I know life is pretty chaotic for the time being, at least here in the US but likely much of the world on top of the US. Stay safe and be well!

You might want to know that California(the State with the flag of a Bear) is currently under chaos.

Anyways woo more NSFW stuff.

kts said:
You might want to know that California(the State with the flag of a Bear) is currently under chaos.

Anyways woo more NSFW stuff.

Yeeeup

Fishing is a cause of quite a few folks getting prosthetics even in our modern society. Boats, lines and waves have a nasty habit of putting shearing force with a lot of mass behind it suddenly onto limbs.

I have to admit, I find it curious that with all the mana and other bronze-tech about, Lorrel doesn't even have something as simple as hooks. Or maybe he isn't wearing them right now. They were certainly extant as far back as Rome, and other forms of simple/cosmetic prosthetics go back even further than that to ancient Egypt, at the least. The middle ages saw a number of complex 'Eisenfausts' (iron fists) among mercenaries, some of which were articulated and lockable so that they could be used to grasp a shield or reins reliably but then released when necessary (although there is at least one famous story of a fellow with a quite complex one who was killed when he couldn't release it from a siege ladder...The fact he could use it to haul his ass UP a siege ladder in half-plate is impressive, even if the mechanism failed toward the end).

Sorry, just a thing I've thought about on occasional authorial forays. Prostheses can be effective without having much technology to them in keeping a member of a society 'active' and 'involved.'

Not that Lorrel seems to feel unwelcome or incapable!

Best luck on the job front; these are tough times for that (not that there were ever GOOD times for that).

shunka_warakin said:
Fishing is a cause of quite a few folks getting prosthetics even in our modern society. Boats, lines and waves have a nasty habit of putting shearing force with a lot of mass behind it suddenly onto limbs.

I have to admit, I find it curious that with all the mana and other bronze-tech about, Lorrel doesn't even have something as simple as hooks. Or maybe he isn't wearing them right now. They were certainly extant as far back as Rome, and other forms of simple/cosmetic prosthetics go back even further than that to ancient Egypt, at the least. The middle ages saw a number of complex 'Eisenfausts' (iron fists) among mercenaries, some of which were articulated and lockable so that they could be used to grasp a shield or reins reliably but then released when necessary (although there is at least one famous story of a fellow with a quite complex one who was killed when he couldn't release it from a siege ladder...The fact he could use it to haul his ass UP a siege ladder in half-plate is impressive, even if the mechanism failed toward the end).

Sorry, just a thing I've thought about on occasional authorial forays. Prostheses can be effective without having much technology to them in keeping a member of a society 'active' and 'involved.'

Not that Lorrel seems to feel unwelcome or incapable!

Best luck on the job front; these are tough times for that (not that there were ever GOOD times for that).

The issue mostly comes down to the limitations of how drekir in this society and societies well through the consequent "Quiet Age" work metals like copper and bronze, but in this case copper. Its cold hammered, which limits a dreks ability to make things like sockets. Specifically for the Bades (fisherdrakes), they make copper objects but they're mostly decorative rather than utilitarian. Maybe they could make a peg arm with a hook in it! But in this case it just wasn't deemed for or by Lorrel here to be an option.

Even when bronze comes around, if drekir make it by sundering and merging rather than smelting and casting they wind up with a plate that needs to be hammered into a shape, so in many societies that don't melt and cast conventionally even their bronze tools face a similar limitation.

I don't think a medieval, articulateable hand would be on the list of immediate possibilities for drekir. But there are later artifice prosthetics that are constructed like an autonomous artifice but to be piloted by the wearers spirit. Artifice prosthetics don't really show up until the 6000sPA at the earliest as a rare matter, though are ubiquitous by the Thalmvaric age of the 20,000s+ PA. But for these drekir all the way on the other end of the timeline its gong to likely be a simple hook hand or some rudimentary peg arms. Artifice prosthetics on the other hand can almost perfectly replicate the abilities and functions of a limb (Or you know, you can hook a wood drill onto your wrist and spin it with your spirit if you want to, it's a free country)

One of my favorite things I've encountered reading about archaeology are the stories of people who, in spite of their disabilities, were treated well by their societies. The Arabian date girl who, in spite of a crippling birth condition, was treated well, lived a long life and had her teeth rotted away because she was spoiled with Dates. There is also the Hanoi man, a man who had a crippling spinal condition that nonetheless lived pretty far and was buried in a way that is correlated with some degree of prestige. As well as just the amount of bodies with poorly healed bones, evidence chronic degenerative conditions, amputations etc. Folks were understandably very uneager to throw people who were likely loved ones to the side.

So Lorrel is a living example of that, a tragic double amputee who still helps around and is accepted in his den in spite of him missing his hands. He is disabled but he is unquestionably accepted. While communities do need to work to survive, life is more than survival alone, a den is a sort of naturally found family and denmates support denmates.

I came across this author, "miguel_the_divine_dragon", while aimlessly browsing. Do you two know each other?

what885 said:
I came across this author, "miguel_the_divine_dragon", while aimlessly browsing. Do you two know each other?

He came to my server as a fan in the DragonScape and specifically an older minicanon known as the "ADC canon". He's a nice guy, we talk a lot

thepatchedragon said:
The issue mostly comes down to the limitations of how drekir in this society and societies well through the consequent "Quiet Age" work metals like copper and bronze, but in this case copper. Its cold hammered, which limits a dreks ability to make things like sockets. Specifically for the Bades (fisherdrakes), they make copper objects but they're mostly decorative rather than utilitarian. Maybe they could make a peg arm with a hook in it! But in this case it just wasn't deemed for or by Lorrel here to be an option.

Even when bronze comes around, if drekir make it by sundering and merging rather than smelting and casting they wind up with a plate that needs to be hammered into a shape, so in many societies that don't melt and cast conventionally even their bronze tools face a similar limitation.

I don't think a medieval, articulateable hand would be on the list of immediate possibilities for drekir. But there are later artifice prosthetics that are constructed like an autonomous artifice but to be piloted by the wearers spirit. Artifice prosthetics don't really show up until the 6000sPA at the earliest as a rare matter, though are ubiquitous by the Thalmvaric age of the 20,000s+ PA. But for these drekir all the way on the other end of the timeline its gong to likely be a simple hook hand or some rudimentary peg arms. Artifice prosthetics on the other hand can almost perfectly replicate the abilities and functions of a limb (Or you know, you can hook a wood drill onto your wrist and spin it with your spirit if you want to, it's a free country)

One of my favorite things I've encountered reading about archaeology are the stories of people who, in spite of their disabilities, were treated well by their societies. The Arabian date girl who, in spite of a crippling birth condition, was treated well, lived a long life and had her teeth rotted away because she was spoiled with Dates. There is also the Hanoi man, a man who had a crippling spinal condition that nonetheless lived pretty far and was buried in a way that is correlated with some degree of prestige. As well as just the amount of bodies with poorly healed bones, evidence chronic degenerative conditions, amputations etc. Folks were understandably very uneager to throw people who were likely loved ones to the side.

So Lorrel is a living example of that, a tragic double amputee who still helps around and is accepted in his den in spite of him missing his hands. He is disabled but he is unquestionably accepted. While communities do need to work to survive, life is more than survival alone, a den is a sort of naturally found family and denmates support denmates.

Ma'am, this is a Wendy's.

bird-tm said:
Ma'am, this is a Wendy's.

The ramble comes as a part of the Meal Deal

I'd like to know: ① What was the plot like at the very beginning of your work? ❷ What is the plot like now? ❸ And could you briefly explain the content of different storylines? Of course, the level of detail depends on how much you want to share.Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ

what885 said:
I'd like to know: ① What was the plot like at the very beginning of your work? ❷ What is the plot like now? ❸ And could you briefly explain the content of different storylines? Of course, the level of detail depends on how much you want to share.Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ

I don't understand, if you want to know what the plot of the storyline is, then that's what reading the stories is for

If you mean more the setting and canon its changed quite a bit since it started in 2018

In the early state of the canon it was written to be a tabletop rpg style setting, with aesthetics and themes more driven around "Dragunknights fighting evil dragon cults to retake lost cities"

Though as I lost time to actually run TTRPG games as a GM (life, its how it is) The setting slowly shifted more into a pure worldbuilding project and the scope shifted, along with the canon, to the idea of how society would change if the people were broadly forced to start over from scratch against their will. The original form of this take on the canon involved 3000 years passing between the pulse and awakening.It's where a lot of the themes and inspirations around prehistory and ancient history, archaeology, and a more "tribal" (however you wanna cut that) theme to it.

Eventually it briefly shifted back firmly into a post apocalyptic canon that is technically what the 1st chapter of The Long Hike takes place in. Though by chapter 2 the lore had broadly shifted away from that (which leaves chapter 1 looking a bit out of of place sadly) and at this point the setting has been locked in its current canonical state for at least 4 years.

Still post apocalyptic obviously, but a lot less directly so.

thepatchedragon said:
The issue mostly comes down to the limitations of how drekir in this society and societies well through the consequent "Quiet Age" work metals like copper and bronze, but in this case copper. Its cold hammered, which limits a dreks ability to make things like sockets. Specifically for the Bades (fisherdrakes), they make copper objects but they're mostly decorative rather than utilitarian. Maybe they could make a peg arm with a hook in it! But in this case it just wasn't deemed for or by Lorrel here to be an option.

Even when bronze comes around, if drekir make it by sundering and merging rather than smelting and casting they wind up with a plate that needs to be hammered into a shape, so in many societies that don't melt and cast conventionally even their bronze tools face a similar limitation.

I don't think a medieval, articulateable hand would be on the list of immediate possibilities for drekir. But there are later artifice prosthetics that are constructed like an autonomous artifice but to be piloted by the wearers spirit. Artifice prosthetics don't really show up until the 6000sPA at the earliest as a rare matter, though are ubiquitous by the Thalmvaric age of the 20,000s+ PA. But for these drekir all the way on the other end of the timeline its gong to likely be a simple hook hand or some rudimentary peg arms. Artifice prosthetics on the other hand can almost perfectly replicate the abilities and functions of a limb (Or you know, you can hook a wood drill onto your wrist and spin it with your spirit if you want to, it's a free country)

One of my favorite things I've encountered reading about archaeology are the stories of people who, in spite of their disabilities, were treated well by their societies. The Arabian date girl who, in spite of a crippling birth condition, was treated well, lived a long life and had her teeth rotted away because she was spoiled with Dates. There is also the Hanoi man, a man who had a crippling spinal condition that nonetheless lived pretty far and was buried in a way that is correlated with some degree of prestige. As well as just the amount of bodies with poorly healed bones, evidence chronic degenerative conditions, amputations etc. Folks were understandably very uneager to throw people who were likely loved ones to the side.

So Lorrel is a living example of that, a tragic double amputee who still helps around and is accepted in his den in spite of him missing his hands. He is disabled but he is unquestionably accepted. While communities do need to work to survive, life is more than survival alone, a den is a sort of naturally found family and denmates support denmates.

Oh, copper/bronze for the cup would be pretty outrageous as a resource-investment, yes. Traditionally leather, fabric and wood were the most common materials for that sort of thing. And a wooden hook (or even a curved 'spoon' that would allow cradling/lifting things with two of them) would still permit better manipulation than simply a peg. But he's apparently got nothing.

I do take your meaning though, and do find the stories you mentioned (and other such examples) to be a fantastic example of one of the behaviors that we had in the past but that our current society makes more difficult. The ostracization and othering of injured people who can't do 'regular work' is a rather ugly aspect of many modern societies, particularly those that attach 'productivity' to 'value as a person.'