Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in Tetraterra's LiveJournal:

Monday, March 24th, 2008
7:22 am	Pirates! (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 25th, 2007
10:12 pm	One ends as another begins When the date came, it was too late to stop the seed that had been planted from germinating. Seven billion suicides emptied the world's cities and countrysides of human voices and the sounds of their narrow-sighted lives trundling along the tracks they had built. Worldband ceased all but its automated channel broadcasts when its operators no longer tended the programming. One channel that had been set to broadcast indefinitely was a series of images and audio created by Gerade as a sort of epitaph for mankind. "This world is free. This world belongs to no one. Only if you tread with respect may you enjoy the splendours here." The words, recorded in Gerade's own voice, repeated ad infinitum as images of crumbling cities running rampant with green cycled amidst birdsong and the sound of calm rain. It would be there as long as the solar satellites above and the self-powered Worldband equipment bound to the surface continued to function, to serve as a greeting message to anyone who remained or who would come later. The world was free, the world belonged not to man. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 30th, 2006
2:35 am	Matriarch's sadism. "Life exists as a string of beads," she hissed, "strung in order along a line so that we may chart our progress from when we were small and insignificant to when we become Gods." I crouched beneath and listened, my ears on her. "Every living creature seeks to be God, it is the ambition in her nature as a competitor to do so. Some do better than others, as you may be capable of understanding, fleshling." She paused for a moment, "You and your kind may desire this as well, it is your nature as much as it is mine - but you are weak, and so you can only progress so far. And on top of that, your weakness makes it very easy for those further advanced to take advantage of you, to circumvent your ambitions and use you for their own needs." "Why do you tell me?" I asked her, a tremor of apprehension running through my body as i broke my silence. "What's the point of it? Why talk about life with one you'll deny it to?" Her great bulk shifted above me, the creaking of her carapace sounding like dry, snapping bones. She lowered her head closer to me in scrutiny, her black chitinous mandibles and glassey eyes as incapable of expression as ever. "Do you really want to know, little one? Do you truly want to hear why I waste my time talking to you in your insignificant, dull, and ungrasping beastiality?" I waited. I didn't want to know, but I had asked. "Your kind's flesh," she continued, "is one of the most deliciously pallatable. This is generally agreed upon, yes?" I shivered coldly, unanswering. Her voice became softer, a sibilance more like wind over the open end of a pipe. "It is preparation. Most will prepare the body in some fashion before consuming it, and others, like myself, enjoy preparing the primitive animal mind even before that. To know that you grasp, if only marginally, your purpose - oh!" She chirrupped, her body vibrating with pleasure. "It makes your taste worth the time." "My lovely fleshling, to know that you understand that the summation of your past: your birth, your memories, your pains, your pleasures - that it is all nothing, because you exist only to be meat - to nourish a God - that is why. Everything you think you are in addition to your succulent body is meaningless. Your thoughts, your wants, your supposed soul. It is nothing, because you are food. That is preparation of the mind." Her mandibles spread, her odorous breath washing over my face like warm septic rain. My eyes were closed in inward terror, and so i didn't see her probiscis descending until i felt the wet, slippery tip of the organ slide testingly across the arch of my muzzle, and over my cheek. My mouth opened to gasp but no sound exited, for i was too thoroughly conditioned into hiding my disgust, though i was ripe with it. "When the time is right you will taste glorious!" she hissed exultantly, "you, my special pet... you that asks questions. Your little lump of animal brainflesh is eager! Aware and eager to grasp the meaning of its accessory existence!" (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 29th, 2006
10:17 pm	The Dreamer The Lithian Dreamer, or the Old Stone King, is the world's equivalalent of an oracle. To some only a myth, to others a truth worthy of setting out on a long pilgrimage into the deep Lossian dessert. At the center of the dessert a vast well - an opening a kilometre in diameter, yawns. The vertical sides sink into dimness below, where the bottom can be seen, but most often only without much clarity. One can enter the underworld here, through a myriad of entrances at the bottom and along various parts of the well's walls. One of these entrances is said to lead into a large chamber, where the Dreamer resides. The Dreamer is immortal, its life having begun when the world began, and its death surely not to occur until the world ends. It is a living knowledge bank, and posesses a frightening intelligence capable of nearly accurate prediction concerning what is to come... The Dreamer is able to utilize the knowledge of what has passed and the formulae of the world's mechanics as well as the behavioural patterns of all its inhabitants to determine what will come. A curse unparelleled. The Dreamer literally knows everything - One could say its mind is wired to the world. This notion is interestingly mirrored by the fact that the Dreamer's physical incarnation is bound to that place inside the Lossian Well, unable to leave. While its body serves as a prison for the Dreamer's mind, its unbreakable bindings ensure that the Well will be a prison for the body. A cage within a cage. The knowledge of all eternity, what is to come, what is, and what will most likely be, is a maddening posession. The Dreamer lost its grip on sanity long ago, if it was ever given one to begin with. Its binding keeps it from being unleashed upon the world, even while aggravating this condition. Pilgrimage is the path some choose, and these pilgrims rarely leave the Well once they descend, for the Dreamer in its madness is desperate for amusement - to find some small thing that it cannot predict, that it cannot understand... It wishes to free itself from the curse of endless knowledge without thought, for what pondering can be made when there is nothing unknown to ponder? The Dreamer imagines other worlds to pass the time and to seperate itself from knowledge and enter into the realm of creativity, a mental god. The occasional interruption of pilgrims seeking advice or to give tribute is uninteresting, but the Dreamer hopes that some day someone immune to the hands of fate will come to it, and it will find satisfaction at last in being wrong. The Dreamer knows whether or not this will happen, and it dreams... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 28th, 2005
2:53 pm	Slavery The slave trade in Tatraterra is no small industry. Slave trading is in fact one of the most key means of commerce the major civilization with which we are concerned, that of the Gnomon, has. Though the Gnomon are a technological society to an extent, much of their technology is not their own. They have the capacity to learn how to use technologies that they are shown, but they have difficulty progressing toward developnng their own. This is in part because they are supplied with outside technology by the Qorm. The Qorm, who live secretively in their well guarded hex, Id, are significantly more advanced than the Gnomon and their more sprawling and loose civilization with its prominent footholds in Loss as well as centralization in Memorium. The Qorm are essential to the boom in the slave trade, as they are willing to trade technology for slaves, and little else. This affects the Gnomon because it retards their own scientific and technological advancement, and will ensure that the Gnomon are always kept beneath the Qorm, never able to become superior. (The most advanced technology the Gnomon posess is technology that is growing old or obsolete and is no longer needed by the Qorm. But from the Gnomon's perspective, why concentrate on working toward this advancement when it is easier to trade a readily available resource?) The Gnomon have little desire to seek dominance in Tetraterra. They are essentially the dominant group in both Memorium and Loss, and that is satisfactory, as long as it is maintained. Instinct is a jungle, and though there have been expeditions there, civilization has never become permanent. The Gnomon are not inherently cruel, but they ebrace the slave trade and the benefits it grants them. Those who are part of the Gnomon civilization, whether of the Gnomon race or not, will purchase and use slaves if they are of the status to be able to do so, as it is customary, and is not seen as wrong. the concept of equal rights does not exist here. The Qorm, however, could be considered cruel. Their cultural ideals include the personal conquest of emotion, worship of the ego, and the persuit of efficiency. Slaves are nothing more to them than any other tool, and the existence the slaves they posess are granted reflects this. A noticeably large portion of the slave trade as well is for the acquisition of food, as the Qorm are a carnivorous species that enjoy claiming social status through exotic diet, in a fashion similar to the Gnomon's claiming social status through the simple acquisition and posession of slaves. Due to this, the rare moments when a representative of the Qorm visits the Gnomon are always filled with unease. If one of the Qorm were to enter a pub in Xal on a busy night, all conversation would cease when they walked into the room. The Gnomon, as mentioned earlier, are not inherently cruel, and some of their slaves even enjoy luxuries as if they too were people. Thus, they do occasionally in moments of morality have to turn the other cheek when consigning handfuls of slaves to fate by trading them to a Qorm merchant's agent, because it is essentially condemnation. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 10th, 2005
1:06 am	The Physical World The name "Tetraterra" means "Four Earths." Tetraterra is an interesting world, and to visualize it you must for the mostpart discard your notions of spherical planets as well as some of your physics. Imagine a tetrahedron. It's a four-sided polygon made up of four equilateral triangles. Now, on each face draw three lines so that each looks like a hexagon with a smaller equilateral triangle on three of its six sides. Extend these four hexagons out perpendicular to the planes formed by the tetrahedron's faces, so that they form hexagonal prisms, like the shape of a beryl crystal. The two hexagonal faces on either end of each will be identical in size, and each of the four hexagonal 'columns' will be situated on an axis that makes its central point equidistant from that of each of the other three. Gravity works much the same way here, exerting a pull toward a central point where the axes of the four hexes meet. Thus, on the outer hexagonal surfaces of the four hexes, you would find gravity to be as you know it, holding you to the ground. On the sides of these hexes, the pull of gravity would run parallel, and therefor you would fall as though each side were a massive sheer cliff face, as they in fact are. As you may have guessed, the four hexagonal faces on which gravity is not problematic are the four "worldlets" or "hexes" as we have so often referred to them. Memorium, Loss, Instinct, and Id. At three of each hexes' six sides are attached causaways, narrow bridges that extend out over the void between in a great arc to connect the four worldlets. Each hex is connected via causaway to each of the other three. The causaways are very narrow in proportion to the other large parts of the physical world, however, they are quite wide. Walking from one edge, it would take several minutes to reach the opposite. In terms of length, the causaways are very long, each one being approximately three times the width of one hex. It is a long journey. The space surrounding the above mentioned components of the world is all the same atmosphere, and it is breathable as far outward as you might venture. Through enough atmosphere, a haze is visible, and it is blue. Looking out over the edge of one of the hexes, you would not be able to see the others, but you would be able to see the causaway extending out like a miniscule line about half of its length before it was too obscured to be visible. Looking out away from the world one would see only the blue atmosphere, for as far as anyone has been able to discern, the space extends infinitely, though it is dark further out. In this space there are numerous orbiting bodies, small objects that exist in the atmosphere that either remain stationary or orbit on a path around the main body of Tetraterra. Some are relatively well known to those who navigate vaneships, but there are surely many others that have not been discovered at all. Around the central tetrahedron of Tetraterra, extending a part of the way up and lapping at the sides of the great columns of the four hexes, is a spherical body of foam termed the Effersea. A fractal ocean of bubbles, infinite in number but finite as far as the space they take up. This sea is luminous and appears white when viewed from above, for the same reason the atmosphere appears blue. The solid bodies of the world's four hexagonal columns and their crowning worldlets are filled with uncountable spaces as well, the equivalent of many worlds held within. This in its entirety is referred to as the Underworld. There are plenty of places one can access the underworld, both through the hexagonal surfaces of the hexes and along their cliff-like sides. (Though less of the latter.) One could theoretically enter the Underworld from the upper surface and eventually make it to the bottom, to the level which would sit beneath the spherical surface of the Effersea, but this journey would be incredibly long, require incredible luck, and would be quite dangerous. There are things that occupy the caverns and tunnels of the Underworld that are better not seen in the light of day, and it is fortunate that the two worlds rarely mingle. The world's illumination radiates from above, provided by an immense spherical atmospheric zone, at a set distance from the central body of Tetraterra. The light is not fully ambient, but because the luminous sphere surrounds the entirety of the world a shadow cannot form in most cases. While vision becomes obscured by the atmosphere after enough of it is put into the line of sight, light is not effected to the same degree. As far away as the center, and the Effersea, it is notably darker, though there the Effersea provides its own pale luminance. Beyond the encompassing sphere of luminance there is darkness. It is said that upon approach to the division, the light becomes so bright that everything becomes white and glows, and one will have to try hard to not close their eyes, but that once that sphere is breached one will be plunged into immediate darkness. In looking behind one's self after breaching the division, there will be only darkness there as well. The sphere of luminosity is a one-sided visual barrier, but it can be passed through painlessly by objects such as vaneships. Light and Dark are both equal amounts of time, and in darkening the entire sphere of luminance dims, so the world is equally dark throughout. If it is light, it is light everywhere. In navigation, a compass will always point toward the center, where the four axes of the hexes meet. This is useful in navigating the void when visual markers become too obscured by the atmosphere, but not so useful when travelling by land. When travelling by land, there are four cardinal directions, three of which will be applicable at any time: Mor'ward, Lo'ward, Ins'ward, and Id'ward. If you were navigating your way across the hex known as Memorium, the three applicable directions would correspond to the direction you would need to go in order to reach the causaway to their namesake hexes. Lo'ward would be toward the causaway to Loss, and Ins'ward toward Instinct, etc. There is no instrument to determine which way you are going other than up or down, but such a thing is not often found to be needed. From most locations on a given hex, the anchorpoints of the causaways are visible through the haze as specks on the horizon. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
11:36 pm	The Calm Plateau The Calm Plateau is another Orindesh myth, or more accurately, the Orindesh concept of the afterlife. It resembles their mythical origins in that it is entirely different from their current desert home - green and thriving - further reenforcing that they desire to find a better existence. Orinde, their supposed place of origin, is a fertile growing place where they experienced contentment. The Calm Plateau, as its name denotes, is a refuge from the hardships of constant relocation as a nomadic people. Metaphysically, it is a place that rises above the heat and sand of the desert, its high stone cliffs seperating the plain above from that below. The plain atop the plateau is covered by grass and other vegetation, and is a place where peace can be acheived in a similar fashion to the peace they knew in Orinde. Psychologically, this gives the Orinde reassurance. "You will carry with you the notion that your lost homeland is waiting for you somewhere, and that you might find it in your lifetime. And if you don't, it will be waiting for you atop the Calm Plateau when you pass on." (Comment on this)
9:08 pm	Orindesh Myth of Origins The Orindesh gypsies were never a well-established people, as far as any known modern historian, excluding the Dreamer, can discern. It is believed that the ancestral home that they left behind is a myth. They refer to this flourishing prairie with reverence as "Orinde," now both a name for their people and a name for the place from where they supposedly originated. It was a reasonably large portion of what is now entirely desert, the hex known as Loss. Loss; so aptly named - as the fertile prairies of Orinde supposedly grew dry over time and were eventually swallowed up by the sand, forcing them to leave. The oral stories passed down from the older generations to their offspring speak of unending fields of green and gold, plains and rolling hills filled with luscious forage and the most splendid fireworks displays of colourful flowers when the seasons turn. They tell of days when the people would have nothing to do but play amidst the bees between filling baskets with heaps of grains and grasses for their evening feasts. They say the Orindesh people never saw sand until it came to them, content as they were with the simplicity of living in their harmoniously verdant realm. But the sand did come, and the grasses withered and grew sparse. The time had come for an end, because no perfection lasts eternally save that after death. Reluctantly, after having waited until there was nothing remaining but bristly and nearly inedible scrub bushes astride barren dunes, they left their homeland and ventured out into the deep desert seeking a new way of life. Only a fraction survived being beset by the starvation and thirst accompanying such an exodus, but these few eventually adapted to the way of the desert and became the nomadic tribes we recognize historically. Of course, it's certainly quite possible that the Orinde were always wanderers. It's a lot more probable for there are no known records mentioning any part of the great Lossian desert being anything but barren. A myth such as their self-proclaimed origins would serve as the ideal beacon of hope for a nomadic people: "Someday, we will return to our home. Our hard and weary hooves will no longer feel the endless fiery slide of sand upon sand, our hearts will no longer feel the bottomless ache of Loss, and we will finally rest again atop the cool and fragrant greens of our Orinde." This is surely a mantra that reverberates through the souls of each of the few remaining gypsies with every step they take toward nowhere in particular as they pursue survival. They have been scattered to the wind, at the whim of chance. There are still those few who caravan through the desert like a mirage, only briefly ever encountered by the fringes of civilization when they come seeking supplies or repairs on their vehicles that they cannot perform themselves. There are others who have left Loss altogether, searching for an easier life across the void between the hexes, ever solitary and ever less in number. And finally, there are those who are persuaded into bonded servitude, occasionally with only a halfhearted struggle, as it is made clear to them that in some ways even slavery has more guarantee and peace of mind than being homeless. The Orindesh people are thus an interesting dichotomy, for they are eternally unresting in their wanderlust, yet they seek comfort in some of the most unexpected ways in their deep set longing for a place to call home. (Comment on this)