A member of HamiltonAlts
Under the ground in cav'rn o' fading light
Lies dorman ruins of empire wide and tall.
A student of the Grower's father's might
Is Linking countless worlds, D'ni's call.
| Name: | Daihee |
|---|---|
| Species: | Secretary Bird |
| Age: | Unknown |
| Occupation: | Caretaker |
| Nonbinary | He/Him |
Overview
Daihee is a secretary bird standing just under six feet tall. A silky cloak hangs around their neck, fastened with a golden medallion. Dark fibrous straps form a harness around their chest and shoulders, secured to which is a small, rough-looking book. It looks hand-made, and crudely so. A few metal buckles and catches, themselves and the harness quite a bit more refined than the book, are assembled around the book, which rests on Daihee's left chest.Often you'll find the bird wearing goggles, over their eyes when they're outside during the day, or on their forehead when it's dark enough. The goggles, too, seem well-crafted, the lenses dark, the strap a dark red. The silky cloak they wears is itself maroon, though in certain angles the light catches it and turns nearly black.
Daihee can often be seen with his pet. Ahlprin is a small, off-white rodent-like creature with a bony crest on its head and furless, fleshy hollows in its cheeks. It tends to make short, twittering chirping sounds, and rides on Daihee's shoulder, though the harness that holds the book to their chest also has a little pouch for Ahlprin for when Daihee flies.
History
Just how or when Daihee discovered the D'ni Cavern is a mystery. What's pretty clear from both their skills and outlooks (not to mention Ahlprin) is they have experience with several of Atrus' Ages. Their use of D'ni goggles also indicates they either hail from an Age with a similar light structure, of they've spent enough time in-cavern to warrant eye protection. Or maybe they're just a fan.Daihee considers himself simultaneously an independent explorer and a student of Atrus. They have only written a couple full Ages (and countless practice-Ages). After writing their first they moved into it, and while studying the Art in a more academic than practical sense, set about building and developing book- and ink-making processes within the Age. They haven't yet fully nailed down the recipe for either, though their Books are workable.
As a consequence of this, all of Daihee's books — and those tools not built by natives of Daihee's Second Age Tonekis — have a crude, homemade look. The pages are thicker than one might expect, the covers are made of coarsly-woven plant fiber, or unevenly-cut-and-hemmed stiffened silk. The bindings are both glued and tied with a coarse twine. It's not pretty, but it's theirs. Daihee's clothes and belts do not have the same level of roughness. Although Daihee made those things, they did so under the instruction of the Ubshiru, the natives of Tonekis.
Daihee's progess through the Art is slow and methodical. They take the time with each practice Age to thoroughly explore and survey, learning as much as they can about how all the pieces have been fitted together into The Whole. When they buckle down and write a complete Age they take even more time to chart it, map it, explore wide and deep (being able to fly certainly helps!) before advancing onward to another project.
RP Info
Daihee is a story-based adventure-style character. Adventures can range from brief one-off flings to in-depth explorations and interactions with various worlds. You can think of it like playing a text adventure! Parties can be of any (reasonable) size, including just yourself without Daihee around. Vore isn't necissarily off the table here, though in-character it might be tricky. There certainly could be wild creatures in some Ages that have the means and will to gobble creatures whole (or less-than-whole), but Daihee is unlikely to be eating anyone himself. This is more about character and story and exploration and other wholesome fun-times.Current Ages Available for Adventure
Age 117-V001: Netorinai
| Environment | A small, chilly tropical island. |
|---|---|
| Hazards | Minimal: Chilly nights. |
| Explorability | Minimal |
| Mysteries | Scientific understanding of the Age, it's history, weather, potential biologics, etc. |
Age 91-V026: Rooakir
| Environment | Hot, endless sandy desert. |
|---|---|
| Hazards | Moderate: Dehydration, heatstroke, entrapment in sand or ruins. |
| Explorability | High: A city is partially buried nearby. |
| Mysteries | Uncovering and interpreting artefacts from the city. Social, environmental history. |
Age 205-V027: Arnit
| Environment | A frozen wasteland. |
|---|---|
| Hazards | Extreme: Hypothermia, hostile wildlife, natives. |
| Explorability | High |
| Mysteries | Scientific understanding of the Age, it's history, weather, potential biologics, etc. Native society, structure, history. |
Age 221-V028: Sogaldhainoy
| Environment | A temperate rainforest. |
|---|---|
| Hazards | Unknown, possibly high to extreme from wildlife, unknown environmental factors. |
| Explorability | Unknown. |
| Mysteries | Scientific understanding of the Age. Possible natives? Wildlife? History of the Age. |
Age 072-Y001: Tsogahrto
| Environment | Barren rocky surface with non-predictable day/night and seasonal cycles. |
|---|---|
| Hazards | Extreme temperature and radiation ranges. |
| Explorability | Low, aside from experiencing chaotic orbital dynamics first-hand. |
| Mysteries | How long will it take before the planet is kicked into an uninhabitable orbit, and when? |
Age 118-Y003: Melfelturu
| Environment | Cool, rocky scrubland bordering an angry sea. |
|---|---|
| Hazards | Weather and tidal chaos during the transition from "night" to "day"; wildlife |
| Explorability | Moderate. The planet's surface is erosion-scarred, with lots of astronomical opportunities. The wildlife is strange, too. |
| Mysteries | Not many beyond social curiosity and neat sky views. |
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The ArtThe Art is the method by which the D'ni could create bridges between universes. This is done by writing with a specially-made ink using special symbols (called "Great Words") into specially-made Books. The pens are normal pens. The Great Words are descriptive in nature, and the moment the first symbol is put into a Descriptive Book a tentative link is formed between it and an infinite number of universes which match that description. As more symbols are added and the description narrows, so too does the set of universes linked to the Book. Once the Book is used (by touching the linking panel near the front) a link is formed to one of the infinite universes, and it is to that universe the Book will forever link (barring exceptional circumstances).If the Descriptive Book contains contradictions the link will still be established, but the resulting universe (called an "Age") will attempt to match all sides of the contradiction and thus be unstable. A writer can add new descriptions to a linked book in an attempt to rectify contradictions, or at least mitigate them such that the instability takes longer to manifest, though altering a Descriptive Book is dangerous and can lead to unintended consequences. There are other, smaller books that can establish links, too, called Linking Books. These do not describe entire worlds, but instead a small part of that world. Linking Books allow a user to link to a specific part of an Age. A Descriptive Book can have any number of Linking Books associated with it, and all Linking Books are affected by changes to their Descriptive Book. If a Descriptive Book is destroyed, all Linking Books associated with it become unusable. Nature Encourages Mutual DependenceBuilding a world is a difficult task. Describing one capable of complex life is even moreso. One must be careful the planet is in a stable orbit around a stable star. Having a large moon to corral the planet's precession is difficult to do without, and even things such as other planets in the system cannot be ignored, as they have long-term effects on the target planet's properties, stability, and safety. But if done correctly, the Age can be as verdent and diverse as any jungle or reef. Even when trying for a desert Describing an Age with the foundations for life — nutrients, sunlight, etc. — provides the Age with stability and depth even though any complex life might never be seen.Once life is an aspect of your Age you'll find it brings many boons. Nature has a way of developing a push-pull dynamic. Webs form, overlapping circuits of matter, energy, socilaizations, cycles interlink everything into a mesh at once stable and chaotic. What equillibriums happen to be found by this system are fleeting, yet as a whole it's difficult to disrupt. This mutual dependence knits the Age's foundation like an alloy, providing an entirely separate layer of protection overarching it all. Energy Powers Future MotionEnergy is crucial for a dynamic Age. Without any source of energy, naturally, the Age would be a frozen wasteland with even it's once-atmosphere as a icy layer coating all. (Note: attempts to write warm Ages without an energy source is inherently unstable and will quickly degrade to such a state). Even something as simple as a nearby star can provide the energy necessary for a liveable world, though to produce true change you need more.Sources of energy are as varied in source as they are in intensity. Tidal forces from a moon provides not only heat but a sloshing of oceans that can spur some change. Tectonic activity likewise provides dangerous oasis of nutrients and energy far from other sources, such as sunlight. (Though, as with all things, too much of a good thing can destroy an Age; just ask Aitrus.) Don't be afriad of tectonics. The greatest Writer of all time, Ri'neref, had active tectonics in his masterpiece, after all. At smaller levels they allow the planet's core to vent heat into space (preventing regular resurfacings of the planet on the long-term) and add a changing continental system that prevents erosion from claiming all. On larger levels the sources of heat can be readily tapped by societies, spurring innovation and plenty, as well as widening and enrichening hydrothermal and volcanic ecosystems. Dynamic Forces Spur ChangeDon't mistake the sun as a one-size-fits-all either. Lower-energy stars have the benefit of being longer-lived, at the cost of instability, with flares and spikes that can wreck an Age. Low-mass stars encourages life to absorb as much as possible, though radiation-resistant atmospheres might prevent enough energy from reaching the surface, while radiation-transparent ones likewise risk too much high-energy radiation. On the contrary, high-energy stars encourage aquatic and reflective life, with rich ecosystems and large creatures. As with tectonics, the more energy you allow into the system, the more variety and motion the Age has.With all these wheels in motion things are bound to be upset. Punctuated Equilibrium is what the Humans call it. Change is an integral part of a healthy Age, as without it the planet, and any life on it, will naturally stagnate. The war between erosion and tectonics, between gravity and inertia, between desert and jungle, is an ongoin struggle. Food webs shift and slide, nutrients in soil getting depleted and replenished, species diverging and going extict, it all builds to a robust and healthy Whole. If you work to balance the cycles too much, the forces at play become tame and stale. But don't balance them enough and the chaos overruns the system and it'll all fall apart. Balanced Systems Stimulate CivilizationBut if you can get it all just right you can encourage a society to become a civilization. With the right energy sources, the right dynamics of cycles, a rich ecology, people on the Age can harness and corral the resources available and spark a complex, if precarious, civilization. Here getting the right balance is key, though it should be noted even Ri'neref did not get it perfect. As with the world, civilization is prone to punctuated equilibrium, with the periods of chaos coming more or less frequent depending on the initial and basic conditions of the Age. |
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