I believe that the spirit 'Lake' actually represents lakes, rivers, and streams in a broader sense.

Yeah, the same stuff that the Totems skill works in, all freshwater.

Interestingly enough, Nejii recently gave me a painting of the Daughter of Rivers. I'm not sure if this is the actual description, but a part of it says:

"The Daughter of the Rivers is an aspect of the Great Spirit of Lakes, Rivers and Falls."

I wouldn't be surprised if the Avatars of Lake were even the Daughters of Rivers/Lakes/Falls.

I really think Estarra is thinking of going with faeries or other mystical creatures who are bound to water masses.

So, I would say: Undines, Naiads and Nereids or something like that.

A naiad wouldn't surprise me, since we already have one.

Fossergrims too! For waterfalls.

I think she meant with the Daughters/Ladies: instead of Daughter of Night/Shadow/Darkness, Daughter of Rivers/Lakes/Falls. And I think she's probably pretty close to spot on.

Hmm. Speaking of fae of nature spirits who don't have guilds, we've already encountered all three of the sun fae.

It does sound terrifying. Riverdancers and Honeysap Druids, with extra sticky sap. *forestcast ultra-sap*

The sun fae were pretty damn cool. They should release Jojobo before any of these other punk orgs.

Jojobo is a jungle?

I would love to see a jungle commune, all amazonic and believing in the spirits of nature and the rule of kill or be killed. Viper druids also sound awesomesauce. Sundancers using sun fae (what were they?)

Uhm... I say the tree could be the Father Chocofang Tree. The guardian of the tree could be a brown haired elfen druid.

I feel for Ashteru. I've always had a thing for bears and so I have an odd feeling of excitement over Ackleberry


...Not that I admit it, though. Nono.

Sun is tainted, though

He's not "tainted". He might be a bit soullessy though. It'd be cool, I think.

I always assumed that the reason they had three places 'Frozen in Time' was so that they could unlock them if the current settlements got too crowded. Having seven places would stretch the current population too thinly. We need more referrals!

Yep, exactly. That said, there are already no doubt firm ideas in place about what these areas are like and what niche they'd fill in the game.

Only one way to find out. Recruitment drive!


Maybe a bound credit for every referral? Though that would be like abused to Nil and back.

Necro alert, but this hardly seems worth starting a new thread for.

It was occuring to me while I was on vacation that one thing I noted in Aetolia and again here in Lusternia is that there's this huge gulf between city (complete with all the trappings of civilization) and nature (generally very reactionary and resistant to anything even vaguely artificial). The gulf isn't as bad in Lusternia as in Aetolia, where the idea of buildings like Moondance Tower would have been seen as virtually treasonous to speak about, but it's still definitely there.

Lusternia has villages and farmers, but they're pretty insulated from the player experience, limited to denizens. If you try to play someone who not only comes from that background but embraces it as a good way of life, you'll always be at odds with everything around you. As a city citizen, you'd be hard-pressed to be a country bumpkin without being looked down on, and constantly feeling a pull towards the ideology of the city -- and in particular, our two cities and two nascent cities have very pronounced things to be about which are completely at odds. And in the communes we have, the ideology is usually pretty strongly against any change to the natural world, and those changes that one makes has to be very subtle. We've gotten people to accept the idea that we have to cut trees for the health of the trees, but just barely; try suggesting we cut trees because we need the wood, or that we should build farms and houses, and you'll find out how far off you are from the forestal ideology pretty quickly. And that's only scratching the surface of the civilized-rural ideology.

Coming from a Lusternian viewpoint, it might seem like you can't build much of an interesting ideology or spirituality out of the village lifestyle, but I think that's selling the idea very very short. In the real world, the vast majority of people have lived in that slice of the world, and there's a lot to it. You need only think of the "small town" mystique of the American Midwest, or consider communities like the Amish, or think of Native American tribes that made farms even though they wandered. Those familiar with the medieval-accurate fantasy roleplaying world Harn, or the Harshlands MUD based on it, will recognize that one of the best-developed religions in the whole game is Peoni's following, which preaches the virtues of the simple rural life, the charms of honesty and tradition and agriculture and being content with your place in the world. For more inspiration, read the works of Aldo Leopold, or Henry David Thoreau, or Rachel Carson.

It occurred to me that this ideology would be a wonderful way to make Ackleberry distinct from the other communes, rather than feeling like an also-ran echo of them. It could be the forest where people consider themselves to have as much cause as a beaver or finch to make their own home, shape the landscape around them, yet do it in a way that preserves the heart of the landscape and its enduring survival. Where we might hunt not just for the spiritual fulfillment of the hunt but also because we need meat and skins, and these are not in conflict but one thing -- we hunt so that our children will eat, and so that when their turn comes, there will be something for them to hunt for their children. Where we cut trees not just because the trees want us to, but also because we need wood, but we make sure we cut the trees that will free sunlight up for other trees to grow in. Where we make farms and celebrate what a farm is, and what the life is that living on a farm brings.

This would also give them a firm reason to conflict with the communes while still being friends with them. There's a lot of commonality between your "save the earth" Greenpeace hippies and your rural farmers who want to leave their family farms to their kids -- living in Vermont makes it easy to see that. But there's also plenty of struggles between them. It's just the kind of multidimensional relationship we would like to see between our maybe-allies. It would also add a similar relationship with the cities -- cities have always needed the rural-but-settled world to support them, yet been at odds with them and usually contemptuous of them.

good stuff, now to just make the membership drive

Guess this means I have to make friends so I can convince them to come here.

Tiresome little turd that he was.