Mirror Hall

In the Kingdom of Korvar, roughly 75% of the citizens live beneath the earth in order to seek shelter from the desert heat. In order to support agriculture and general health, enormous mirrors were built and set up in Mirror Halls which channeled surface sunlight down into the vast underground cities. Thrice a day: at 6 am, 12 noon, and 6 pm, a bell tolls and the Mirror Guard pull cords which shift the giant mirrors into different configurations in order to optimally channel the sunlight based on the sun’s shifting position.

For this soundscape, I wanted to achieve a few effects:

  • an echoing cavern inhabited by people
  • a distant bell
  • the giant mirrors grinding and shifting into position
  • the gears, springs, and various mechanisms that lock the mirrors in position

I didn’t want to download any sounds, so all the sounds in this clip were recorded by me, using my handphone.

Crowd

I actually recorded the crowd sounds last semester, for the final 4D film project. I decided to reuse the clip as it had a nice mix of background chatter and non-distinct foreground chatter. I added some audio panning to add a bit of variety, and then added a second non-panning reverb to give the impression of distance and cavernous expanse. I also recorded a backdrop of my fan buzzing and doing its thing, then put it into Audacity with the Wahwah filter in order to create the impression of channeled drafts of wind through the enormous caverns.

Bell

For the bell, I was trying to look for something that could give a resonant metallic tone. So I used anything metal that I could find in my hall room. The result: clothes hanger on towel rack.


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I then pitched it down, added echoes, reverbs, and gave it its own backup reverb track. Really sounds like a big bell now.

Mirrors

For the shifting mirrors, I wanted the sound of giant slabs moving, as well as the sound of slightly rusted ropes grinding through gears and pulley systems. For that, I used the grainy texture of my hall desk, and the plastic edge of my charging cable. Pitch and reverb. Everything is pitch and reverb.

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Machines

Only two sounds were actually employed: the sound of my door lock, and the sound of the door latch. The latch produced a sharp, springing sound, while the lock produced a grinding shifting sound. The latch sound was therefore used for the sounds of the mirrors clicking into place, while the lock was used for the intermediate sounds of grinding up into position. Of course, that was after the mandatory echo/reverb/pitch pass.

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As previously established, Korvar has very little by way of law enforcement, and most of the kingdom exists in a sort of perpetual anarchy. However, the laws still exist, and a few are actually enforced.

1.1- No civilian is permitted to bear firearms.

Civilians found possessing firearms are required to immediately surrender the weapon and pay a hefty fine to the crown, or else be detained and tried. Depending on the outcome of the trial, the offender may either serve a jail term or be executed. If the civilian in question returns the weapon to the crown of their own volition, and no other firearms are found in their possession later, they will not receive any punishment.

1.2 – Only the Royal Guard and the Mirror Guard, and the Imperial Army, may bear firearms.

Members of these groups are therefore responsible for the ownership of their firearms, and any found to have sold, traded, or misplaced their weapon will be summarily fined, fired, have all rights and privileges revoked, stripped of rank, and blacklisted. The law has only been recently amended, where before the amendment offenders were executed via guillotine, and before that, by being flayed then burnt alive.

1.3 – Exceptionally long blades also constitute as weapons, and civilian ownership is prohibited.

This is a law rarely enforced, as different regions have different cultural standards for ‘exceptionally long’, and the law books offer no further clarification or specifics on the acceptable range of lengths for blades. Most regions have come to the general consensus that blades north of one meter are probably too long, however.

2 – Defacing or damaging public utilities, such as the Mirror Halls and wells, is prohibited.

The Mirror Halls serve to provide the underground with light. Damaging or obscuring any of the mirrors deprives large sections of the underground from receiving sunlight, and offenders caught will be arrested and subject to whipping once a week for the duration of their incarceration. If the mirrors are damaged beyond repair, the offender will by executed at the guillotine. Children are not exempt. The law is not as strict regarding the wells: vandals of the wells do not face the threat of execution.

3 – All civilians must pay an annual tax to the crown.

For the upkeep of the above mentioned public utilities and salaries of the guards. The Guard rarely has to involve themselves in the enforcement of this law. Most citizens are quite compliant, and offenders are usually punished by their own communities. Tax-avoidant communities, or tribes, do exist. Most times, other tribes will refuse to associate or trade with them, otherwise organised raids will be led against them as ‘acceptable targets’. They rarely last long.

Korvarrin architecture typically comes in two flavours: the flat style, and the tall style. Although as with many things, there are other styles and fusions of styles that exist.

Flat Style

Also known as the slum style, this simple style is characterised as a cuboid shape, with flat walls and mostly flat, gently sloping roofs, with anywhere between one to four floors. As a style developed on the hot surface, the roofs have barriers with small gutters at the corners. This allows rain water to accumulate on the roofs and slowly run off, cooling down the building below.

The windows are typically unadorned from the outside, occasionally they will sport thin slats that curve out and away from the window, redirecting the rainwater away from the window opening. Flat, smooth walls with hardly any form of protruding ornamentation means nothing gets blown off or torn down when the worst of the desert winds hit.

The walls are usually made of mud, and occasionally surrounding plants will grow up and into the walls. This is usually allowed as plants help further cool the house and, if they flower, can provide food in the form of fruits, although people might choose to uproot them if the roots threaten to break the integrity of the walls. A small step is always built under the door, elevating the entrance slightly above ground, to prevent flooding during the rainy season.

This style is also known as the slum style as it was imported to the underground by surface-dwellers moving underground in a second wave of ‘immigration’. This second wave was larger than the first, and many settled in extremely crowded communes. The poverty and desperation of these communes became associated with the architecture, and even if many buildings in the underground now use the flat style, the nickname of ‘slum’ style has stuck till this day.

Flat

Tall Style

The tall style was a style that is said to date back to the Time of the Old Sea, where it was employed widely on the surface. For the reason it has earned the alternate moniker of ‘old’ style. The older, grander, and more spacious parts of the underground are filled with buildings in this style.

With sharp, steeply sloping, concave roofs, this style is designed to let water run off as swiftly and easily as possible. Although it doesn’t rain underground, the earth absorbs the massive amounts of rain water that falls on the surface during the rainy season and empties itself out slowly over time into the underground below as dripping water. Roofs on lower levels are also usually equipped with a gently sloping gutter running along the outer edge which helps channel away water to the drainage system.

This style is tall, skinny, and round, and range anywhere between two to seven floors tall. The reason why the taller buildings can support so much weight is because they are typically built into the side of the underground caverns, sometimes from the very same mud and earth, making distinguishing the natural mud walls from the constructed earthen walls of the building from the outside an impossible task. Round arched windows and doorways littering the walls also serve to lighten the walls and support the upper levels.

Some of the newer buildings in the old sections of the underground show fusions between the tall and flat styles, where side rooms and storage spaces have adopted the flat style’s boxy shape, or have circular rooms with flat roofs.

Tall

Most Korvarrin buildings are adorned with icons of the High Ones, usually in the form of painting or relief carving. Even if the inhabitants of the buildings themselves are not Dracoists, the builders might have been, or the architects, or maybe they just accepted it as a part of Korvarrin visual culture. Two dragons facing each other is usually a depiction of Korthet and Varros, a single dragon with large twisting horns is Venya, and a single dragon with six wavy horns is Tod. The depictions can be extremely elaborate, with individual scales meticulously detailed, though just as often, the icons are simplified to the point where they are a simple series of abstract swirls.

 

 

 

[For clarification, your characters are very young: roughly 13-16 years old.]

The scorching heat tingles on your skin even through your robes, and your wide hoods can scarcely keep out the glare of the sun. Behind your scarves, the air has become damp and hot, but to remove the scarves would be to expose yourself to the billowing clouds of salt in the wind.

It’s been a day since you left the orphanage in search of a means to repair the Generator, and the journey has not been easy, though not treacherous. As you left you’d heard the panicked sounds of the caretakers discovering your absence, but no one came running after you. It is disheartening, in a way, but one less mouth to feed is one less mouth to feed. And as your throats run dry and scratchy, you think you can understand that sentiment, at least a little.

Still though, the dryness of your throats is beginning to prove concerning. Dehydration and heat strokes are very real concerns out here on the vast sun-mirror of the salt flats. You do have several full water bladders, but it would be best if you didn’t exhaust it all so quickly. After all, who knows how long your journey might be? And then there is the matter of not actually knowing where you’re going…

And what luck! In the distance, you espy a trundling caravan surrounded by people, walking slowly. What will you do?

Previously…

“For now, we have built some back up generators. But as you have already seen, they are nowhere nearly as effective as the Generator, and they consume fuel at an alarming rate. These back ups may last us a few months, but no more. Beyond that, we must adapt to this heat, or perish.”

A heavy sense of despair and fear settles over you, for you know that there are many younger ones in the orphanage who could not hope to survive the full onslaught of Korvarrin heat, and just as many who would freeze to death without the cooling systems’ insulating functions when night falls. Perhaps Lou was right, it would be folly to give up hope so quickly without at least seeing for yourself if there was something, anything at all, in your power to do.

Beneath your feet, underground, the ever-present hum of the Generator is conspicuously absent.


Aylon turned to look down the right-hand corridor where he had seen Lou go, and his face hardens.

“Well if we have to stay here, then we have to fix the Generator don’t we? C’mon Ek!” the bigger boy beams at the other, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the corridor.

They followed the long corridor as it winds down underground, the lamps lining the walls flickering weakly as the Generator’s power failed. Soon, they were feeling their way along the walls in the dark, taking care not to step and stumble on each other’s cloaks. So accustomed to the dark of the corridor they became, that when it at last widened into the chamber housing the Generator, they both cried out in surprise and pain at the dim light.

Blinking the stars from their eyes, Aylon recovered first, and noticed a motionless dark lump on the ground.

“It’s Lou!” He cried, rushing forward to check on the man.

Ektor on the other hand, was distracted by a large imposing structure. It pulsed with a weak, red glow, a muted hum vibrating the ground beneath his feet. There it was. The Generator.

“He’s alive,” Aylon concluded with some relief, “but I think he’s burnt? See the marks on his hands.”

Ektor inspected the scene, and discovered an open panel in the Generator. Within, he could see a strange red crystal, larger than he was tall. As he approached, he could feel the heat radiating from it, but occasionally it would fade to a duller red, and then the air would feel cold in the absence of its pulsing heat.

“This must be what powers the Generator,” said Ektor, “And Lou must have touched it, thinking to inspect or replace it somehow, and it burned him.”

“Then it is dangerous!” cried Aylon

“It’s just out of power,” is Ektor’s ponderous response, “If we found a new one, we’d be fine.”

Mind made up, Ektor returns to his rooms and begins gathering his things. Aylon chased after him, hovering worriedly at his elbow and attempting to dissuade him.

“Hey, we’re just kids! Did you see what it did to Lou? We’ve never even left this place before!”

“Aylon, someone has to do something,” Ektor sighed, pack full and heart set, “Besides… No one needs me here. You can stay here, Aylon. You have friends here.”

Aylon blinked, startled by the sadness and loneliness in Ektor’s voice. All at once, his hesitance was banished.

“I’m coming with you.”

Korvar is a fractured land, infamous among its neighbours for its ludicrous weather and lawlessness. There is no one true higher authority the people submit to, and the political system could be considered tribal, perhaps even anarchic, despite the land’s official standing as a Kingdom. Some of the greatest concentrations of power are listed below

Religion

The main, officially recognised religion in Korvar is the worship of the ancient High Ones, powerful beasts that both personified and commanded the elements. This is known as Dracoism, and the followers are known as Dracoists. However, to presuppose that it is a unified religion is both naïve and blatantly incorrect.

There are three main denominations, or sects, of Dracoism. The unifying text for all three denominations can be found here, although each sect has its own alterations, interpretations, and further texts.

  • Korvarrans: The earliest recorded sect of Dracoism is Korvarran Dracoism, which had its roots in this land, ultimately named Korvar. The Kovarrans posit that the High Ones Korthet and Varros had a pure and kind love, and that all of dragonkind loved their child Venya despite her destructive tendencies because she was a good and kind High One whose waters brought life and growth to all. They also posit that Tod, if he ever was good before, became corrupted by jealousy and hate. Korvarrans believe that Tod is now the only High One presiding over the holy land of Kor and Var, and that his hate and fire is killing the land. They believe that constant prayer and ritual ceremonies done to honour Kor and Var will eventually release them from their entombment in the northern Verothet Mountains, and they will return in triumph over Tod. They will then rule over mankind as benevolent parental figures, and they -and all their revered dragon servants- will treat their faithful with as much love as they once did their child Venya, restoring eternal life and vitality to all their new children as Venya was once lively and vigorous herself.
  • Venyans: The second most prominent sect is Venyan Dracoism. Much like the Korvarrans, they believe that Tod has grown sick and corrupt with hate, and that Kor’s and Var’s holy family is now the only one remaining of the dragons that yet bears love for the humans. Unlike Korvarrans however, Venyan priests believe that the ultimate life-giver, and the true innocent, is Venya, the Child of Water herself. They believe that Venya is the one true High One, meant to eventually conquer the other three and grow into her rightful throne and title of Lady of Water and Queen of the High Ones. They believe in the coming of the Second Great Sea, when Venya will exit her long rest (or rise from the dead, depending on the translation), flood and purge the land of evil, and eventually reign supreme. Some more active Venyans constantly try to dig deeper into the earth or otherwise discover new wells and springs, in the hope of finding the source that will one day trigger the flood to begin the Second Great Sea.
  • Tottans: The third most prominent sect is actually rather unpopular and generally treated with much mockery and spite in most popular culture, although they are a sizable minority of Dracoists. Tottans believe that Tod is and always was a good and kind High One, genuinely invested in humanity’s wellbeing. They believe that while Tod’s rage was horrifying, it was justified, and that he is still searching for the wicked and the dishonest amongst mankind to remove them, and only by converting all of humanity to good and honest lives will Tod finally rest. Tottans believe that Tod is a fair and just deity who will punish or reward all their due in his afterworld as the Master of Death, whereas Korvarrans and Venyans believe that Tod either stores souls in an eternity of frightening nothingness only to resurrect them as dracolich servants, or that there is simply nothing after death.

Of course, these are simply the three largest and most prominent sects of Dracoism. Many other smaller sects exist, and even within the three main sects disagreements frequently arise regarding the correct interpretation of their texts and the correct ways to worship and so on. Other religions also exist, though these are called cults and are not officially recognised by the state. And then there are of course atheists and lay Dracoists and other lay religious persons. For these reasons, religious authorities such as monks and priests do tend to have greater authority than the common man.

Korvar holds historical significance as the location of the seat of the old High Ones, the location of the Old Sea, and one of the countries on the border of which the Verothet Mountains sit. For this reason Korvar attracts regional tourism mainly of the religious pilgrimage variety. However, Korvar’s harsh, uninhabitable terrain quickly thwarts the ill-prepared and wears on the weak of will. Most Korvarran pilgrims take to becoming mountain climbers, trying their best to survive the wildly fluctuating and treacherous wilderness around and near the Verothet Mountains. Venyans will seek out subterranean dig sites to visit blessed and ordained ‘holy wells’. Tottans will become wandering nomads, braving Korvar’s harsh lands, winds, and dirt, in their search for Tod’s true lair.

Monarchy

The Korvarrin (not to be confused with ‘Korvarran’, many foreigners make the mistake of using the terms interchangeably) royal family is the Yarronacht family which has been ruling since hundreds of years ago. Prior to them were the Elogmyr and Vereye families, neither of whom lasted very long due to the intense political backstabbings, plots, and counter plots going on at the time. By ‘not very long’, one should not assume that they had only ten years on the throne each. No, the Elogmyr and Vereye families were bitter rivals that fought for the throne for generations, and their total reigns combined lasted a good five human lifetimes.

The Elogmyr and Vereye reigns were characterised by a long spell of prosperity, richness, and excess. Trade flourished, technology and art was steamrolling forward, and Korvar was a tourist hotspot. As resources were depleted and the land grew hotter and hotter, the weaknesses of the Vereye (the family on the throne at the time) reign became more and more apparent. The Elogmyr family rallied the army and staged a coup d’etat and crushed the Vereye family and their personal guard. However, before the Elogmyr could assume the throne, the Porvissian general, Yun Yarronacht, stormed the severely weakened country and utterly destroyed the Elogmyr. Thus began the reign of the Yarronachts.

Despite being Porvissian, Yun had no interest in conquering Korvar for Porvist. As Korvar had already begun showing signs of worrying decline at the time, the King of Porvist permitted Yun to crown himself King of Korvar and run the kingdom independent of Porvist, provided they remained non-hostile and open to trade. To this day, Porvists still view Korvarrins as stupid and of lower class, and take a very elitist stance against them, no matter if they are merely tourists on Korvarrin soil. Many richer or better educated Korvarrins also adopt Porvissian accents, to varying degrees of success. The retreat of at least 75% of Korvar to the sheltering coolness of the underground to escape the ever-climbing surface heat have certainly not helped elevate their social status relative to Porvissians in any way.

The current king has very limited ability to directly affect his country. This is due to a combination of depleted natural resources, limited and poorly educated manpower, the sheer size of the country, an inefficient bureaucracy, low national funds, and because the king simply doesn’t care all that much. Possibly the only reason why the people haven’t risen up as an angry mob and rebelled is simply because they have formed many self-governing unofficial ‘tribes’, a phenomenon which the king has no interest in regulating or disbanding.

Tribes and Crime:

People dissatisfied with their current tribes are usually free to remove themselves and to seek out other tribes. Naturally, gang violence and border conflicts have erupted all over the nation, earning Korvar its ‘lawless’ reputation. None of these conflicts have ever really escalated too greatly however, as an ever-present scarcity plagues any ‘army’ that attempts to form, and many quickly disband or lose members due to their need to take care of more pressing basic needs such as their health. Not to mention that one of the earliest things Yun Yarronacht did as king was to prohibit civilians from bearing arms, a law which remains in effect to this day. Guns and ammunition are simply far too expensive and difficult to obtain or create for any civilian army. If they do bear weapons, expect them to be wielding knives and daggers.

Mirror Guard:

Korvar is not entirely weaponless though, the weapons are simply manufactured in an extremely small quantity for a group of guards called the Mirror Guard. Initially a small arm of the much larger Imperial Army, the Mirror Guard was formed to protect and maintain the large mirror halls scattered over the underground of Korvar. By making sure that the mirrors remained in position, clean, whole, and free of vandalism, the Mirror Guard would ensure that the vast underground cities of Korvar would still be able to receive sunlight from the surface. The Mirror Guard also defends the wells and springs that provide water for the people, though their role in this regard has dwindled greatly as more springs are found than Guards can be recruited. The increasing poverty also means many mirror halls have no Guards to attend to them, and have collapsed into disrepair, and their associated sections of the country plunged into darkness, leading to mass exoduses.

The Mirror Guard bows to the authority of the Imperial Guard, the king’s personal army, many of whom are descendant of early Porvissian nobles and immigrants. Members of the Mirror Guard discovered to have neglected their duty, sabotaged the mirrors, or had their weapons sold/stolen/lost would be immediately expelled from the ranks (the older punishment was execution, but that was outlawed some eighty years ago). Thus neither the Mirror nor Imperial Guard has ever really attempted to rebel either, simply because they get paid decently well, are widely respected, and losing their position if caught is swift. Civilians pay a small tax for the public service that the Guards perform, and have been largely satisfied with doing so, with tax evaders being punished by their own community.

Money

As it is in most cases, the daring and clever, in positions to amass and protect personal wealth, tend to get ahead in life. Many achieve this by frequently leaving to trade with Porvist. These people usually set themselves up as wholesalers back in Korvar, providing for their neighbours, if they don’t outright apply for Porvissian citizenship and leave. The greatest commodities in Korvar are typically meats of herd or forest animals, fuel such as firewood and charcoal, and metal tools. Despite living underground and so near the earth, Korvarrin earth is unfortunately almost void of workable metal ores. Scrap metal from old constructs, left behind from the old days of plenty, can rarely be used without adequate fuel to melt them down into a reworkable form.

“The old texts tell us of the Time of the Old Sea, a time when most of the lands of Korvar, which in those days was nothing more than a collection of warring tribes, was covered by a vast body of water.

Back then humans lived among the great beings known to us as Dragons. The four greatest of these are called the High Ones: Korthet, Lady of the Land, is who the Kingdom of Korvar is named for. The second is Varros, Lord of Winds, who is also honoured in the name of the Kingdom. Venya, Child of Water, is the child of Korthet and Tod, Master of Fire and Death.

All the Dragons are said to have adored the child Venya, and so she was given free reign over the lands, playing gaily in the vast waters. Her games both delighted and distressed the humans, for though she was sweet and cheerful, she was mightier than the strongest man with the carelessness of a child. She would drag whole ships under the Sea, her dances caused whirlpools and storms, and sometimes she would venture into her mother’s lands, flooding whole villages.

Her father, Tod, was then busy with rescuing the drowning humans, for it was not yet their time to die. He also gave them fire and heat to stay warm and dry during his daughter’s wild storms, for he was compassionate and kind. He too, was frequently distressed by his daughter, and did not love her as the other Dragons did.

It was after one particularly devastating storm that a young kingdom was nearly wiped out. Although no one died, their houses and crops were destroyed. Furious, the human king gathered some men and rode off to demand an audience with Korthet, intending to have her intervene and stop her daughter’s mayhem.

When the humans reached Korthet’s abode however, they found her entwined in passion with Varros. Varros’ skin, they noticed, was the same blue as Venya’s, where Korthet’s was green and Tod’s was red. Quickly, the humans fled to Tod with the news of his wife’s betrayal.

When Tod learnt of this, he was furious. He cried out in anger and rained fire upon all the tribes in the land, burning away the sea. He eventually found Venya, who was frightened and confused, for she knew nothing of her true parentage. But Tod, overcome with rage and cruelty, saw only her blue skin and his wife’s infidelity, and struck her down.

Tod then searched for Varros, and prepared to burn him to death. But Korthet saw this, and threw herself between her husband and lover, and was scorched by Tod’s fire in Varros’ place. She begged for Varros to be spared, and submitted herself to Tod’s mercy.

But the reason Korthet’s betrayal had pained Tod so was because he had loved her dearly. Unable to bring himself to kill his wife, Tod banished her and her lover into the mountains, where they and their followers are said to remain to this day. Now Tod and his Dragons are the only ones to rule over land, his heat burning the earth, for his bitterness has eroded away his compassion.

It is also said that every year, on the anniversary of Venya’s death, Korthet and Varros mourn her. Their sorrow and tears are so great that it spreads from the mountains into the land like a great storm, flooding the land briefly in remembrance of the Old Sea.” 


 

Korvar is a dry, hot salt flat, and is all that remains of a vast lake, known to locals as the Old Sea. The salt of the ground reflects the sunlight as a blinding white, which makes it look like snow, except that it’s scorching hot. At night, the ground loses heat quickly, making the air easily drop to near freezing temperatures. Occasional dust storms are also to be expected. Hence most locals live in mud-brick houses, although some nomadic tribes use canvas tents.

Vegetation is extremely scarce, and the wildlife largely constitutes of lizards, scorpians, and burrowing shrews. The mountains to the north block the progression of rain clouds, hence the scarcity of rain, though some moisture does make it across as a light fog or mist. During the rainy season however, great storms quickly flood lower-lying areas, and the winds knock less stable structures over. It is this rain which sustains the hardy wildlife in the Kingdom.

Scattered on the landscape, evidence of the Old Sea remains in the form of brittle coral skeletons and the dark, looming husks of old shipwrecks. When travelling over land, travellers are advised to be especially wary of two things. First, the flatness of the land is deceptive, many places exist where the top layer is so loosely compacted that stepping onto it means getting sucked into veritable quicksand as the salt rapidly gives way under your weight. Second, the echoing roars one occasionally hears suggest the existence of giant beasts, and it’s probably in a traveller’s best interests to not discover what’s making those sounds.

The remnants of the lake exists as a large muddy bog to the south of the Kingdom, straddling the border of Korvar and Porvist, a veritable no-man’s land. Porvist shares much of Korvar’s western and southern borders, and these are porous borders where people are, for the most part, not restricted from crossing. The bog is similarly unregulated, although anyone attempting to set up a commercial venture there should expect to face persecution by both Kingdoms. That is why the bog, although relatively resource-rich compared to the dry salt flats of Korvar, remain unexploited.

To the north, a range of ice-capped mountains define Korvar’s northern border. The mountains are shrouded in mystery, and no one has any conclusive evidence of what it’s like there. The locals reverently called them the Verothet Mountains, after two deities of their local religion who are said to dwell there.

Mealtime, for the most part, was a dull affair.

The children sit at long tables and are made to say a unified word of thanks (which generally tends to end up sounding like a dull droning chant most times), before the older children would cart out bowls filled with the dubiously-coloured gruel of the day. Then they would dig in, chatter aimlessly among themselves, and when the meal was done, the younger children would stack the bowls and cart them back to the kitchens. Another word of thanks would be said, then the head matron would release everyone back to being rascals.

Today, in spite of the curiously stale air, everything seemed par for the course.

“…ight be too risky, Mother Emelda?” despite the din of the lunching crowd, snippets of an odd conversation reach the ears of two orphan boys.

The great hulking figure of Mother Emelda seems to fold in on itself as she sighs, “it’s all we have, Lou. What would you suggest?”

Lou, the mousy young caretaker with a curious problem pronouncing his ‘r’s, wrings his hands, “but that backup might work for two months, three, at best! What will we do after that?”

“The Generator is as old as the foundations of this refuge, in which it resides, said to have been built by the High Ones themselves in the Time of the Old Sea. Not even the Old Supply Man could hope to understand its workings. Only a miracle, Highnesses granting, could restore the artifact.”

“We could move!” Lou tithers desperately, following the head matron out of the room, “surely the subterraneans…”

The rest of the conversation is lost to you.

Chap1

[Text in square brackets, like these, will be our form of OOC communication.
As you did not assign yourselves names in the previous comments you can pick from these (or come up with something that sounds similarly lore-appropriate): Yun, Aysac, Aylon, Vorn, Vanya, Ektor, Evka]

The two main protagonists live in a rundown, overland orphanage. It is small and overfull, the children are rowdy and the caretakers are overworked. The crummy little building is three storeys tall, and sits near the border of the nation of Korvar and Korvar’s key (though hostile) trading partner Porvist. Isolated from most major city centres, supplies are brought in to the orphanage once a week by a bedraggled old man. Rusty brass-coloured pipes line almost all the interior walls, bringing water and power to the plumbing and appliances.

The sweltering Korvarran heat is made more bearable by the complex cooling systems and mud walls of the orphanage, which doubles for warming the building in the freezing desert nights. No one is really sure how it works, but it’s been running for as long as the building has stood, dating back to even before the birth of the Old Supply Man.

[Please create your characters:

  • they are human (please provide a brief description of their build, hair/eye colours, and sex/gender)
  • they can be either caretaker or orphan

Please also allocate your attribute points.]