[Hourglass of Zihaja] Chapter 0: How it All Began

[SlyGuyMcFly]

We do appreciate the work that's gone into this, we're just pointing out potential pitfalls. I for one certainly see value in the central concept of Sunya, and could probably see him reworked into a less-Johoumlike god of Strength, Protection, and Perseverance (for example) without losing anything vital.

Well put.


I admit that my reaction to Sunya was a rather knee-jerk, so I'll try to expand on it a bit:

The good goddess of womanhood vs evil god of manhood is a concept rife with unfortunate implications, albeit (arguably) not quite as bad as if it where the other way round. If they didn't have man & woman portfolios it'd be a lot less jarring but as it is it just rubs the wrong way.

I think the problem is further magnified by the fact that there's a couple of slightly ambiguously* evil deities (Limalia and Johoum) while Sunya comes off as one of the 'ALL EVIL ALL THE TIME™' bunch. On Akasha's side... well, she strikes me as something of a Staff Chick and I feel Pashanti does that particular role better.


Conversely, the original idea was, I think, a unique one that I don't think I'd encountered in fantasy before, and offered a lot of potential. I think that part of my reaction to is it is that I'd already set up certain expectations on these two.


*And by that I mean that, sure, they're evil, but you can see why folks who aren't capital-E Evil would still follow them.



All that said, I am still extremely excited about the setting, and I couldn't be further from feeling it's Ruined Forever™ or anything like that. I'm looking forward to the next bunch of realeases.


Edit: And boy does this thread move fast.

[Juhn]

It moves at about the same speed as the beginning of any of the Discussion Threads (apart from the last one, which was more of a spillover thread until release). But yes, it's pretty fast.

[Zeta Kai]

The chapter order MAY change for the PDF, & Akasha/Sunya probably WILL see major revisions. The fonts will NOT change, which I shall could as a pyrrhic victory for me.

[Salbazier]

Will be fine too if not that I'm feeling lost reading about houris and Adamaj and Godwar. Well, not really. Actually that's pretty interesting, trying to figure out what hasn't not told yet. Still, I think this is not the best way to write an exposition.

Anyway, to comment on content... haven't read the latest entry yet. Will read it now.

EDIT: Stupid internet connection made for delayed post

[Juhn]

I actually think the controversial font works well for the first part of the logo. Papyrus is fine if it's deemphasized, which the 'Hourglass of' deliberately is. The comparative blandness (but retained mild exoticism) of the first two words makes the big 'Zihaja' "pop" all the more, as it were.

[Zeta Kai]

For the record, the font for Zihaja is, appropriately enough, called Arabian. Don't get too excited, because I modded the hell out of it:

• The Z was custom drawn by me, from a sketch by Afro.
• The dots were replaced with diamonds.
• The H & the J had their tails tweaked.
• And the second A was given a tail, for some reason.

But the base is Arabian. Other fonts used for the setting are Acadian (cosmology map & chapter titles), Magic Cards Normal (Najmah), & Arabian Regular (Siraaj). The font hunt was long & hard, so forgive me if I used Papyrus for two words. Yes, they were two very important words, but wattayagonnado?

[apocalypsePast2]

NO! We will not forgive you for using Papyrus! You go back and fix those two words! GO! NOW!

[Salbazier]

Why people hate paryrus anyway?

[Juhn]

I guess it's overused?

It occasionally bugs me because it tends to have needlessly tall letters, with the median (x-height, I think it's called), really really high. It's nothing terribly irritating, though.

[Athaniar]

Papyrus is one of my favorite fonts! I will never get tired of it!

Also, I have no real opinion on the "unfortunate implications" thing, or the chapter order, and I still like the deities. So yeah, I only posted to give my stance on the Papyrus font. Papyrus Forever!

[afroakuma]

Personally, I think the logo Xavius currently has (the infinity loop on dark slate) is the best-looking one, though I'm a big fan of the individual deities' symbols.

I'll be rewriting Akasha and Sunya to cleave closer to the design version; we'll see how that gets received.

[arguskos]

This is relevant:

Spoiler

Show

[apocalypsePast2]

Why is there an AK mounted on the wall?

[arguskos]

Why is there an AK mounted on the wall?

Because that's how the Commander rolls.

[apocalypsePast2]

Because that's how the Commander rolls.

Amen. Oh and arguskos, I haven't seen much on Z-R, where'd you go?

[Elfstone]

I think the coolest banner is obviously the one Zeta has.

And woooowww. At the comic.

[Zeta Kai]

Waharim is up.

And the best logo is the one that you like best.

[Owrtho]

Personally, I like the banner I'm using better. Though Zeta is right.

Owrtho

[Zeta Kai]

Personally, I like the banner I'm using better. Though Zeta is right.

Owrtho

Someone's been rooting through my bucket.

Well played, sir. Well played.

[Elfstone]

That one is certainly interesting.
Where did you find it?

and by coolest I mean the coolest for the game. Not individual gods. (Sunya wins that one, for me)

[Owrtho]

Someone's been rooting through my bucket.

Well played, sir. Well played.

Actually was just messing with the urls, having noticed a naming scheme and seeing what other banners I could find. Though now that you mention it, just looking there is much easier...
So, any reason you skipped up to 10?
Owrtho

[Elfstone]

I see that now.

How ever it won't let me go to his bucket =(. On this computer.

I to, will experiment =).

[Zeta Kai]

I to, will experiment =).

Please don't. You have more than enough banners, with more being posted every three hours or so. And I have a plan for my presentation, which does not involve people raiding my image-hosting accounts for pre-release pics. I view it as akin to leaking pages of a book that I haven't published. Don't make me compare myself to Stephanie Meyer; this saddens me more than any picture-nabbing shenanigans.

[Owrtho]

Well, in my defence, I'd actually just been looking for the larger sizes of the banners that had been taken down when I found the day and night banners (which I expect are Siraaj and Najmah).

Owrtho

[Vaynor]

Please don't. You have more than enough banners, with more being posted every three hours or so. And I have a plan for my presentation, which does not involve people raiding my image-hosting accounts for pre-release pics. I view it as akin to leaking pages of a book that I haven't published. Don't make me compare myself to Stephanie Meyer; this saddens me more than any picture-nabbing shenanigans.

You can always set your albums to "Private" and then people will only be able to see the images you post.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Why people hate paryrus anyway?

I have no idea. My guess it that it's on account of it being fairly popular.

[Zeta Kai]

You can always set your albums to "Private" and then people will only be able to see the images you post.

I was leaving them public so that moderators such as yourself could see them. Roland knows why. I see now that I cannot afford to do that any longer.

[Elfstone]

Ah. Im sorry, I didn't mean to disrespect your wishes. I won't "experiment" with banners and stick with the one I have.
My bad.

[Juhn]

And I've now had a chance to read the post-Umaj writeups:

I keep forgetting Waharim was another Aspect that actually existed. Also, the original Waharim almost made it into Zihaja's Palace?! !!

Also, the Zaians also seem to be mostly correct about the Afterlife. I think we have the whole puzzle now.

And on to the prehistory writeup:

Siraaj and Najmah's name-colours appear to be backwards, with Najmah having the day-colour (and the colour given to Siraaj in the cosmology map), and Siraaj having the night-colour (and the colour given to Najmah in the cosmology map). Is this deliberate?

Also...

devas, genies, & devils found themselves outnumbered by the demons

There are three races here.

Zihaja acceded to their needs & created the Three Terraces, where the outsider races could bid for appropriate mortal souls.

I already know the First Terrace is the Devils, and the Third Terrace is the Devas, so that makes the shattered Second Terrace the genies? Shattered by the Pactspell (or Zihaja's retribution for it)?

[AlmostSkillfull]

Does anyone know where in the previous discussion threads I can find some maps? Im trying to plot out what I want to do next in campaign but I can only vaguely remember what everything looks like.