I was just rifling through lots of old google docs in a nostalgic kind of way, and, just in case anyone was interested, this was an idea that floated around for a while last year but got shelved in favour of things of greater priority. It is, however, one of the ideas I was fondest of. Well, that and the characters chatting on twitter and other places outside the game. Oh, and the artifacts (I think about 100 of the 627 planned ones of those are in the encyclopedia now), and the other holiday things we discussed. And the 23 different versions of the giants origin story that are floating around. But apart from THOSE I love THESE. These are good, or at least would have been fun (in my generally very humble opinion)…
THE BOOKSSONG OF SPRIGGAN
Written entirely in verse, this epic poem details the cycle of ages - where each giant comes into ascendancy for a short while, is taken out by their weakness (though not in a violent way, obvs), but the cycles are without beginning or end. The poet’s knowledge of fact is hazy, but their mastery of the rhyming dictionary is great.
Perspective: Spriggot Poet
Worldview: Constant cycle of ages of the giants, non-constant in length, non-linear in order, hierarchy always in flux - more than 11 ages, basically.
THE ANNALS OF ALPH
Written by an Alphibian scholar who is convinced (for logical and rational reasons) that there have been exactly eleven ages, culminating in the last, greatest, age. That of Alph. May introduce possible ideas of time travel between the two.
Perspective: Alphibian male
Worldview: 11 fixed ages (though we are reading this from the 12th). This being written in the11th (and as far as they were concerned) last age.
THE BOOK OF LEM
Written by a devoted Lemmite, wandering supplicant, convinced that there are at least 11 worlds existing at the same time, and that they can be glimpsed, if not reached, from the edges of her own. The Book of Lem attempts to describe the other concurrently existing ten worlds, as well as their own, as she believes Lem sees them (Lem, who can travel to these worlds that she can only conjecture upon).
Perspective: Lemmish Woman
Worldview: Belief in 12 concurrent worlds of fixed edges and age. Limited knowledge beyond that.
THE MYTHS OF ZILLE
The epic folk lore of the Zillots, who writes only from the perspective of Zille's own universe, not aware of the existence of other Giants. Set down by a great storyteller of the Zillot people, with a great tone and a great big beard (probably male. Probably, though you never know) these are a set of short fairy tales that take place on the slopes and in the caves of the Zillot’s world. And nothing else.
Perspective: Zillots (many)
Worldview: Completely oblivious to anything but the Giant Zille, the Zillots, and the confines in which they live.
TIINCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA
The collated efforts of Tii-ite scholars to make locigal sense of the world around them by cataloguing (and numbering, and creating “definitive” creation stories for the objects and things around them. Tii-ites assume there to have always been one age, that of Tii, which has been infinite and superior, but entertain the possibility of visiting ‘alien beings’
Perspective: Tii-ite male/female
Worldview: One superior people, one constant ‘age’ (that of Tii) other shortlived peoples/lessergiants/visiting ‘aliens’ making small contributions.
SONG OF COSMA
Seperated into four quartos, this epic poem was written by the great female epic poet of the Cosmapolitan people, detailing this story: Each of the eleven giants are only some of a race of giants, each occupying one facet of an eleven-sided world. They have been put there by a race of gargantuans, whose favor they curry by tending their flock of even smaller peoples. These smaller, seperate peoples learn to work together in the until they create a plane on which even smaller beings could be brought into life.
Perspective of: Cosmapolitan female
Worldview: The worlds are not time or space delineated, but size-specific, with each new ‘generation’ (over a thousand thousand years or more) creating the next tiny people, and making themselves, in turn, the giants.
HUMBABARIAN FABLES
Basically creation myths, these allegorical tales recall a time when the 11 types of animals, given human qualities, ruled, and battled for superiority
Perspective of: Humbabarian Storyteller (genderless)
Worldview: The world is primarily one of giant animals, and Humbabarians (and other) are simply tiny riders upon their backs.
DRAMATIS FRIENDLY
Mythology detailing the hierarchy of the giants, relationships to one another, with one another, etc, in the social breakdown of the tight unit that once ruled over one unified world, in the before-beforetimes. Could be done as a drama? Greek-like, etc?
Perspective of: Friendly Priest
Worldview: There was once one unified world of ALL the giants that split into 11 separate ones. That was the original set-up.
GRENDALINE ILLUSTRATUS
An entirely illustrated book with no (or no readble) words at all, made up of strange diagrams, figures, maps and (almost) comic book panels.
Perspective of: Grendalinian artist
Worldview: Debatable, though seems to suggest at least somewhat interacting ages/peoples and communication between the giants and the giantlings.
BOOK OF MAB
A record of the first great Mabbite, a devilishly clever trader and traveller, who moved through the lands, tricking the greedy out of their riches and redistributing things to the people by making up giants who, he said, would visit great punishments upon them if they failed to behave well and reward them if they didn't.
Perspective of: Mabbish Male
Worldview: Basically that the giants were a fiction instilled in the minds of people by a Mabbite in the beforetimes, but were essentially a made up thing, a construction of 'glitchanity'. It does mean the Mabbites always come out on top, though.
POT ORACLES
Supposedly transcribed by a ‘Seer’, but written with words being fed to her directly by Pot himself, this is a much disputed version of Pot’s story has him as the overall creator of not only the worlds and everything in them, but of all the other giants (from scratch), from clay, dough, other materials. Commonly considered to be a prank by either Pot or the seer in question, it was never-the-less believed in and acted out in dance by Pot’s peoples.
Perspective of: Pot (via Oracle)
Worldview: Pot created everybody: dreamed them up and brought them into being all by himself. Maybe.
And that, as they say, was all she wrote. Writed. Writ.
Very basic ideas, but my GOD I wish I'd had the time to make them bigger and stronger and more alive. I've had the time of my life writing for this game, I really have.