Psychedelic sword and sorcery setting. A world ruled by a flying matriarchal species in the midst of a paradigm shift.
The dominant species of this world are the Lamia, an all-female* chimeric species granted the power of flight by their matriarch, the Shining Mother Gamayun. They depend on humans for reproduction, acquiring young children who transform into Lamia during puberty, or less frequently consorting with adults for sexual reproduction. For this reason they tolerate human civilization on the earth, although humans are banned from the seas or skies. Children are sometimes bought or stolen, but most are acquired through coercion. Entire cultures have been domesticated; rendered dependent on and indoctrinated in fealty to the Lamia.
* Although the Lamia are biologically all female, they express gender multidimensionally.
Lamian society values art and aesthetics above all else. Their markets are a quasi-capitalist system of performance, nest crafting, singing, collecting, and patronage. The closest equivalent they have to coin are Shinies, which were originally shining objects, but the word has since evolved to refer to a variety of rare and beautiful objects.
Shining Mother Gamayun, the Lamian Matriarch, spends most of her time in the sound baths of the Crystal Moon, transmitting the Lunar Songs through moon beams which the Lamia record through their various Shinies. The recordings of the Lunar Songs combine elements of tabular data and cultural mnemonics and serve as muse and oracle and fuel; the source of Lamian arts and crafts, divine providence, the luster of Shinies, and tactical acumen in their skirmishes against the human civilizations.
Lamian aeries are discorporated over vast swathes of land and sea; atop treacherous mountains, remote islands, forest and jungle treetops. Through the flight granted by Gamayun and the power of Shinies, there are fewer barriers to transit, so Lamian aeries are less so defined by geography, walls, structures, and borders, and instead more by flocks and migration patterns. Their domain sits atop that of human civilizations, they largely don't need to compete, and anyway the Lamia don't see it as much of a competition; they literally reign over humanity, to observe and strike freely; human armies cut down before they can even train and organize a contingent of archers large enough to pose a threat.
The Lamia see humans as stupid and brutish and ugly, they lack art or soul, they do not Shine. They are disgusting but must be tolerated, they serve a necessary role in the Lunar Songs.
Only recently have the Lamia faced serious threat from humans. A man stole the Love of a Lamian High Witch. He flew the stars upon her back, and when he was done with her he slew her on an alien world and traded her Love for Shinies which he shrewdly invested. His return was on the backs of monsters in his employ, across Dreamland roads paved over dead dreams, lit day through night with Miracle Gold harvested from stars in the state of Being and Becoming. The man, now called Immortal God King Gilgamesh, built the Uruk Empire with the Miracle Gold, a substance like the Philosopher Stone of ancient myth. It generates warmth and light and genius, it sterilizes germs and cures illnesses, and channels aether and lightning to power newly developing machines used as tools, vehicles, and weapons. The Lamia are as vulnerable to Miracle Gold as are the Fey to Cold Iron or Werewolves and other Night Creatures to Silver.
The dominant species of this world are the Lamia, an all-female* chimeric species granted the power of flight by their matriarch, the Shining Mother Gamayun. They depend on humans for reproduction, acquiring young children who transform into Lamia during puberty, or less frequently consorting with adults for sexual reproduction. For this reason they tolerate human civilization on the earth, although humans are banned from the seas or skies. Children are sometimes bought or stolen, but most are acquired through coercion. Entire cultures have been domesticated; rendered dependent on and indoctrinated in fealty to the Lamia.
* Although the Lamia are biologically all female, they express gender multidimensionally.
Lamian society values art and aesthetics above all else. Their markets are a quasi-capitalist system of performance, nest crafting, singing, collecting, and patronage. The closest equivalent they have to coin are Shinies, which were originally shining objects, but the word has since evolved to refer to a variety of rare and beautiful objects.
Shining Mother Gamayun, the Lamian Matriarch, spends most of her time in the sound baths of the Crystal Moon, transmitting the Lunar Songs through moon beams which the Lamia record through their various Shinies. The recordings of the Lunar Songs combine elements of tabular data and cultural mnemonics and serve as muse and oracle and fuel; the source of Lamian arts and crafts, divine providence, the luster of Shinies, and tactical acumen in their skirmishes against the human civilizations.
Lamian aeries are discorporated over vast swathes of land and sea; atop treacherous mountains, remote islands, forest and jungle treetops. Through the flight granted by Gamayun and the power of Shinies, there are fewer barriers to transit, so Lamian aeries are less so defined by geography, walls, structures, and borders, and instead more by flocks and migration patterns. Their domain sits atop that of human civilizations, they largely don't need to compete, and anyway the Lamia don't see it as much of a competition; they literally reign over humanity, to observe and strike freely; human armies cut down before they can even train and organize a contingent of archers large enough to pose a threat.
The Lamia see humans as stupid and brutish and ugly, they lack art or soul, they do not Shine. They are disgusting but must be tolerated, they serve a necessary role in the Lunar Songs.
Only recently have the Lamia faced serious threat from humans. A man stole the Love of a Lamian High Witch. He flew the stars upon her back, and when he was done with her he slew her on an alien world and traded her Love for Shinies which he shrewdly invested. His return was on the backs of monsters in his employ, across Dreamland roads paved over dead dreams, lit day through night with Miracle Gold harvested from stars in the state of Being and Becoming. The man, now called Immortal God King Gilgamesh, built the Uruk Empire with the Miracle Gold, a substance like the Philosopher Stone of ancient myth. It generates warmth and light and genius, it sterilizes germs and cures illnesses, and channels aether and lightning to power newly developing machines used as tools, vehicles, and weapons. The Lamia are as vulnerable to Miracle Gold as are the Fey to Cold Iron or Werewolves and other Night Creatures to Silver.
 |
| A representation of Shining Mother Gamayun |
A game in this setting would likely be human PCs who are citizens of or otherwise involved with the Uruk Empire. I implied at the end that there are other species in this setting like Fey and Werewolves and other Night Creatures, so those could be expanded upon.
PCs could get up to regular D&D or Sword & Sorcery shenanigans, and there could be various political machinations and grander conflicts between the Shining Mother Gamayun's Aerie and Immortal God King Gilgamesh's Uruk Empire.
It's also mentioned that the Lamia are capable of traveling the stars, and that there are alien worlds with intelligent life, and a Dreamland, so there's room for scifi and science fantasy and cosmic horror.
I also intentionally reused concepts and characters from real mythology and prehistory, so this could be an alternate universe or a far future or an ancient past or a Dreamland in itself.
I would like to add at least one more major Lamian character or faction, something like an Evil Witch or Hermit Witch, and another human civilization besides the Uruk Empire.
I could also provide some examples of Shinies or Lamian spells from the Lunar Song or the machines and weapons created with Miracle Gold, but I'm not really trying to do anything too fancy with that, it can just be regular D&D magics. I guess I see the Miracle Gold stuff as Da Vincian but they can be steampunk or whatever else you want.
Shinies could work as currency, but it shouldn't be 1:1 with gold, it should be mechanically distinct, leaning into ideas around Art and Adventure. It would take inspiration from theories presented in Graebor and Wengrow's Dawn of Everything and Prum's The Evolution of Beauty.
I really like the feel of this and how you used these different mythological themes and ideas but with a little bit of a weird fiction/sci-fi twist. You mentioned this connection but Humans as day folk and fey as night folk is definitely an idea I enjoy and worked with a lot for my Weird Wanderings game
ReplyDeleteI haven't thought too far ahead yet with the day folk / night folk stuff, I just knew that I didn't necessarily want it to be ONLY humans and lamia, but ya I wanted it to be something like, there's still room for kitchen sink fantasy, but it also has this specific twist to it. Glad you liked it!
Delete