Writing Prompts

[novius]

Ah, okay. I missed that.

Next question is what to do with these large animals. They might be a good source for arianesin-wool

If the Loroi miss out the uses, Natan as a born and raised hunter/trapper would surely know of some. Wool might be one thing. The claws and teeth, for example, would make good knifes - definitely counting towards bragging rights, for example. Perhaps arianesin are edible themselves, too. Tendons would be long enough to make some serious weapons - if they can't build a ballista, they might do it with Torsion Siege Engines, once they have enough tendons to bunch them up.

Bones could make lime, at the last, or be burned down to ash and saltpeter could be extracted - charcoal, that's already down pat, what's missing would be sulfur. Another way of getting saltpeter would be fermenting animal refuse - but that would take too long for the diral phase.

Okay, These are my two cents of "101 uses for farm animals"

[Jethreuel]

So a Doranzer is trained in deception like a Mizol, and the Loroi will be diagnosing 2 separate potential sicknesses without utilizing all the means at their disposal? I mean, if they were to be open with Alex, they would already understand that what Nathan went through was normal for his age at the time and not likely Amp sickness and they would also learn the underlying causes of the addiction from what the Farseer learned while connecting with Alex, about how Humans pair-bond in a manner that the Loroi are not used to.

[Zarya]

I’m also strugling with this addiction to humans sickness thing. It’s probably just love.

‘Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.’
— Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, scene 4

[Werra]

You're propably right. I hadn't considered that much.

[dragoongfa]

Whatever...

[Zarya]

Whatever...

Keep the faith

[dragoongfa]

I am not going to play tag of war about this. It has been fun but no.

[Razor One]

This is one of those times that I think a direction needs to be chosen and stuck to. Beacons is suffering from creative differences between you guys, and spitefully writing off the prior chain of authors contributions (no matter where it began or who started it) is both jarring and SoD breaking.

For the sake of maintaining the quality of writing, I'm going to ask you guys to discuss this, pick a direction, and stick with whatever the majority of authors decide to go with. Please be reasonable about this.

Now, I haven't contributed to Beacons, so I personally don't feel its my place to comment as an author, but as a reader, I feel that trying to break up the team by getting rid of Beryl twice now has had a negative effect on the story. It was one thing to put them on separate shifts earlier in the story, it's another thing to have her demand a transfer without consulting her CO, backtrack, and then get pressganged anyway.

It doesn't feel natural or right to be getting rid of a central cast member, and the efforts to put the train back on the tracks were just as unnatural.

The less I speak about writing off the last big reveal as being nothing but a dream the better. I think I understand why it was done, but as a reader I don't like it and as a writer I detest it.

Solve your creative differences. Alternatively, keep fighting this out passive-aggressively and let the story suffer for your quarrels.

[Jethreuel]

(Meekly speaking now that Razor has brought out Mod voice) The latest post also makes it hard to reunite Beryl with Alex, not without once again breaking Alex's trust of the Loroi and likely incurring another ship-wide Lotai in retaliation, given how protective we are of those we love.

1. Which is why it would help them to actually talk and be honest with Alex, rather than cause him stress and worry that he is hurting others, which would actually start hurting others because of the subconscious connection. Otherwise, it will make it much, much worse for Everyone when he finds out the Truth.
2. True, but it can easily be seen and determined what was the cause and effects.
3. So they just want to cause someone to have similar symptoms while leading one of their top priority projects? Shooting themselves in the foot perhaps, or are they still being dishonest with her?
4. Yet they have enough trust and need to keep her learning from him.
5. Except, how would a Loroi who has never experienced love, with no context on how to deal with it, know what to do? Humans have a hard enough time, and we know the culture of love in the first place.
6. Until she is out of range, at which point she realized her connection to him stopped working, which limits her usefulness.

I for one, would prefer to keep the four main characters together. I would like for them to eventually leave the fighting and either go on into Loroi Territory, where Alex gains experience the hard way in diplomacy, or go towards earth.

(Edit: I was not aware that the latest was removed. Perhaps we could handle the desires to split the party into a different writing prompt thread labeled Separations? Have 2 separate current timeline Writing Prompts threads where in one Beryl and maybe others get separated from Alex, and another where they stay together?)

[novius]

And thus spake The Lord...

For the sake of maintaining the quality of writing, I'm going to ask you guys to discuss this, pick a direction, and stick with whatever the majority of authors decide to go with. Please be reasonable about this.

I am definitely voting for keeping the Fearsome Foursome together, short-, mid- and longterm, as I've already stated in the past. To split them would change the dynamics overly much - come to think of it, things wouldn't have turned out that way if not for Beryl's inborn curiosity and cheerfulness. Neither Tempo nor Fireblade would have voiced such a wish to simply try out touching him, and Talon... well, she's a hotshot pilot and of all the Loroi the one easiest to go for a short fling rather than something more serious.

Putting Beryl on a different shift didn't completely remove her out of the picture and was intended to be seen as the helpless attempt of the Loroi in charge (Stillstorm, who at that time was still very much at odds with him) to maintain control and discipline on her ship in face of a phenomenon they simply didn't quite understand yet, an attempt which didn't quite work as intended.

With the latest development, Beryl got to be the bearer of a (as she thinks) terrible secret. Whether the Deinar Files described an actual physical ailment or the natural process of aging and wear and tear, she might not rightly know - even the files themselves could be inconclusive, since they had only a single data point for research - Natan - and thus couldn't be sure if his degenerative process was usual for his species or not. They thought not.

Beryl herself opted for a loophole and the (I think) logical choice - she cannot simply blurt out the secret, that would be a gross breach of confidentiality and grounds for court martial. So, whether it was a planned action or simply a helpless plea, she asked the Doranzer already quite familiar with human physiology - since Gora Relay - to keep watch over his health. She would definitely raise an alert if she'd notice the first symptoms of a neurodegenerative condition, and of course she might be interested herself in how an expeeriment like this would proceed. Scientific curiosity.

In addition, Beryl and Winterbloom on one side and Pure Sand, Alex and Tempo on the others do hold separate pieces of the puzzle and if Winterbloom would ask Alex for a 'regular checkup' - maybe she'd ask Stillstorm to be assigned to him to watch his health, too - that would be one moment to bring the pieces together. Another would be Beryl telling Alex that she actually uses his brain as a remote storage.

So, many reasons for Beryl to stay around.

With the others, it would be even simpler. Tempo feels the great need to make right a grievous wrong she has committed, and Fireblade still simply is in charge of Tempest's security. Of the three Loroi, Alex's influence had the biggest positive turnaround for her, as in dealing with her PTSD, Loroi style. Lacking the knowledge if the change would be permanent or not, Stillstorm would opt for the practical route of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

(EDIT: Added Razor One's mod-voiced comment as quote to clarify the initial statement)

[dragoongfa]

Proposed plot outline:

SpoilerShow

The 'Voids' are essentially these: http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/tbc.html

Alex will recognize them as 'Mermaids' and the Loroi will recognize them as a 'Bedein'; their version of a fury.

In story they are the 'Pol', the aquatic Soia-Liron race found in Historian territory. They are strong telepaths and their telepathy is more 'Human' than 'Loroi'. As to why Alex was terrified of them: They were a finalized aquatic variant of the Loroi (finalized in the sense that it was fully developed, unlike the Loroi who should be a late beta. They were used to gather human samples and perhaps a small colony of them existed on Earth for some time after the fall of the Soia; with everything that entailed in regards to human terror.

[Hālian]

Proposed plot outline:

SpoilerShow

The 'Voids' are essentially these: http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/tbc.html

Alex will recognize them as 'Mermaids' and the Loroi will recognize them as a 'Bedein'; their version of a fury.

In story they are the 'Pol', the aquatic Soia-Liron race found in Historian territory. They are strong telepaths and their telepathy is more 'Human' than 'Loroi'. As to why Alex was terrified of them: They were a finalized aquatic variant of the Loroi (finalized in the sense that it was fully developed, unlike the Loroi who should be a late beta. They were used to gather human samples and perhaps a small colony of them existed on Earth for some time after the fall of the Soia; with everything that entailed in regards to human terror.

SpoilerShow

I personally think it would be a shame if the *merfolk turned out to be malevolent. But I'm not on the writing team so

[Jethreuel]

SpoilerShow

That is why we are discussing potential directions beforehand, so that we don't have fighting authors bringing down the wrath of the Mod upon us.

I could see it as the Pols (given that I don't think the Loroi have encountered them before.) I don't think that the Loroi would recognize them as the furies, because that would mean they had encountered them before and felt them before, and would recognize them.

I could also see it as the Umiak finding and awakening a slumbering race that was what brought down, hunted and destroyed the Soia-Liron, with a few that lingered to terrorize humanity. Bringing in more of a Lovecraft type story, which means that the Loroi (and Humanity) have to succeed where the Soia-Liron failed.

[novius]

SpoilerShow

Sounds interesting. Of course the Soia wouldn't stop at the Loroi in development.

Perhaps the Loroi might not be 'just' an early beta version of a finalized product, but a different flavour, as in, the Loroi are derived from humans with enhanced endurance, durability, open sanzai and stronger warrior tendencies as a race slated to be their shock troops, and with the "Pol" the Soia focused on completely different aspects, including, but not limited to, the Lotai, perhaps with the intention to make them useful for stealth missions. And now it isn't the Soia who reap the benefits, but the Shells.

Or, it was the other way round. Perhaps these "Pol" were an experiment that came before the Loroi, which had been discarded and sort of left to their own devices. Some of them terrorized the early humans, giving rise to the myths around Leviathan, mermaids*), sirens and other sea horrors and the Chtulhu myths (H. P. Lovecraft himself had a phobia of open water, and it actually shows in his works), where most of them were stranded on whatever dump of a water planet the Soia left them on. Until the Umiak found them.

The detailed timeline of their development and their relation to the Loroi may be secondary, and it's unlikely that Alex and the Loroi would ever learn the details. Perhaps - if, or when, they get hold of one - they would notice a distant relation to Loroi, and Alex having reason to dig into human myths again... if he overcomes the inborn terror these beings evoke in him.

Thumbs up!
So yes, the "mermaids" - not the loveable variant, but the sea predators they were originally for the humans, and "Furies" maybe both for humans and Loroi. They might find it interesting that both human and Loroi do have a concept for a female embodiment of vengeance...

*) About mermaids: It was that Andersen fairy tale and that Disney animated movie that showed them as cutesy and loveable creatures. Originally they were pictured as a predatory species and intermixed with sirens, luring hapless seafarers into the watery graves by their voices.

[entity2636]

I'll drop my two cents in also...

SpoilerShow

I was going to say that the source for Umiak lotai being the Pol feels like an impossibility at first since they are found only on one nature preserve world within the Historian sector, but on second thought, it may be within the realm of the possible, since the Umiak and Historians have a long common border. The Umiak thus could, in theory, either have come across another Pol population somewhere up spinward, or, if we are to paint the Historians as the villains behind the scenes, the Historians could have supplied the Umiak with some Pols. Yet I'm still not sure it should be the Pol.

The fact that both humans and loroi share the mythology about mermaids, sirens and furies that are malevolent, I think, works better for the story. Humans aren't instinctively afraid of whales or dolphins and the loroi don't have anything similar on their worlds or in their myths, but we both have mermaids. It could also be considered that said mermaids/furies are either a "beta" version of what later was developed into the loroi proper, or the result of an experiment for creating a customized "aquatic warrior" species. Some could have been "tested" on ancient Earth and escaped and some could have escaped on Deinar or Taben when the ancient loroi "fell out of the sky", depending on which loroi world the Fury myth originates from, giving rise to both our respective myths.

[Zarya]

Thinking about the combination and effects of Loroi-Human bonding and sanzai:

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In both Beacons and New Frontiers we’ve been playing with unintended effects like broadcasting to all, or to Loroi with whom the protagonist has a special bond.

The combination Human-Loroi is presumed to be more powerful, in sending (New Frontiers) and with sensing (Beacons).

For Beacons, Novius and Dragoon propose that “undetected sensing” is not possible because Alex and Pure Sand were “seen” by the other entity. This is interesting, both as a limitation and vulnerability. Up until sofar the Umiak have been using the cloaking ability, they didn’t use it to seek out and destroy Loroi farseers (yet).

Alex’ lotai can disrupt sanzai shipwide, and perhaps help to hide an entire ship?
Alex’ and Nathan’s lotai both hide the person they are in touch with. This may turn out to be important, for example when protecting someone. Reconciling this with being “seen” when farseeing seems not compatible though?

We’ve been struggling with training in both fanfics. I propose to keep it as simple as Zen, or Alex’ Kung Fu experience, focused on one thing or task at hand only. This is surprisingly difficult for the “messy thinkers” that humans are, and can give rise to mishaps and unintended side-effects.

[dragoongfa]

General comments:

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@entity2636

The Umiak had successfully invaded several Historian worlds before being largely dislodged from Historian territory (they still have a significant holdout that the Historians haven't managed to reclaim), it isn't far fetched that they got hold of a Pol population but didn't know what to do with them/how to control them until recently. Historian cooperation could be a reason or it could be something else.

@novius

I was thinking something similar, mermaids were generally seen as threats to all sailors for millenia before they got their re-imagining via the fairy tale route. Although my general assumption as to the creation of the Loroi would be more in line with an internal police force/enforcer race; it fits them to a T, especially when we take into consideration how successful the Mizol are.

However the Pol would have to be an aquatic offshoot, far more specialized than having any terrestrial race. Them being a some short of a telepathic weapon makes sense and would explain why the Historians would keep them hidden and protected.

@Zarya

It wasn't Alex that was detected but Pure Sand and she was detected because she actually focused on the void, like how warplanes have the ability to detect when they are locked on via radar and trace it back. I intend to have the 'back sensing' when detected to be as far as the Umiak 'telepaths' will go, mainly because of the means of control that the Umiak must be using. The Pol are fully sapient after all, they will either cooperate willingly or be heavily coerced.

[novius]

SpoilerShow

@dragoongfa
"Heavily coerced" came to my mind, too. Pure Sand felt their presence, but no sentience or intent behind it, just presence. It could either be that their Lotai hides whatever is behind it, or whoever the Shells have in their clutches could be heavily drugged and be an integral part of a "cloaking device"... That callous disregard for the sanctity of other sapient beings would be just in line with the Umiak.

As of 'them' homing on Pure Sand... There could be different explanations, despite Alex's Lotai. One possible may be that it is because of his Lotai - as in, Alex helped her 'tune in' to see them, but in turn made her more visible to them. Right, active scanning and its drawbacks. And, second, as a Farseer she usually stands out like a beacon, maybe even despite Alex's Lotai.

@Zarya
I had that idea in mind for a long time. I wanted to give the Loroi an effective counter method to the Umiak's Lotai, but not one without any drawbacks. This way, they may use it, but overdoing it would tip off the Shells that their game is afoot. Second, it would make the Loroi think twice about burning a valuable resource.

[Jethreuel]

Some arguments against the Pols being the Furies and mermaids of lore, is that they are described as cetaceous without manipulator limbs. Which makes it hard to understand how they would be used to capture humans, or how they would have left after Tempest won her wars. Also, if the Pols were with the Loroi early on and were the augmented psionics, the Loroi would have had legends that would have described the Lotai the Pols had.

[dragoongfa]

Some arguments against the Pols being the Furies and mermaids of lore, is that they are described as cetaceous without manipulator limbs. Which makes it hard to understand how they would be used to capture humans, or how they would have left after Tempest won her wars. Also, if the Pols were with the Loroi early on and were the augmented psionics, the Loroi would have had legends that would have described the Lotai the Pols had.

The Legend of Tempest as portrayed in the mural depicts 'mermaid like' Loroi. The Legends undoubtedly have some crazy stories about the 'Bedein' that helped 'Tempest the Terrible' against the 'Wicked Sisters', we can be creative in how we describe these powers if the Legend makes an appearance.

The Pol not having manipulator limbs is probably down to Historian propaganda, very few Union scientists have ever been allowed to meet a Pol and I wouldn't be surprised if the instances involved a specially prepared specimen to deceive the Union about the Pol and their nature.