Neithernor Reborn: The Ascension Rises

[Remus]

Hey there, Watchers!

It’s me, Remus, your friendly neighborhood captain! I posted a couple weeks ago to see if any of you would be interested in a roleplay area where you could explore how your lives would be if you had access to the wonderful space that our floating ship. I wanted to do this for two reasons. First, I wanted to give all of you a space to explore your guild house [like a couple of us did while we were still trying to unlock the book. [Link] Taking a page from the Thornie’s book [Link] I wanted to give you all a different way to explore the guildhouse.

The other reason is because of something that happened after we finally opened the book up. Opening the book was all we ever wanted, but it came with something we didn’t expect: some of us got into Neithernor. For a very small window, a couple of us Mounties were able to explore small parts of Neithernor - we weren’t even able to scratch the surface, really. But one place that most of us were able to spend a little bit of time was our guildhouses. And when we did, we noticed that some of the things that we had written about our guildhouses were real.

Brandon Lachmann once said that “Imagination is Nothing More Than Memory, Transposed.” If you’ve spent anytime around this forum, you’ve likely run across this phrase at least once. That’s because it’s something that’s guided our community. For Brandon, his imagination showed him a way out - a path he knew. Based on my own experiences there, I think it’s the same case with Neithernor. The things we once wrote - imagined - about Ascension were memories of Neithernor from the Book of the Wild. That, mixed with Neithernor’s inherently malleable nature, meant that our explorations here on the forum had an effect on the guildhouses we found.

I mentioned to the the rest of the leaders that I wanted to work on this, and together, we’ve come up with something truly great (if I do say so myself). It’s called Neithernor Reborn . Most of you weren’t around when we were able to get into Neithernor, we wanted to give you all the chance to explore there. Plus, we’re also pretty nostalgic, and we’d like to get to experience Neithernor again. More importantly though, we hope that by roleplaying in Neithernor Reborn we can maybe get back someday. And maybe it won’t seem so unfamiliar to us when we do

So, what do you all need to do. Well, the Day of Change (September 23rd) approaches, and it’s a symbolic day, both for this community and magimystically. When we were able to reach Neithernor, we used it to shape what our guild houses would look like. When I was able to access it, our guild house was just a floating ship, wooden ship (think pirate ship) with an infinite amount of space contained within. As new members, you’ve already been suggesting changes to what our guild home could look like; just this week, @IvyNoble suggested what our figurehead might look like, and @Louisa asked if we had smaller ships that could branch off from the main one. @Corkus also brought concept art up in our thread involving a metal ship rather than a wooden one. Someone’s also suggested to me that, rather than having a beat up ship floating in a coastal deserty-shrubland, we have an island or chain of islands that we call home, and The Ascension is simply our primary ship and is docked there. The possibilities are truly, and I mean this quite literally, endless.

So, what do you think Watchers? Where do you think we would live? Do we stay on the Ascension , or do we have a permanent “basecamp” (see what I did there )? In short, where do Weatherwatchers call “home” in Neithernor? I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

[Cirydae]

While I love the idea of a ship, I personally also would think there would be some kind of home base–a port, or space station, or specific town. Someplace where, after a year or so of flying about and exploring, you return to refuel and relax and tell others about what happened. As people get less able/don’t want to go on specific adventures they might take up residence in town or in the giant building or what have you and help newcomers adjust and find their place. And maybe every few years or so the whole fleet of flying ships (I just like the idea of there being more than one, ngl) return for a festival of sorts.
That’s my idea at the moment, at least!

[Remus]

Oop, sorry Cirydae, I’ve been at work or in meetings with professors all day so I just got to this! I totally agree, I think having a port of some sort would be an excellent idea, especially if we had a fleet of ships .

I’m really intrigued by the idea of what this port looks like: where is it? Is it on the mainland or an island? Are there rocky or sandy beaches? Is it even a SEA port? The Ascension already flies so we could have a sky port if we really wanted (an alternate but less fun name: airport). Did you have an idea in mind when you where thinking about this, @Cirydae?

[Cirydae]

Honestly I really like the idea of either a mountain port (maybe even inside the mountain?) or a hidden valley of some sort. Something a bit hard to access, easily defended, but also connected to the outside world.
Also, idk, I’m not a big fan of the islands. That might just be me though, I’m more of a mountain person than anything else ^.^

[Louisa]

I love the idea of a port! I personally imagined something closer to the sky port concept (something like the sky island in Zelda: Skyward Sword, if that’s a relatable reference for anyone?), but some hidden alcove on a really tall mountain could have a similar effect.

And a whole fleet of ships…the more the merrier, in my opinion

[Remus]

So you’re imagining something like this, @Louisa?

Because I’m definitely down for this. Actually, my next question was going to be about the landscape of the mountain/skyport place we’re looking to have our guild house. Is it vibrant and bright like this (sort of like an alpine meadow)? Is it surrounded by a dense forest, and if so, what kind? Is it a barren rocky mountain? I’m personally in favor of the brighter meadow feel, but I’m also up for the forest!

I was also curious if this would be on a mountain proper or if it could be a floating island (or even small collection of close together islands) over either water or land. What do you all think?

[Louisa]

Yes yes yes! Right on the money, @Remus
I love the floating island idea. Maybe a brighter meadow feel above ground with some scattered trees, and beneath/within the floating island there could be a series of caves and tunnels. Maybe some are like hobbit holes, comfortable homey spaces for people to stay or gather. Maybe there are some entrances beneath the island(s) that act like smaller docks for smaller ships. Maybe some are bigger on the inside! Giant mead hall type spaces for big celebrations!

If some people prefer the idea of being on a mountain proper or something similar, then maybe it’s a secret valley like @Cirydae suggested. Orbiting above the valley, there could be various floating islands. Maybe there’s one that has an endless waterfall stemming from it feeding a lake in the valley, like the one towards the right of the image Remus posted!

The image of an idyllic valley from above with massive shadows gliding through it from islands and ships is pretty jaw dropping. At some point, I’ll have to paint our base, whatever it is we decide on.

[Cirydae]

I love the idea of floating islands, especially if we get our own sets of wings/paragliders to travel between them!
I like the idea of both forest and meadow–perhaps some of the islands are more densely forested, while others have been cleared to create farming/living space.

[Louisa]

Oooooo I dig the idea of paragliders or steampunk wings

[Remus]

I’m sure we can have that arranged I may or may not have found a bracelet when we were able to go to Neithernor that allowed me to manifest a sort of energy glider. I’m sure there’s more stuff like it that we can find while we explore in Neithernor: Reborn (from now on, I’m just going to type NNR because that’s easier).

I’m loving these floating islands, so I guess that takes me to our next set of questions! If we’ve got a collection of floating islands, how far apart are they? And more importantly, where are they? I’m really down for a collection of floating islands off the coast of mainland Neithernor, but I’d like to hear what you all think.

Also, @Louisa, you mentioned some structures that you imagined hobbit holes and a mead hall/gathering space. While I love love love hobbit holes, are those the only kind of structures we have? Or are there other kinds of buildings (this is open to everyone). Also, I picture the gathering place having either a patio or have it be an open air space. But that might just be me! Let me know what you all think

[Skylad]

It would be cool if at the port instead of building houses watchers of old would have just planted old ships around the place! Kinda like a caravan park but with Galleons and repurposed Langskips instead of little caravans

[gabbbyyyy]

I am absolutely loving all of the ideas you guys have come up with! I was envisioning a sort of Atlantis island (from Disney), that has waterfalls coming off the sides of the island, and having various sorts of terrain, including underwater terrain what would be SUPER COOL. I wonder if we have access to some sort of space like that too? It would give additional purpose to our ship, that could travel to underwater lands as well.

[Louisa]

Oh my gosh that makes so much sense! My first thought was something like Jorrvaskr in skyrim - a warrior mead hall built from the ship the ancient Nords used to travel to Skyrim in the first place.

I’m not in any way attached to the viking aesthetic (though I wouldn’t mind some, it’s a good look), just the idea of retired ships becoming living and gathering spaces is really lovely.

I have other thoughts on some of these awesome ideas. I’ll post sometime tomorrow.

[Skylad]

That’s what I thought!!! And where the Brethren Court met in pirates of the Caribbean

[Cirydae]

Is our island more northern or more equatorial? Do we get all four seasons? That would definitely change what we built with/needed, although I agree we should use old ships! No sense processing new materials if we have some lying around.
Also, I like the idea of historical aesthetics married with magic and tech. Like a reenactment, where you hide cellphones behind prayer book cases or use pens that look like quills. Perfectly functional and modern, but keeping the #aesthetic.

In other news this reminds me strongly of one of my favourite books, the Floating Islands by Rachel Nuemeier. Would strongly recommend.

[Louisa]

Okay, so @Remus, I think a collection of floating islands off of mainland Neithernor makes sense and would be super cool! Maybe the largest island has a mountain or two and a valley, while the various smaller islands are more meadow and forest like. Waterfalls originating from their own floating island platforms or from any of the main islands a la “Atlantis” all together make for a gorgeous panorama (@gabbbyyyy).

I definitely imagined buildings in addition to the hobbit hole spaces, I was just trying to brainstorm ways to make use of all of our available space since we’re on a floating island. Maximizing what we have seemed imperative, even if we can tag magiq to make spaces bigger when push comes to shove.

So excited that people seem to like the idea of retiring old boats into buildings! Cause I am so in love with that concept.

As for seasons, @Cirydae, I’m torn. While a northern or a tropical climate both have some fascinating aesthetic implications, I love seeing the change of seasons. We aren’t the House of Change, but we are the House of Exploration, so there’s something nice about having variety…maybe our islands have distinctly different climates/biomes? That could be a fun idea to play with. Or maybe it’s trying too hard to have everything…creativity thrives in limitations, after all.

[Saberlane]

Maybe there are also smaller islands that ships like the Ascension can tow for mobile exploration? (sorry to interrupt, just super inspired by your ideas…)

[Louisa]

No worries at all, the more minds on this the better, right?

Ooooo! If we can tow little islands, then do we leave little island bases near wherever we have extensive Watcher expeditions? Like a space station in Star Trek, the Ascension arrives, a bunch of explorers decides they’re going to stick around for a while, and they set up an island above the area for the duration with supplies and amenities.

Separate or in addition to that, maybe we create microcosms of the climate where we’re exploring on the little island and eventually tow it back with us. That might explain us having a variety of biomes throughout the islands! Some do have four seasons, some don’t…depends on where that island was developed!

[Saberlane]

OMG. A collection of different environments that mirror other places you’ve explored?!

[Louisa]

EXACTLY!