy.
September 15. Day of Initiation into the Context
QuestOn this day, take a stroll to a place where clothing is purchased. You only need to try on something from the wardrobe elements that are similar in style to what you were thinking about or looking at yesterday.
When you return home, find the artifact you discovered on the 8th day and place it on your daily grimoire. After that, the first two digits you hear throughout the day become the number of your book, thus awakening it.
On this day, I visited the same Main Universal from which I created a power spot previously. I found two black leather jackets that were somewhat similar to the intended design â one without sleeves, the other with. They were quite simple, without any noticeable embellishments. There wasn't much to choose from, as most of the clothing was too large. I also noticed a jacket in a brown, earthy color, an autumn shade. It turned out to be my size, so I grabbed it for the fitting room as well. In the end, the black ones were nicer, the materials were decent, lightweight, and soft, but it was clear that the quality was rather average and lacked some flexibility.
Once home, I placed the sphere on the book and went to see what stream I could play in the background. There, in the video, I heard the phrases 'five minutes' and 'about twenty'. Thus, my grimoire awakened under the number 52.
September 16. Day of Taming the Spirit
QuestTake a walk. During your stroll, look for a small living creature or an object that moves like a living thing. Also, take note of other interesting things and items that catch your eye.
When you return home, invent any creature that would be a mixture of the living creature (or moving object) you saw and another item. Name the resulting pet.
If you are a Battery, you can instead take any two words, one being a creature and the other an inanimate object, then mix them and come up with a pet.
Today at the transport stop, I saw a white dog, not too small, not too large, like a Laika. I didnât have time to examine it closely. There, in the distance, across the road, the reflective surfaces of some new construction shimmered.
From all this, I ended up with a pet a mirror dog, on whose back are small tower-like structures inhabited by fireflies. It will be called Echo.
September 17. Day of Purposeful Achievement
QuestFind any available cards and randomly draw one. These could be regular cards, collectible cards, tarot, something similar to a deck of cards, an application, or a website that allows you to 'draw' a random card.
Looking at the drawn card, come up with an artifact for the Faerie that symbolizes the images, meanings, and other significances of that card. Assign a two-digit number to this artifact.
If I had been home that day, the task would have been easier â there are tons of mtg cards, a printed tarot deck, and regular cards there. Instead, I had to search for a random card generator online. I chose the major arcana tarot deck and drew the Lovers card.
Inside the Faerie, this card would indicate the artifact Ring of Symphonies, which would translate the inner state of its owner into music resonating around them.
Ring of Symphonies 29
September 18. The Day of Mysterious History
QuestChoose one of the tasks you have already completed and redo it in a new way.
If you are a Dissolver, then instead of past tasks, you can choose one of the future tasks and complete it today ahead of schedule, while still keeping the option to either do or not do it in the future.
For the repeated task, I decided to choose the quest 'A Day of Seeking Another Life' from September 12 â transform a certain architectural structure, come up with a race and a hero.
This time, I started looking at Prague buildings, but there was just too much interesting stuff, and it was hard to settle on something specific. So I continued looking and found myself in India (the Kandariya Mahadeva temple):
Inside the Faerie, this would be a castle-dock for flying ships, inhabited by a race of serpent-folk â beings made of bones and a tangle of snakes.
The hero of this race would be a hunter of necromancers (who have certain power over members of this species, as they can be partially considered undead). The hero would be an Accumulator from House of Air, named Kadura.
September 19. The Day of Intelligent Style
QuestOn this day, you awaken the clothing of the adept of Context, which you conceived on the 14th. Assign it a two-digit number. Inside the Faerie, this clothing is intelligent and speaks.
Also awaken the hero you created on the 10th by assigning them any three-digit number.
Choose one of the power spots of your choice (created by you or other Context participants). There, your controllable hero finds the adept's attire â take a calculator and multiply the hero's number by the number of the attire. Look at the first three digits of the result and consider the concepts associated with the power spot where this event takes place. These digits are the answer to what happened â come up with your own interpretation of the event. Did the hero put on the item, tear it, or have a conversation with it â what associations did it suggest to you?
The adept's attire of Context with the number 74 awakens, becoming intelligent and speaking. The heroine, created on the 10th day â the mage-technician doppelgĂ€nger Ifra, receives the number 511.
So, the heroine finds the attire by heading to, say, Arcadrome.
73 X 511 = 37303
Judging by the meanings associated with Arcadrome, the result decodes as Prize-Bazaar-Prize.
In my view, the story unfolded as follows: while strolling through the floors of the entertainment center, the mage-technician veered slightly away from the neon lights into a darker nook where various authentic trinkets and other items were being sold. There, a fantasy-style jacket with patterns and runes hanging on a hanger accidentally embraced her by the hand. Ifra was initially surprised but thought she was just imagining it. Nevertheless, she liked the strange outfit and bought it. It was then that Ifra was truly surprised when the item asked her whether she was a sorceress.
September 20. Day of Reevaluation
QuestThink about which of the previous tasks turned out to be the most difficult (or least successful) and which was the most interesting.
I can't say that any task was particularly difficult, although visits to real places certainly require more effort than others, including fitting them into my schedule. But overall, I didn't plan them to be too hard, and I didn't feel tired. It's another matter with the mood â for example, the day of the trip to the guild on the 7th stands out as not the most successful because things went a bit awry. Although it was filled with memorable events.
Among the interesting tasks, I would highlight the search for unusual architecture. However, since I have already mentioned this by choosing the repeat quest on the 18th, I will point out the task from the 6th day (searching for new music for myself). Musical tracks somehow leave a stronger impression on memory than visual images, so finding some new melodies is quite an engaging and memorable activity.
September 21. A day of necessary phenomena.
QuestInvent and describe in general terms a book, movie, or game that should exist in the modern world, but for some reason does not.
If you are a Radiator, instead of this or alongside it, list the things that you believe are unnecessary in modern books, movies, or games.
Movies/books/games that could exist, but do not.
As for computer games, there have been many interesting titles with their own mechanics, features, and technologies, but somehow there are no adequate remakes being made. For example, Kagero Deception, a game about a girl who sets traps in her house to lure in various burglars breaking in. Or a game about a deity, similar to what was found in the very first Populous. Or about how a character possesses enemies like in Messiah. Sword fighting with the slightest precision needed for a hit, like in Bushido Blade.
In MMORPGs, there is very little new; everything boils down to cloning a couple of standard genre prototypes. Moreover, these games seem to aim to be very mainstream while constantly separating you from friends due to mismatched character levels, leading to different quests, different points of interest, and so on. Activities for small groups of two to three people are also not well thought out; instead, you are constantly encouraged to dive into a crowd of strangers, as itâs easier to play that way. I would like to see innovations in all of this.
In board games, I miss some kind of fantasy Monopoly. The mechanics of moving in a circle are used in many places, but I haven't seen anything that complex.
In the worlds of the collectible card game Magic: the Gathering, there has been a lot, but there has never been a world of music â it would be very interesting to see that.
Regarding books and movies. While some books about a magical school can still be found, the only ones on screen are the Potters, which I'm not particularly fond of. However, there are zero other films in this concept, yet the theme itself is fertile; I would like to see some alternatives.
I also miss adaptations of other teenage series that are quite good but might not be as widely known. Like books such as 'Sky Labyrinth', 'Who Wants to Steal the Wizard', and so on. Even our authors, like Bulychev with his Alice series. For some reason, they're not filming them now, even though at least three films (if counting the series as one) and a cartoon (even two, I think) were previously released.
And there still isn't a proper complete adaptation of Baum's Oz series.
September 22. Day of the Road to the Unexplained
QuestHead to any power spot that is accessible and bring with you a personal artifact, awakened on day 8.
Once at the location, somehow 'apply' the artifact.
Then you can calculate the result of this action â to do so, multiply the number of the artifact by your birthday. The first three digits of the result indicate the concepts of the power spot, explaining what happened and what the consequences were.
I visited a nearby power spot, Arkadrom (that is, GUM). Behind the building, there used to be a wide area overgrown with low grass, but now itâs all occupied by high-rises. It was easier to pass through before; now various shops and stalls are clustered at the approaches.
I went out to the back courtyard and threw the ball-artifact. Next, let's see what resulted: Wish Ball (77) multiplied by my birthday (11) = 847. In the concepts of Arkadrom, the answer comes out to Sea-Competition-Market. Apparently, the following event might occur â something like a championship in various games or something else organized in that place.
By the way, it would be nice if the entire building (or at least one floor) were dedicated to a gaming club of interests. For meetings, events, tabletop role-playing sessions, larger gaming gatherings, and open gaming zones, perhaps even combined with something like a library. In short, a leisure center that is serious, beautiful, comprehensive, and as accessible as possible for visitors.
In the meantime, I came up with the concept for another power placeâa portal station. It was inspired by one of the stations in the Novosibirsk metro.
September 23. The Day of the Breakthrough of Irreality
QuestOn this day, your very home becomes a power place. Come up with a new name for it, imagine how it looks inside the Feeria, and select 9 corresponding concepts.
If you are from the House of Autumn, then during the autumn season, you project the aura of this power place even when you are not physically there. This means this power place is always with you throughout autumn.
Today, rain is raging outside, which generally helps to imagine how the colors of reality fade and something unusual emerges behind them.
So, my home would become The Anti-Gravity Tower â around it would rise and extend upwards and downwards paths of staircases made of stone blocks, columns, rooms, covered balcony transitions, arches, railings, a bit of vegetation, and lanterns.
The walls of the rooms and passages would be painted, some covered with bas-reliefs. At times there would be paintings and various sculptures, hanging in the air. Overall, there would be many elements suspended in space, requiring no support. This includes composite doors that open like flowers when passage is needed. The design would combine fantasy and futuristic motifs.
The concepts for this place would be as follows:
1. Warmth
2. Pattern
3. Magic
4. Birth
5. Melody
6. Darkness
7. Light
8. Connection
9. Weightlessness
September 24. The Day of the Awakening Companion
QuestWhile at home, you awaken the pet you created on September 16, assigning it a two-digit number.
Talk to the pet yourselfâmultiply your birthday by the pet's number to find out what happened. The first three digits of the result indicate the concepts of the power place where you live, based on which you formulate the outcome of the conversation.
Introduce your hero's pet, created on the 10th and awakened on the 19th. To do this, also multiply them.
The previously created mirror dog Echo awakens with number 18.
I'm trying to communicate with him. 11 X 18 = 198. In the concepts of the home power place, it's Warmth-Weightlessness-Connection. It seems the pet likes it here, and we understand each other. The dog likely communicates telepathically. The mirror coat feels warm to the touch.
Let's introduce a female magitech to the dog. 511 X 18 = 9198. Weightlessness-Warmth-Weightlessness. The dog reacts friendly and wags its tail, scattering particles of mirror dust around the room.
September 25. Day of critical attack.
QuestToday, three monsters with personal identifiers 15, 9, and 73 are attacking your dwelling from the irreal.
You, your hero, your pet, the grimoires, magical clothing, and other entities awakened by you can resist them. Multiply them by the monsters until the product contains pairs of the same digits (11, 22, 33, 44, and so on) â when this happens, the monster is defeated, and the first three digits of the result describe how this occurred.
If you're unable to manage it by yourself, seek help from other adepts â they can assist you from a distance.
If you're a Transformer, you nullify one monster, add two digits to the second, and you can switch the digits of the third.
The time has come for the invasion of three monsters. You might first think about what this could be, based on the concepts of the home power place.
Monster number 15 (Warmth-Melody) â a musical one. Let's say it's something like a snake made of vibrating light threads in rhythm, like in an equalizer. Breathing pixel flames.
Monster number 9 (Weightlessness) â a humanoid, levitating, translucent being.
Monster number 73 (Light-Magic) â a snow-white dragon covered in feathers, with magical tattoos on its paws.
It's quite a decent company. Maybe they lived here before and want to take the tower back. In any case, we need to repel the invasion.
Well, first, the classic move â we send our loyal dog against the uninvited guests.
18 X 15 = 270. The dog tries to bite the first monster, but it turns out to be just empty light lines.
18 x 9 = 162. The second monster simply goes completely invisible upon seeing the dog.
18 x 73 = 1314. The dragon scares the pet with an icy-burning magical breath.
The dog couldn't handle the attackers. It looks like I'll have to try myself. First, I'll use the Wish Orb on them.
77 x 15 = 1155. And here's the first victory. The orb generates a sound wave opposite to the rhythm of the musical snake. It begins to fade and shrink, dying down and vanishing. In the end, it only manages to emit a pixelated cloud.
77 x 9 = 693. I probably can't see the second attacker now, so I don't understand how to use the Orb.
77 x 73 = 5621. The dragon, apparently realizing the magic of the Orb, uses the magical wave of rhythm itself, temporarily extinguishing the light of the artifact.
Alright, I pull out the magic grimoire, 'Mythmaker,' and try to use it.
52 x 9 = 468. With the help of the book, I manage to lift the complete invisibility from the second monster, but it still floats around semi-transparent.
52 x 73 = 3796. I couldn't find more suitable magic in the book, but I read a flight spell for myself; it will come in handy.
Now that I can levitate myself, Iâll try to drive the attackers away on my own.
11 x 9 = 99. Quite an obvious move. Second success. I catch up to the invisible ghost, and it simply flies away somewhere into the distance, abandoning its invasion attempt.
11 x 73 = 803. As I approach the dragon, I suddenly realize that I donât want to attack it⊠such a beautiful magical creature with intelligent eyes. So, I stop.
However, maybe the magical clothing will come up with something.
74 x 73 = 5402. And the clothing opens a musical portal above us with a magical team, from which other helpers may arrive. Meanwhile, inspiring music flows around the space.
Through the portal into the tower comes a girl technomancer, Ifra.
511 x 73 = 37303. That was close. But she also seems to be looking at the dragon with sympathy.
Well, thatâs just wonderful. Letâs try to resolve everything peacefully. To show friendliness, I pet the mirrored dog, smiling at the dragon.
11 X 18 X 73 = And it works. The dragon starts talking to us. It turns out he mistook us for hostile invaders who had captured his tower, but through conversation, we discover that this is also our home, and we have nothing against each other. In the end, the dragon is even pleased that it will be less boring and that there is someone to guard the tower while he flies off on errands. Thus, the third monster becomes a friend.
September 26. Day of Focus
QuestToday, dedicate your free time to your own hobby or something that matters to you. Limit your internet browsing to a minimum or avoid it altogether.
Today's task coincided with a trip to nature. True, the weather was windy and no longer warm, but it was still a nice getaway.
In the evening, I worked on 3D modeling. I needed to create models for my prototypes, prepare a scene for rendering, and I wanted to sketch a concept for an anti-gravity tower (a personal power spot).
Started sketching the concept of the Tower in 3D
September 27. Day of Self-Employment
QuestWhile at any power spot, multiply your birth date by itself, and then multiply the result by 27. The first three digits of the result indicate what you should focus on or do today.
While at home, I multiply the necessary numbers.
11 X 11 X 27 = 3627. That is, Magic-Drawing-Melody. This is what you should focus on today.
In general, it looks like "browsing artworks for inspiration." And also, yesterday the card deck for Magic: The Gathering Arena was updated, so I can gather interesting decks there â this fits perfectly within the prescribed concept. Actually, that's what I wanted to do, and this task clearly points to that.
Also, watching a movie involving magic, perhaps an animated or musical one, would fit here. There are still a couple of episodes of The Dark Crystal left unwatched.
In the end, I dedicated more time to card magic, that is, to the Arena. I looked at the new block cards "Throne of Eldraine," collected and tested a milling blue deck (which wins by discarding all cards from the opponent's deck).
September 28. Day of Creative Chaos
QuestRecall your favorite books. Take the characters from one book and imagine them in another book. What would that look like?
My most beloved books have been, at some point, and continue to be, the trilogy (even though it has 6 volumes) of "The Lord of the Rings" and the "Dune" cycle (but only the classic six-book series).
And now itâs worth considering which characters from which work would be more interesting to transfer. I wonât dwell too much on whether the work itself fits other heroes, as the essence of the task isn't that. However, I do have something to say about it. For instance, I donât perceive the sequels of the same "Dune" because they seem empty, cardboard, and are filled with all sorts of new, foreign elements that destroy the atmosphere even more. Moreover, if we take another book by Herbert from the same time when the first parts of "Dune" were written, "The Hellstrom's Hive," the community shown there has a somewhat thematic connection with the Dune factions. But in a realistic setting, this community loses much of its color, although it can't exactly be called a blatant clichĂ©. The sensations from "The Hive" are completely different; everything is somehow reduced to a domestic horror, like Belayev's "The Head of Professor Dowell."
Iâm saying all this to point out that introducing new elements into "Dune" requires caution, just as concepts taken out of it can appear more bland in a different context.
As for the style of the works, "The Lord of the Rings" is quite linear, what you might call a "road movie." That is, throughout the journey, we move along with the main character, and the theme of the road, traveling, overnight stays, and stops along the way is very evident and clearly expressed here.
In "Dune," however, we travel between characters, peeking into their thoughts, watching how they react to events and what decisions they make. The world lives its own life during this time, taking into account the actions of the heroes and the overall course of history. The world often comes to the characters itself, and their physical movement isnât always felt against the backdrop of their reflections.
Based on all of the above, it seems to me that the heroes of "Dune" would move more organically within the world of "The Lord of the Rings," especially not as individual personalities, but as societies themselves.
Although the opposite scenario could work too, in the end, elves would fit quite well into the Sisterhood, hobbits would almost match the tlailaxin lords in appearance, and humans just need to swap their swords for kris knives (I am exaggerating here, but to put it simply, that's how it sounds) and don disticombs. Any kind of filth could find refuge in the Navigators' guild and on other planets. Overall, such a transfer adds characters to the world of space, spice, and intrigue without significantly changing much (which in itself isn't so bad).
The societies and groups from 'Dune', moved to Middle-earth and infused with the magic of these places, could lend a greater sense of globality, color, and diversity to the local story. Although, it seems, it couldn't get more global. However, due to the 'journey' within the books about the hobbits' travels, and their epic charge, the world feels larger than it actually is.
The same Navigators' guild could be some kind of bizarre race here, traveling perhaps not through space, but through time. A specific sacred resource-drug and the cults around it. The Sisterhood could merge with the ranks of elvesâeither all of them, or perhaps it would be a specific subspecies of elves. Night elves, dark elvesâwho knows. The tlailaxins with their face-makers and clones would also feel at home here, but in this context, they would be a race experimenting with magic and/or illusions. As for the giant wormâMiddle-earth is covered with forests, so it could be some woodland creature or spirit, or something along those lines. In fact, the forest in 'The Lord of the Rings' is already quite aliveâit features Ents and a more impersonal mystical ancient forest where the hobbits were almost eaten by trees.
Interestingly enough, more developed societies and their motives would allow for the creation of different linear plots for Middle-earth. Because in the original story, there is much color, but if one were to start creating a new storyline in the same worldâthere's almost nothing to grasp onto, aside from the hobbits, who still travel rarely. Those mentioned in the book have a completed story that doesn't really warrant continuation.
This way, we could generate more intriguing plotsâmysterious forest creatures related to ecology and the cults that interact with them. Various stories about how the elven community functions and responds to the different challenges of the world around them. Elven outcasts opposing their clan's selective breeding program. Time travelers. Battles for possession of a sacred resource or control over the race of the same time travelers. In short, there is plenty of room for development.
September 29. Energy Efficiency Day
QuestSet your alarm for 6-8 hours, go for a morning run or walk. Do some form of physical exercise during the day. Go to bed between 9 and 11 PM.
It's quite simpleâI woke up at 6:30. Around 8âI went for a run/workout and did some more during the day. I went to bed closer to 11 PM. Overall, other affairs, the people around, and the weather did not contribute to the completion of the day's task.
September 30. Day of Enlightenment
QuestOn this day, read a spell from your magical grimoire at home. Multiply your birthdate by the number of the book and come up with what emerges.
After that, see how this spell would change if you were in any other places of power.
A month has flown by, and there's only one task left.
Iâm flipping through the magical grimoire, picking a spell. 11 x 52 = 572. Melody-Light-Pattern.
Apparently, I would read the spell that visualizes music, allowing me to see how it flows around and manifests in shapes.
Letâs skim through the other places of power; what would happen there?
The lair of the musical dragonâMyth-Beginning-Dragon. Naturally, a spell for summoning or awakening a dragon.
Magical schoolâDepth-Mystery-Nature. A spell for communicating with flora and fauna.
ArcadromeâElectronics-Market-Neon. A spell for creating a technological device that doesnât materialize out of thin air but coincidentally turns out to be saved for you by some merchant.
Viva RhapsodyâSpirit-Meeting-Sun. A spell for transforming into an elemental that radiates light.
Elven templeâBranches-Key-Awakening. A spell for restoring natural objects and managing their processes.
Alternative fairy tale
In addition to completing real quests, I organized a forum game where the same tasks could be carried out by players' characters in their imagined worlds. This meant that tasks could be 'completed' using only imagination, not from one's own perspective, but through a created character in an invented setting.
I had a character named Quasi, a fragment of a wizard from the race of Multiplicants. This is a race of beings, each representative of which exists in multiple twin bodies. Quasi was the last of his group of magical twin-clones.
Quasi
My character started at a power spot known as the Magic School. Here, a mechanic for multiplying traits was consistently in action to compute the results of actions, and several objects in the starting location could be interacted with. Thus, the player, apart from inventing how the hero completed tasks, could also describe other stories happening to the character.
Below you can read what all this looked like:
The Beginning of Quasi's StoryDay one
Resting after another long journey and regaining strength, Quasi spent time in the welcoming walls of the magic school, where a variety of creatures learned the magical arts. All of them seemed to be mono-creatures, which brought a certain sadness to Quasi. Although, at some point, he himself became a mono-creatureâa mere fragment of a Multiplicant, the last surviving twin body. While Multiplicants did not have a unified mind, the consciousness of each fragment-twin was independent, yet they felt a special connection to one another, sensing and understanding much without words.
In the morning, one of the masters visited Quazi's room and suggested taking a walk. The little man was delighted by the attention, and they set off to explore the school. In one of the halls, a beast-man porter, pushing a cart piled high with books, dropped one as he passed by Quazi and his guide. The beast-man didn't notice, busily moving the cart along. Quazi picked up the book and was about to return it, but the master stopped him, examined the white tome glimmering with blue sparkles, and laughing, explained to the little man that it was a magic book and it had chosen its master. Since that was the case, the book now belonged to Quazi and he could keep it.
The lightbulb face of the little mage lit up with surprise as he looked at the book he was holding. "Charovey" was written on the cover in magical runes. Under Quazi's intense gaze, the runes shimmered and the symbol of the House of Autumn appeared on the cover. "Welcome to the Context," said the master to the little mage, and they continued on, discussing what had happened.
Day Two
Quazi stood on the school's balcony, gazing through the small column railings towards the mountains where the dawn of a new day was breaking. He couldn't shake off the strange place he had recently discovered during his travels â a wall of ivy-covered castle, suspended in the air. It was located right there â behind those mountains, and the little mage felt an irresistible pull to uncover the mystery of the origins of this astonishing structure.
The hero 'creates' a new place of power â The Flying Castle of Edemia
1. Air
2. Nature
3. Antiquity
4. Sky
5. Magic
6. Flight
7. Mystery
8. Denial
9. Failure
Perhaps some information about the castle could be found in the school library, the traveler decided.
62 (traveler) X 45 (library) = 2790 (Nature-Mystery-Reflection)
During his long search among the library shelves and corridors, the multiplicator couldn't find anything. However, after speaking with the librarian, a kind blue-skinned elemental girl, he found the right section and discovered a mention of a flying castle in one of the encyclopedias. The note dedicated to the flying Edem spoke only about how one couldn't reach this place through ordinary means, as the castle was enchanted, situated within another space, and only its reflection could be seen in the sky.
Day three
Sitting at a table in the library, Quasi flipped through volumes of encyclopedias, searching for more information about the flying castle.
â And hereâs nothing, â he said with annoyance, pushing another thick book with a silver cover aside. âArchitecture of Mysticsâ was embossed on it in ornate lettering. â Ah, and returning there is quite a journey.
Suddenly, a burst of blue sparks shot out from the traveler's bag. Colliding with various obstacles, the sparks smoothly bounced off and dissolved into the air. Concerned, the mage peered into the bag and saw that it was sparkling because of the magical book he had recently found.
Opening âCharm Weaverâ, Quasi saw a shimmering entry: âSpectral Observer Spellâ. The explanatory text provided magical formulas and mentioned that with their help, one could become a ghost, transporting oneself to places preserved in memory. Delighted, the multiplicator immersed himself in studying the formulas.
The spell turned out to be not so straightforward, but Quasi thoroughly checked everything until he was convinced that he understood the principle and could confidently use this form of magic. Taking his magical staff, more commonly used for focusing magical flows than as a source of magic itself, Quasi chanted the m-formula and twirled the staff in the air, drawing a circle...
Yes, he was standing there. In the middle of the forest, below, under the castle floating above. Looking at himself, Quasi saw that he had become a kind of ghost, composed of flowing, semi-transparent blue fields and intertwining, shifting symbols. Listening closely, his hearing in this new form became sharper, and the entity caught the sounds of bubbling water; upon closer inspection, he realized that streams of flowing water could be seen behind the green foliage wrapping around the castle. The world around began to melt and darkenâŠ
The wizard regained consciousness, finding himself back in the library of the magic school.
In the concepts of Edemia, Air changes to Water.
Day four
On this day, the master found Quasi in one of the transition halls and invited him to participate in the portal opening ceremony. The entity blinked its bulb interestedly and agreed to take part in the event. In response, the master handed him a small rowan branch adorned with red berries. â This is for the ritual, â he explained.
A little later, finding himself in the column hall, Quasi saw the other participants of the ceremony arranged in a semicircle in front of a scattering of stones hanging in the air. All those gathered held rowan branches, and the main master held a rowan staff, from which shoots with leaves and berries were emerging in places. When everyone had gathered, he gently tapped the staff on the floor and began to recite the incantation in a melodious manner. From the staff, concentric waves of magical energy slowly spread, and under their influence, the rowan leaves in the hands of those around began to yellow and fall from the branches, breaking apart in the air into glowing dust that swirled behind the magical waves.
Meanwhile, the master moved forward and brought the staff closer to the stones. They flared up, and the waves of magic, quickening, flowed in the opposite direction toward the staff, followed by rowan berries that broke off from the branches, transforming before the eyes into shimmering orange bubbles. As they approached the staff, the stream of bubbles accelerated and swirled, turning into a shimmering, slightly trembling oval passage hanging in the air, semi-transparent and orange. At the center of the resulting portal, there was some complex, incomprehensible symbol.
Quasi pondered, assessing the situation, and when he came to himself, he saw the gathered figures passing through the portal. Questioningly blinking the light, he looked at the familiar master and asked, â What is this?
â This? â the master pointed toward the magical passage, â This is the way forward, into autumn. But if you are not ready yet, you can stay here at the gates for now. The students will head into autumn later, and the remaining guardians will live here for quite a while before leaving summer and closing the gates. You need not rush.
â No, no, I am ready, â the little wizard replied and resolutely made his way to the portal. â Just let me gather my things, â he remembered and ran to his room.
â Wait, â the master called out to him and extended a large yellow leaf and a writing stick, â Draw this image; you will need it for the transition.
Quasi looked at the sign inside the portal and painstakingly depicted it on the sheet he received from the master.
Day Five
Having moved to the magical school of the autumn period, Quasi searched for his new room in the somewhat changed building. He climbed up a similar staircase but did not see the familiar corridor with the little rooms and emerged onto a long balcony strewn with reddish and red leaves. From here, there was a wonderful view of the majestic fiery-red, slightly drowsy forest. Enjoying the sight, he sighed; this beauty of decay still stirred a slight sadness within him. The wizard walked further along the balcony and, passing one of the passages closed with a grille, reached another, which was open. Upon entering, he discovered a familiar little corridor and his new old room.
Inside, everything was familiar, yet different. The light had become somewhat dimmer, while the objects appeared sharper and more textured. It was a bit quieter than usual.
Settling in and placing his belongings, Quasi took out a fresh pastry, a daily dessert he had taken from the table before leaving. A small roll of paper was tied to it with white ribbons. The wizard began to untie it and only now noticed another pastry of the same kind on the table in his new room.
This was strange; he untied and unfolded the first paper message. It read: "Prediction. Your color for today is blue. What you wish to know â you shall know."
After reading it, Quasi unfolded the following. It was different: âForecast. Your color today is red. If you donât choose, you wonât know.â
â Forecasts, â mumbled the puzzled animator, â Well, what is there to believe?
Nevertheless, he noted that today he had a double dessert and began to devour pastries in his unique way â they slowly crumbled into bits in his hands and floated to the lamp face, transforming into sparks of light upon touching the glass surface.
Day six
At night, Quasi suddenly woke up, and the soft light of his face illuminated the room. From somewhere down the corridor came the sounds of a gentle melody. It seemed to be a violin.
The wizard got out of bed, approached the door, and opened it, listening. The music grew louder and apparently was coming from the street. It was pleasant and inspirational.
Gathering himself, the curious animator stepped into the corridor and then onto the balcony. Before his eyes unfolded the following scene: near the gridded passage above the balcony hung, swaying on translucent white wings, a strange girl with a violin in her hands. She was playing the violin, illuminated by the moonlight.
This went on for a while. Enraptured, Quasi took a couple of steps and rustled the leaves. The enchanting music immediately stopped, the mysterious performer flinched in surprise, turned around, and upon seeing the wizard, pressed the violin to her chest, then darted into the passage, which was supposed to be closed by a grate.
Quasi waited, but she did not appear again. Then he decided to approach closer. When he got to that place, he saw that the bars of the grate had become almost ghostly. Upon touching them, he found that his hand passed through the obstacle. However, he felt sleepy, and in the darkness beyond the grate, the girl was not visible â apparently, she had run further away. So the wizard returned, lay down in bed, and tried to fall asleep again.
Day seven
Looking at the students of the school, who had taken off to participate in the magical races, demonstrating mastery of magical power and enchanted objects, Quasi felt a surge of energy despite the cloudy dark sky. He had seen so many magical contraptions used as transportation â there were magical carpets, brooms, wings woven from magic, and tiny dragons. There was even a carved mortar and a flying mushroom sneezing sparkling pollen.
The fun was in full swing when the wizard saw a golem courier approaching him, wearing a green uniform cap. Such golems served the school â delivering food, cleaning the premises, carrying messages, and so on. He extended some kind of envelope. Quasi took the envelope, thanked the messenger, and began to examine what had come to him. Inside was an invitation to the House of Flying, written in elegant ink on a checkered sheet.
As soon as the wizard thought about where he had been invited, the sheet in his hands stirred and began to fold in half, then several more times, until it transformed into a paper 'crane.'
â And what happens next? â asked the animator, not too surprised but a bit puzzled. The crane tilted its 'head' and hopped across the floor. After making a couple of jumps, it turned around. Quasi hurried after it. Then the crane made a few more hops, then spread out in the air and transformed into a 'plane.' The wizard followed his paper guide until they descended into the courtyard of the magical school. There, the plane crashed into a tree, causing a shower of leaves.
The wizard flinched, but upon closer inspection saw that the checkered paper was unfolding, becoming larger and larger, wrapping around the trunk of the tree. When the lower part of the trunk was completely covered in paper, about halfway up the tree, the drawn squares began to expand, spreading into patterns and rearranging themselves. Thus, from them a polygonal shape was formed, and then suddenly it sharply pressed inward into the trunk, as if there was nothing inside.
Quasi looked curiously into the paper opening â it turned out to be very deep, with paper steps descending somewhere down and further away. The hero approached closer and went inside, illuminating it with his lightbulb-like face â indeed, there was a passage extending further in. Rhombic structures began to form on the ceiling, stretching towards the far end of the passage, which faded into twilight. Quasi set off there...
Thatâs all from me. Thank you for your attention.
Source: habr.com
