Search found 36 matches

by Scytheria
16 Nov 2018 11:04
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: alternate ways to say "tribal fantasy"
Replies: 24
Views: 186424

Re: alternate ways to say "tribal fantasy"

Rightly or wrongly, the word 'tribal' suggests a sort of spear-chucking, constantly warring societal structure in which the main purpose of tribes is to differentiate competitors/enemies (and thus make it vaguely more tolerable when you have to pillage, rape and kill them). A softer word would be '...
by Scytheria
15 Nov 2018 12:05
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: alternate ways to say "tribal fantasy"
Replies: 24
Views: 186424

Re: alternate ways to say "tribal fantasy"

Rightly or wrongly, the word 'tribal' suggests a sort of spear-chucking, constantly warring societal structure in which the main purpose of tribes is to differentiate competitors/enemies (and thus make it vaguely more tolerable when you have to pillage, rape and kill them). A softer word would be 'c...
by Scytheria
22 Sep 2018 02:26
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: What would humanoid bugs use as mounts?
Replies: 32
Views: 28356

Re: What would humanoid bugs use as mounts?

i just noticed something, a lot of people have been suggesting i use fungus as mounts for some apparent reason. like a i understand most birds eat but...a fungus? sorry your suggestion's great but it's little...strange? i might keep it. Well, there's precedence for real-world bugs cultivating fungu...
by Scytheria
19 Sep 2018 11:49
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: What would humanoid bugs use as mounts?
Replies: 32
Views: 28356

Re: What would humanoid bugs use as mounts?

How about having the bugs use their collective intelligence to 'grow' flying machines of some kind (maybe from fungus)? Nothing sophisticated, just a wing, steering and propulsion system? Plenty of fungi have delicate, membranous wing-like parts and some can shoot spores a long distance, so the prop...
by Scytheria
19 May 2018 13:36
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: Jokes
Replies: 460
Views: 203096

Re: Jokes

I'm guessing that the following will cause a few scratched heads. You'll either get it, get it but not find it funny, or not have a clue what's going on... I think being silly and British helps. It's currently my favourite ever joke precisely because people's reactions are so varied. Q - What do yo...
by Scytheria
14 May 2018 14:09
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: why is it that in many fantasy stories, humans are the focus?
Replies: 58
Views: 18719

Re: why is it that in many fantasy stories, humans are the focus?

that's comforting....no wonder my thread on my world was sort of dead. Well, the more inhuman something becomes, the more niche it becomes. There may well be an audience, for example, for talking mushroom-men stories, but there will always be far more general interest in human stories. I've nothing...
by Scytheria
12 May 2018 16:25
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: Jokes
Replies: 460
Views: 203096

Re: Jokes

I'm guessing that the following will cause a few scratched heads. You'll either get it, get it but not find it funny, or not have a clue what's going on... I think being silly and British helps. It's currently my favourite ever joke precisely because people's reactions are so varied. Q - What do you...
by Scytheria
11 May 2018 12:13
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: why is it that in many fantasy stories, humans are the focus?
Replies: 58
Views: 18719

Re: why is it that in many fantasy stories, humans are the focus?

As a few have already stated, the reason is because we are human, and writing about humans makes our relationship to the characters and the things they do stronger. There is much more mileage in exploring the unusual beliefs and thought processes that humans can exhibit than in making creatures who ...
by Scytheria
09 May 2018 12:39
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: Modern Hittite lang: realistic?
Replies: 13
Views: 10729

Re: Modern Hittite lang: realistic?

I don't see a logical issue with that idea, but an intermediate step might simply be a total loss of case for the possessor and possessed (or sharing of the same case), perhaps supported by an intervening clitic.
by Scytheria
09 May 2018 12:35
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Language evolution for long-lived people
Replies: 9
Views: 2447

Re: Language evolution for long-lived people

Interesting.... back in the day I did table-top role-playing games, and we envisaged immortal creatures who passed through the centuries, and moved from place to place (usually as a result of being hounded out), assimilating language and culture as they went. Despite being immortal, their memories w...
by Scytheria
04 May 2018 12:31
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Speedlang VIII (May 4, 5, 6)
Replies: 48
Views: 11042

Re: Speedlang VIII (May 4, 5, 6)

Sigh, I was looking forward to this and had some neat ideas based on the rules, but my partner got herself fired today so I'm not optimistic I'll get much done...
Bloody real world.
by Scytheria
01 May 2018 14:37
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Writing system, not sure which one to use.
Replies: 6
Views: 1582

Re: Writing system, not sure which one to use.

There's always the hybrid option, where some consonants function in an abugida style, others as abjads, others as stand-alone syllables. Since it's a conlang, anything is possible!
by Scytheria
30 Apr 2018 07:36
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Speedlang VIII (May 4, 5, 6)
Replies: 48
Views: 11042

Re: Speedlang VIII

Sounds interesting - count me in.
by Scytheria
24 Apr 2018 13:58
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Lortho: An Artistic Conlang
Replies: 15
Views: 4531

Re: Lortho: An Artistic Conlang

I rather like it. What impresses me most is the way you've started to weave cultural artefacts into it to explain certain things, which gives a nice naturalistic feel. Also, you've avoided the temptation to have a ridiculous, unusable orthography and alien grammar, meaning that the result is potenti...
by Scytheria
24 Apr 2018 09:46
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo
Replies: 14
Views: 3681

Re: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo

Concepts/ideas to batter around... Since the proposed proto-writing is used solely to aid the recitation of oral-histories, a limited range of expression is required. There is no need, for example, for any grammatical person other than the third since the histories simply state who did what to whom...
by Scytheria
23 Apr 2018 12:28
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo
Replies: 14
Views: 3681

Re: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo

Well, I'm more than happy to steer things back on track. All of the above goes to prove the old adage that the meaning of any communication is found in how it is interpreted, not in what is said or written. I've made mistakes with some word choices (e.g. resurrect), and the word 'appropriate' was us...
by Scytheria
20 Apr 2018 02:51
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo
Replies: 14
Views: 3681

Re: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo

Last ditch attempt at a rationale. Hope this clarifies/satisfies: Disclaimer (apparently very important): This project outlines a symbolic written language which utilizes the glyph shapes attested in the Rongorongo of Easter Island. These glyph shapes are assigned meanings, sometimes those which are...
by Scytheria
20 Apr 2018 00:44
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo
Replies: 14
Views: 3681

Re: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo

Okay... I'll attempt to re-explain my position. Perhaps I've done a bad job in the OP of expressing what I would like to do, and if that's the case its due to my phrasing of things. Perhaps the idea is grossly offensive and I should be ashamed of myself, but I still don't see it. Several things I've...
by Scytheria
19 Apr 2018 06:15
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo
Replies: 14
Views: 3681

Re: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo

Well, as yet there is no name for this - I've only stated that it would be based on the RR script and used within the narrow context of Rapanui oral history. I have at no point stated that the result would be a reconstruction of the script/language, only an aesthetically similar thing that conveys t...
by Scytheria
19 Apr 2018 00:21
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo
Replies: 14
Views: 3681

Re: Collaborative Resurrection of Rongorongo

Steps 3 and 4, as I said, are barely attested, but they have existed. Take Chinese, for example, which moved swiftly through a period where the oracle bone characters (presumed to be pictographic-mnemonic) were deliberately compounded and augmented to create new characters. Some were made by combini...