The noble families of Europe consist of the bloodlines of those who can fly. The purer the blood, the better the flight. Peasants are landbound because they are landbound.
>mediaval battles are men in full plate whizzing about going "NYOOOM"
>>46347415
That doesn't sound tactically viable
>>46347433
But its fun.
>>46347398
The peasants rally under a common banner and head for the underground. They head to the caves and mines, where flight is useless, to live in a socialist utopia.
>>46347485
Now we're talking. This sounds like it could go places.
![[revolution intensifies].png](https://i.imgur.com/V4UACAo.png "[revolution intensifies].png")
>>46347398
Mandatory wing clipping when?
>>46347564
No one ever said anything about anyone having wings, anon.
>>46347592
B-but how will the bourgeoise rise up against the nobility without a clear way to rob them of their powers?
>>46347398
Tainting of the bloodline results in variations in ability to fly. If you're lucky, you can slightly levitate yourself to be more lithe and dextrous. There are some who can only levitate half their bodies, resulting in them spinning about when trying to gain altitude.
The last heir of an ancient and long forgotten bloodline has blood that's diluted to the point that he can only levitate one body part.A bard wandering the lands, going from tavern to tavern, performing Puppetry of the Penis to get by.
>>46347605
Blood letting and transfusions.
>>46347433
What do you think cavalry did in actual history?
You imagine they stopped in front of the enemy to engage in fencing?
>>46347605
They did not. They stayed in their place.
>Legendary Warriors were said to be able to break the sound barrier. No one knows if this is in fact possible
>Shit tons of inbreeding.
>Noble cloud dancing balls that last sunrise to sunset with people changing outfits to match the surroundings.
>Underground rebel kingdoms invent cannons to shoot flak at flying armies
>Flight is a kind of energy projection. Highly skilled users can even use their "inspirited wind" to blast things.
>Traditional combat involves duels between handfuls of combatants over "hard" clouds. These clouds are basically weight bombs. Any rebellion on the ground can be quashed just by dropping stuff.
>Some hard clouds control the weather. Rain Barons are a thing. Thunderclouds are considered weapons fit only to be used against groundlings. Civilized war code prevents their use against Sky Knights.
>Aeronaughts explore the "encircling void" where the air becomes too thin to breathe without air tanks and hard cloud material vaporizes.
>Nobles strong as fuck on the ground because they're used to not breathing a lot of air.
Son of a bitch I want to run Sky Knight Quest. I'm already running two quests though, and I've been neglecting one of them.
>>46347685
>quests
nigga please. Go write this into a real setting
>>46347685
>Every once in awhile there's "crossover" between Flyers and Groundlings. A Groundling is born with some flying power or a Flyer has a son that can't fly.
>Some guy starts to get a handle on genetics. This is met with fear and hope. It means that the power structure will change from being based on clumsy family tree guessing to smart eugenics. The power structure will be shaken up. Marriages will be rearranged. People will be able to tell which bloodline is truly on the rise or fall. There's naturally a conspiracy to assassinate him and discredit his research.
>Flying machines are a thing. They tend to float rather than soar however. Thing balloons. So far nothing can go as fast or as maneuverable as a Flyer. Flying Machines are used as comfortable transport or as resting places. Some are magnificent cloud castles, the grandest of which are built from hard clouds taken from all over the world.
>Some Groundlings are experimenting with maneuverable and fast flying machines. Flyers laugh at their pathetic attempts at miming the divine gift of flight.
>Nobles don't have wings, but rather wear them as part of their dress. Male and female wear wings alike, though female wings tend to be more ornate. One cannot perform the best flying dances without the proper cape and wings to slice and sway with the movements of the body.
>Birds are sacred animals. Groundings are forbidden from making pets of them or eating them. Creatures of the ground are not meant to have power over creatures of the air. This sentiment just galvanizes the underground bird trade.
>>46347398
>Peasants are landbound because they are landbound
Hehehehe, 9/10 for the pun.0/10 reported for the mlp sneak thread.
>>46347743
I'm wondering how combat should be in Sky Knights. Armored warriors clashing at each other like comets could be cool, but personally I'm gravitating toward a more graceful style.
Say that weight effects flight. Then the day a boy becomes a man he must lift his spear. Flyer spears are incredibly heavy, and for a good reason. If he cannot lift his spear he must become a courtier/courier/squire/monk/bitch boy. Some spears are passed down father to son.
The spears are heavy, particularly on the end, and are designed so that the barbed blade sticks into the opponent. The heavy spear when stuck inside an opponent will cause him to plummet to the ground in what is called the Death Fall. When in the midst of the Death Fall the warrior is expected to set himself on fire so that he can meet the earth as a star does. It is considered extremely dishonorable for the corpse to hit the Earth. Bonus honor is awarded if the warrior burns himself fast enough so that his ashes fall to the Earth like a gentle snow.
Assuming the spear is lost warriors switch to long lightweight blades.
Other weaponry is light and designed to break the focus or restrict the motion of the enemy. Focus and unrestricted motion are critical for achieving flight. So you have bladed nets and choking smoke clouds and even light pistols that shoot glass orbs that explode into scintillating shards.
Eyesight is critical for a fighter. One has to take into account their position relative to the enemy at all times. Gravity and wind currents can affect weapons. Many sad tales are told of fighters that took the Death Fall because their own weapons literally blew back in their face.
>>46347942
>particularly on the end,
I assume you mean lances rather than spears. Wouldn't it make more sense for the weapon to be balanced so that aiming is easy, rather than swinging the thing wildly?
>>46347942
> the day a boy becomes a man he must lift his spear
So he has spent a large portion of his life never being trained with his spear? Lot of formulative years wasted.
If you state he had something to act as a training implement it would mean he spent years learning a weapon without the proper weight to build muscle memory
>>46347939
>spoiler
...I don't get it.
Flyers are divided when it comes to groundlings watching their private duels from below. Some consider it extremely disrespectful for the groundlings to watch and so conceal themselves behind clouds . Others like putting on a show and wear their most eye catching finery when they duel.
Dueling codes vary from Skyhold to Skyhold. Some fight to have the sun at their backs at all time and wear tinted goggles. Some consider fighting the sun to their back to be disgraceful. If a fighter flaps in front (or is pushed in front) of the sun they are considered to have forfeited the duel. This is quickly becoming a popular rule because it helps cut down the loss of life.
Legends tell of heroes challenging one another to duels in outrageous weather from tornadoes to thunderstorms to snow. While particularly Romantic minded Flyers with their heads stuck in Courtly Romances might try challenging someone to combat in inclement weather most professional duelists see combat in such conditions as a poor test of ones true abilities. Such weather leaves too much to chance. One can easily win through a lucky hailstone.
>>46347991
>Lances rather than spears
I'm sorry. My knowledge of weapons extends to Age of Empire games I played back in high school.
I think they would be designed to be used as melee weapons. If you throw your lance you aren't going to be able to retrieve it, unless you're some sort of legendary hero. The old stories teem with feasts of lance throwing, from heroes that throw their lance just to swoop quickly and retrieve it to enemies catching each others spears to a story of enemies fist fighting over a single spear in free fall.
>>46347992
Come on man. Don't take my right of passage fluff away from me.
I guess they work up to it, practicing sense childhood with heavier and heavier lances. The "lifting" ceremony is more symbolic than anything and marks when the boy finally takes on the man-sized lance.
What about when the groundlings manage to make bows, or arrows complete with feathers attached.
>>46347398
>Peasants are landbound because they are landbound.
Not for long, faggot.
>>46348022
Night duels are quickly gaining popularity among career duelists and combat connoisseurs. Not only is it a true test of a duelist's eye but it encourages a duelist to use all his senses. To feel how his enemy moves the air with his advance. To hear how he breaks through a gust or a cloud.To smell his scent carried on the currents. It also makes a weapon out of light.Little floating pellets that gradually fill with light are a weapon used to kill night vision. A particularly daring style of night dueling involves the use of torches. The enemy knows where the duelist is at first, but as he flings the torch he does not know if the fire coming toward him has a hand holding it. Then when the suddenly surrounding cloud of fire pellets starts to ignite placing in his mind images of his potential Death Fall the enemy is likely to panic and give a tell to the wind that the duelist will pick up.
>>46348036
Arrows aren't going to be be too useful. The Flyers are too high up, and can just drop shit while your own arrows have to come back down. Flak cannons and explosive balloons on the other hand...
>>46348055
Pretty badass image there anon.
I want it to be a theme that the groundlings have the potential to create flying machines that can outdo even the Flyers of legend. Jets eat their lunch. But they're constantly discouraged and belittled by the Flyers because their flying machines are primitive. Their best planes lack speed and maneuverability.
"Nothing heavier than air can compete with something born with the blood of air in his veins"
The Flyers are fucked when WW1 biplanes become a thing. Suddenly they have groundlings chasing after them. With machine guns. And all that weight for some reason isn't slowing their flight down like it does for a Flyer...
A skilled Flyer will still be faster and more maneuverable than a biplane, but its creation will signal the beginning of the end. WW2 era aircraft can do anything the greatest Flyer can do and better.
>>46348132
I want to see a super fast super strong flying guy with a sword and cape fight off a squad of biplanes. Flight in this setting is like selective telekinesis right? Top Flyers can send out "gusts" of wind?
I want to see this guy hop from biplane to biplane killing people with a sword before "gusting" one at another.
>>46348132
You think the noble folk would allow some uncouth peasants to just build a plane without stepping in? No fucking way, it's smite and cleave until the filthy plebs learn their place.
>>46347939
I don't think anyone except you thought mlp until you mentioned it. Draw your own conclusions.
>>46348055
But would there be as much of an incentive to invent airplanes in the first place if 1% of the population could already fly?
The reason there aren't anymore dragons in Europe is Charlemagne's guys hunted them to extinction.
>>46347398
Actually, why stop there?
Why not give royalty divine powers? After all, they're closest to the Gods. For instance, the King has the powers and abilities of Superman. (Or he's the equivalent of a Solar Exalted.) The lower you go, the less power you have.
Which means that the Emperor himself is basically immortal and all-powerful, but he hasn't emerged from the Imperial Palace in centuries.
>>46348326
Traditionally royalty just get healing hands. Potentially precognition.
>>46348344
Not flaming swords and so on? Because I read that WWII comic, the Royals: Masters of War, which was about royal superhumans - Mainly the British, Japanese and Russians - in an alternate history.
The problem with that comic was that despite the gorgeous art, it had a few plot-holes. For instance, the Japanese Emperor was invincible and could singlehandedly have conquered the world, but he decided "Naw, mang."
>>46348355
No flaming swords, no. At least in European tradition.
>>46348355
In Europe, the only thing nobles and royalty tend to be attributed with is a non-specific "Better than everyone else" effect. Divine Right To Rule was thought to make the recipients smarter, healthier, a bit more athletic, wiser, ect. Not strictly supernatural, but clearly cut from a better cloth than the people they're supposed to rule over.
>>46348382
And having a better education and generally better nutrition helped to perpetuate that idea for quite a while.
>>46348275
I think there'd be more
>>46348275
The only ones that have an incentive to make fast heavier than air flaying machines are angry groundlings that want to step to the royalty. And most thing its impossible anyway to build something that can outdo a human. And the ones that do try are discouraged because they're met with failure (think of all the failures that happened before the Wright Brothers, and even then they're thin barely got off the ground. Now aid nigh-super sonic flying nobles snearing down a the Wright Brothers calling their machine a toy).
So there IS incentive, its just not as strong as it was on our world
>>46348326
I don't know. I think we risk losing some of the flavor of the setting if we cast our net too broadly. "Flying nobles" already has good potential. If we just make it about super powered bloodlines we just turn it into "What if the X-men were a metaphor for the 1 percent instead of oppressed minorities?"
>>46348344
>>46348382
Take the "A King has two bodies" concept literally. You have a normal, human body and a supernaturally powerful body.
Add in The Great Chain of Creation Theory and you have the "King Body" as something in between angel and human that the man on the throne gets to plug his mind into.
If we want to splice this idea into Sky Knights we could make it so that this body is one of the legendary heroes and bloodline patriarchs, kept in the family like a super preserved mummy. His wings are real, not part of a dress. And his gaze can set things on fire.
>>46348408
>Great chain of Creation
>Two bodies of Kings
To take it further bear in mind the tradition of English Masques to have the royals act the parts of Legendary Heroes or even Gods. I believe Charles II played the role of Hercules in one Masque about Comus.
So the one that ascends the throne in Sky Knights literally plays the role of a God. He dresses like him and tries to act like him even when not "embodied". Only in his most private chambers can the King afford to let some of his own personality drip through the mask
The flight thing could be a weird theoretical extension of the Fisher King Theory, where the assumption is that the weather reflects a noble's attitude. Christian nobles' power isn't flight, it's weather control (they fly by manipulating the wind to fill their poofy medieval clothes). Pagan nobles once upon a time had a similar tie to the Earth, manifesting as the ability to communicate with and turn into animals. Nowadays their bloodlines have been all but extinguished and the remaining descendants of pagan nobles are called witches.
In the Middle East, Muslim nobles use their connection to the stars to predict the future. They are ruled by the greatest diviners and divination is power.Nobody knows what used to be the power of Jewish nobility. The bloodline of Solomon has, for all everyone knows, been extinguished completely. Which may be fortunate, since reportedly, it was terrifyingly powerful.
>>46348449
Interestingly, Jewish tradition explicitly attributed King Solomon the powers of animal speech, flight and divination, among numerous others (namely commanding fire).
Solomon also supposedly had a thousand wives from all over the world.
The obvious conclusion: the very first magical person was Solomon, due to his contact with God on the night of his coronation. All the magical noble bloodlines descend from him and his innumerable wives. Maybe the Africans (Jeweled Kingdom/Ophir) got all the fire powers.
>>46348449
How far should we take the fantasy? Do we want this setting to be Medieval Europe with super powers or do we want to place this on a fantasy world?
Personally I want more of a fantasy world. I want wars fought over rain clouds that fill and refill themselves. I want battles in cloud castles. I want Rain Barons and Sun Kings.
What kind of adventures could you have in a magical cloudscape? There needs to be monsters and cool things.
>>46348476
>>46348489
>>46348449
Why not both?
As for monsters...devils were said to be princes of the air. Malleus Malificarum even has Satan -made- out of quasi-air. If you slice him he just reforms like the T-1000.
So living air people. Should be cool. They cool be the elves of the setting.
>>46348449
>>46348476
This nearly explains the disenfranchised status of Jews in this alternate history. By killing Jesus (the blood of Solomon) they've lost their own magical bloodline and are seen by everyone else as having divided humanity.
It can explain the medieval Jewish obsession both with science AND eugenics. Science, because they're trying to make up for the loss of their magic and eugenics because they're trying to regain their own.
>>46348449
It's like a stupider version of 7th Sea!
>>46348509
The Tablet of Hermes isn't a sacred text of Neoplatonic/Alchemical/Magic secrets.
It's aheredity chart tracing Solomon's lineage back to Nephilim and down to certain nobles
>>46348550
Solomon being the first magical person does explain why many ancient cultures just didn't have magic at all. It makes a clear historical divergence point and saves us having to think up magical Greeks or what have you.
>>46348602
>No magic in Ancient Greece
Anon. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
>>46348637
You're gonna run into the 7th Sea problem eventually. There are too many nations and not enough cool powers to go around. Eventually you end up going like "Err, okay, and the Carthaginians' magic was... Bull manipulation? Let's go with that."
>>46348688
We could just set it on a fantasy world and dispense with the problems of history.
>>46348172
Inbred Flying Prick, meet the A-10 Warthog. Or the Sukhoi Su-47. Or any modern aircraft with heavy firepower and/or capable of supersonic speeds.
>>46348699
Where's the fun in that?
Previous magical powers could've come from other instances of humans interacting with God, such as Noah. This does however leave the question of where these powers went, since the current world all seems to be descended from Solomon (the prophet Moses gets a free pass since he had no surviving children. Whatever his powers were, they died with him).
>anon comes up with a unique, wonderful setting idea
>50 posts later /tg/ is already pushing to turn it into a generic D&D world
Not trying to crowbar the idea into real life history doesn't mean making a "generic D&D world". We have enough from:
>>46347685
>>46347778
>>46347942
>>46348022
>>46348132
To make an interesting setting that isn't a generic D&D setting.
My question is do we we keep the sky's clean and pristine or do we populate it with stuff? Aerofauna?
>>46349066
Keep it in Europe.
>>46349118
I WANT THE BLAND OPTION
>>46349213
>actual alternate history with thought put into it
>blander than generic D&D fantasy
Hi there, Salvatore
>>46349232
>Interesting setting with Sky Nobility and Groundlings with their own unique culture.
or
>High School Social Studies Fair with Super Powers.
"What if the Tudors could fly" is not good fantasy.
>>46349232
>>46349250
I think the setting would be a lot better in its own world. We could then craft its history and culture organically rather than try to "fit" history into the setting.
>>46349250
Actually, "what if the Tudors could fly" is VASTLY higher quality fantasy.
>>46349309
No. Because then you'll be slavishly grafting fantasy elements onto a historical narrative instead of creating something novel. Everything will happen exactly as it happened in our world more or less, just with flying historical figures.
That's the constant failing of amateur alt history books. They're more or less a simple retelling of a history book with a thin gilding of interesting fantasy.
Unless you're fucking Tolkien, using a fantasy world where you should've used history is just a lazy man's excuse to not have to make sense because "lol if wizards why not stupid geography".
Case in point: the idea was brought up on this very thread once someone mentioned it'd be difficult to think up details for many real life places. The fantasy world idea was literally brought up out of laziness.
"Da oben! Drei offizieren! Hans, feur frei!"
>>46347778
>Birds are sacred animals. Groundings are forbidden from making pets of them or eating them. Creatures of the ground are not meant to have power over creatures of the air. This sentiment just galvanizes the underground bird trade.
What about chickens?
>flyers populate remote islands surrounded by difficult reefs. Approaching them is forbidden for sailors, expect the select few that ferry food and goods to their masters.
>castles are not comfy at all. One decent-sized window or inner court means that the enemy can infiltrate or assault you easily.
>flyers have pieds-a-terre (magnificent mansions) in valleys (helps a lot when dealing with groundlings, and logistics are a nightmare otherwise). Unpregnable castles are for those frequently engaged in war or too poor to afford anything else. Some decadent nobles have somptuous manors in remote locations, to show off their wealth.
>meteorology is a very advanced science
>naval boarding suddently got a lot more interesting
>some families with a very pure bloodline can travel very high and very far. They're used as courriers, explorers and carthographers. The inbreeding is becoming problematic, though.
(as for why thy aren't kings while having the purest bloodline, options :
1)they're shit at flying more than their weight, which is quite a hindrance for combat)
2)they are "pariahs" due to some mythological sin commited by their ancestors
3)it fits them, it's a very respected position with not too much responsabilities.
>>46348750
The key word here being "modern".
Tech won't develop if the nobility kills the inventors before they even try to take off.
>>46349343
Most science-fiction is grafting elements to an existing setting (modern earth) and seing the consequences on society (class 3 is, anyways, and it makes for the best kind of stories).
Are you telling me that there is no good sci-fi book that isn't set in a distant universe?
>>46349366
>difficulties for making details for many real life places
He was just pointing out the absurdity of trying to tie a world with a magical bloodline into real world history. How did the blood of Solomon wind up in the blood of the royal families? Why was his the only bloodline? Does this mean the Abrahamic religion is the one true religion, and if so why are god's people a bunch of white guys now?
It's a fucking mess. And none of it has to do with the heart of the real interesting matter which is a world with a flying elite. Its just superficial shit made to "justify" the setting in a historical context and for some reason you eat it up.
>Using a fantasy world when you should've used history
What the fuck are you on about? How does not strangling the story with an arbitrary historical narrative make it "lol wizards why not stupid geography".
Imagine we were setting up Dune. And some douchebag came in and decided that the whole thing should just be a retelling of a historical event. Just with science fiction elements and worms.
You are that douche bag.
>The fantasy world idea was brought up out of laziness.
After the OP the major worldbuilding was pure fantasy. See >>46349066
How is the setting described in that post a generic D&D setting?
>>46349466
Most science fiction isn't alt history you dick. Most science fiction doesn't try to say, explain the rise of Donald Trump in American Politics (but he can fly guys its all okay its really a great interesting and creative story). It takes the "modern era" setting as a springboard as much as LOTR takes Medieval Europe as a springboard. Most good science fiction works to show how a technology CHANGES the world to be UNLIKE our own. It gives the characters something novel to play off us. You want to take a fantasy concept and make it more LIKE our world. You want to strap it to a narrative.
How the fuck is "The Tudors can Fly" anything but embarrassingly bad fiction?
>>46349525
>major worldbuilding
You mean the two and half posts' worth of stupid customs that would've been equally valid to insert to an alternate history given the premise? Nothing that was said on the thread so far prohibits it from being an alternate history. The solution to not having enough superpowers for everyone is to just not give everyone superpowers. >>46348602 realized this way back up, than some fantasy faggot who doesn't understand moderation in worldbuilding decided that if someone has some magic everyone ought to have all the magic. The fewer supernatural elements are integrated into a setting and made to work well the better.
>>46347605
>>46348344
If magic is real, and I suppose so since they fly, I could see the kings (and saints) having minor powers. After all "Cure Minor Disease (specify)" is hardly game-breaking.
Maybe some other nobles could get very minor powers too (healing and divination, mostly), due to genetics.
What if the healers can't fly because of magic interference or incompatible genes? That woudl make an interesting category of people. Nobles but can't fly, and having unique talents that makes them too useful to be shunned by their peers.
Maybe some of them would be humanists as a result, sparking the equivalent of the RL enlightment.
The monach can fly and heal at the same time because he's the king.
>>46349437
Most races of chicken can fly. Those that can't are the result of a selective breeding that would not exist in such a setting.
Or maybe there is a different classification in place: Bats are birds, because they fly. Chicken are reptiles, they lay eggs and don't fly. Flyers are birds, Peasants are mammals.Grimdark version: since they are "different species", they are not supposed to interbreed. Anyone that break the rule will get branded an abomination and hunted.
There has been stupider theories.
>>46349712
I think the decision was that European Christian nobility (probably descended from Romans) get weather powers and flight, native Germanic/Celtic get animal speech/shapeshifting, Muslims get divination and Africans get firebending.
Guy that wrote the first bits of world building. Seriously thinking about making an RPG splat or a Quest out of this.
>>46349437
Flightless birds aren't considered birds in this world. Advances in Taxonomy are challenging this notion however.
There have been duels over whether or not chickens are birds. Blood has been spilt.
>>46349442
>Tech won't develop
I want killer biplanes to be something that's always kind of out of reach. We as readers know its possible but everyone but the most crazy and determined of tinkerers think they're impossible.
>Flyer digs
I love the idea of them having elaborate getaways in the middle of absolute nowhere. You could have a cute almost fairy tale like scene of some groundling kids playing of in the woods finding the mansion of a Flyer.
I imagine it would impact the folklore of the world a lot. There would be stories of ghost mansions that appear everywhere and anywhere. Under the sea. In the Clouds. On the tops of mountains. And in a flash they're gone. Whose to say what the Flyers can do?
>Naval Boarding
Closed Canopies? Maybe the setting has primitive subs. There would certainly be a pressing demand for something that could slink stealthily under the water where no one could see it from above.
>>46349712
>Most races of chicken can fly
Huh. I did not know that. Maybe flightless chickens are just a thing on our own world?
I do like Sky Knights world having a weird and primitive taxonomy though. And I really like the idea of some people considering Flyers and Groundings two separate species. I don't know if I want it to be a universal custom, but it sure is interesting.
>>46349782
If you turn this into a quest I'll gladly join in. Provided you don't start it at an outrageous time for GMT+1 people.
>>46349601
If you do it correctly, the fact that some people can fly will modify the setting sufficiently for it to be more than just a copypaste of history.
I'm not talking about "And suddently, the tudors can fly. It has always been so and nobody questions it, but history up to that point didn't change one single bit", but "Earth. Some people can fly. Middle-age Europe keeps the same geography (obviously) and roughtly the same surface culture and power blocks that it did IRL. Define the rest according to the changes."
And please refrain from insults, it doesn't help the discussion.
>>46347398
> Europe: Flight
> Arabian/Turkish peninsulas: Teleportation
> Sub-Saharan Africa: Invincibility
> West Africa: Elemental blasts from hands
> North America: Superspeed
> Mesoamerica: Super-strength
> South America: Intangibility
> India: Mind Reading
> East Asia: Invisibility
Sometimes there's complications, like an European noble only able to survive falls from any height or gaining telekinesis instead, or some West African Prince with freezing breath rather than Freezing blasts.
>>46349780
This just sounds kind of....eh to me. It feels like too much extraneous fluff.
>>46349657
>Stupid customs
Ouch anon.
>Equally valid
I don't think so. Their world is just too different. Whenever you place Europeans suddenly being able to fly the results diverge it too far from history.
>The fewer supernatural elements that are integrated into the setting the better it will work
I generally agree.
But I am tempted to put fantasy shit in the skies. It just seems so...barren. But maybe I'm on the wrong path. Maybe the shear open expanse of the sky can be used to show the extent of Flyer power?
I just want to know what it would be like to have a hunting party in the middle of a cloudscape.
>>46349712
>Most races of chicken can fly. Those that can't are the result of a selective breeding that would not exist in such a setting.
>>46349782
>Huh. I did not know that. Maybe flightless chickens are just a thing on our own world?
Some wild/feral chickens roost in trees or places off the ground but are not generally good flyers since they their foodstuff is on ground they have no evolutionary reason to be able to fly like a tit.
So can fly but are shit at iwith the longest recorded continous flight being 13 seconds.
>>46349863
We went over this, we ended up with a different allocation of powers.
>>46349885
I want there to be cloud gardens. Plants grown and cultivated because they can be placed inside clouds (the magical semi solid kind) and use the moisture to grow and thrive. Sense the roots are visible Flyers focus on cultivating aesthetically pleasing root systems. Almost like arabesque tapestries form inside clouds.
Some of these gardens are so complex and so large that birds nest in them. Cloud Gardens are set up over migration patterns to attract birds. These birds are "shared" between noble houses, but there have been more than a few duels fought over "migration ownership".
Which brings me to a question. How does one stake a claim to territory in the skies?
>>46349988
You can't. That's where all the duels come from. Nobles staking a claim to the same patch of (temporarily) clear sky, and dueling to see who actually gets it.
>Life in the air has its own hardships. Though useful in small amounts, large thunderclouds are dangerous to fly in and only the greatest heroes of legend had the capability to affect their course. Skybound homes are often moved, and retainers and lower ranked nobles are always being sent out to look for a good spot.
>>46349941
Flyers probably would breed them until they could fly a bit better than our own wild chickens.
Alright, this might be a controversial idea. But how about cloud monsters.
Hear me out. I've been reading Demonology and Devil-Lore boy Moncure Conway and its fascinating if dated. He writes about how the earliest forms of religions were tribute given to giant monstrous embodiments of sky phenomena. It wasn't given to good gods or evil gods but rather to hungry gods. Amoral, not immoral gods. They were like animals. If they were fed, they wouldn't have reason to hurt people.
So I'm thinking giant living thunderheads. Storms that live and clash and die all on their own. Acts of God. They're things that even the Flyers fear and respect. Their destructive movements can serve as a plot catalyst in a pinch.
And every RPG needs a finger of god.
Suddenly a Flyer's sky castle is shredded like paper and his enemies take the initiative to invade his Skyhold and he suddenly has to use the groundlings for support. A Flyer struggles to shield and protect his groundlings from a coming storm monster and has to weigh whether or not its worth spending the resources on them. Etc, etc.And I thought the cloud monster form James and Giant Peach was kind of cool...
>>46350139
What makes this different from a regular thunderstorm?
The idea of tribute effecting them.
They're apart of the same weird aero-ecosystem that makes semi-solid clouds and clouds that can rain when hit with a stick. They respond to this ecosystem. They can be, if not controlled, then herded by moving their food supply.
Thunderheads (I like that name) eat certain clouds. Clouds that can be identified because they hold the light of the sunset and sunrise a little bit longer than normal clouds.
These clouds are considered very beautiful. When properly handled they can store the light of a specific sunrise and sunset indefinitely. They can become a record of an entire day.
A Flyer can freeze the light of a long ago time and keep it within their sky forever as a show of wealth and prestige and nobility.
"Sun Clouds" are a great source of wealth. But are also a great source of risk. They could attract a "Thunderhead".
>>46349863
I'm not really a fan of that.
It's fun if you meet with the representatives of a small tribe that have a different set of powers, but a whole rooster detracts us from the original idea and makes it the setting nightmare to develop IMO.
(how does each change affect the different societies, how every powerset would interact,,...)
Plus it kinda makes it superheroes... IN MEDIEVAL TIMES!
I think you could have some differences in powers, but nothing too drastic.
>>46350139
Sentient meteorological phenomenons? Me want.It's all fun and games until the underground dwellers learn of to make the thunder gods go berzerk
>>46350275
>>46350220
>>46350139
This ties in nicely with this anon
>>46350098
Flyers scrabbling to appease the Thunderheads or move their manse out of the way, fighting amongst themselves for the best locations.
>>46350275
>Spoiler
A few months back the Flyers noticed some groundlings try to make their heavier than air contraptions work. They got a good laugh at seeing the black smoke belching machines arch up and then arch back down.
It wasn't until later that they realized they should have been watching the smoke instead of the contraptions.
The smoke was treated. It was an irritant. It was make to irritate Old Man Winter into stirring.
The month long blizzards ruined the groundlings crops. But they had prepared for it with stores and pantries. The harvest would resume next year.
What wouldn't be back next year was the Flyer palace. It was the closest thing to the hand of Old Man Winter. He grabbed it tight and pulled it high up into his ever-blizzard beyond the black sky, never to be seen again.
>>46350317
I like this. The Flyers are like birds. They're always on the move and study weather charts intently trying to guess Thunderhead movement (and best how to line that movement up with the migration patterns of their rivals).
Every time a peasant succeeds in making a flying machine, the nobles inevitably find out and destroy it while it's in the air.
>>46350402
It could be something of a conspiracy. Flyers KNOW what a successful flying machine means. Most don't think its possible, but a few high ranking royals know its possible. They've seen the evidence with their own eyes.
And so a secret treaty is passed among the heads of the highest families. Flying machines are shot down, the evidence destroyed, and family and friends killed.
The PCs are a group of Flyer princes that find out what their dads have been keeping from them.
>>46347485
Socialist mole people?
>>46350433
They could be a fun faction. Morlocks without the cannibalism plus Eloi without the cattle nature. They struggle to make their cities just as nice as the most fabulous sky palaces and thus achieve great feats of engineering.
If only they thought to apply this engineering knowledge to the skies...but they have given up on the skies. Let air belong to the Flyers. The land is ricer and belongs to the Subterraneans.
I imagine them having a vocabulary different from the norm. They are Subterraneans. Groundlings are Terraneans. Flyers are Bird-People. Cloud Palaces are Vapor Caves. Dirt is never called Dirt. It's Earth. Life grows in it, and if you're smart you can take advantage of that fact.
The key will be making them not like Dwarfs. Live underground, yes. Good with tech, yes. But they're scholars and thinkers rather than warriors and smiths. They're like medieval monks. They live simple, even ascetic lives. Dwarves drink beer. They drink wine. Dwarves eat meat, they eat mushrooms.
>>46350548
Subterraneans can't get at Flyers and Flyers can't get at Subterraneans, not generally. So they're conflicts tend to be of an indirect nature.
Their biggest threat to Flyers is that they threaten to win over their groundlings. And once they're won over odds are the Flyers won't get them back. So the Subterraneans can influence a Flyer Lord to improve relationships with the Groundlings. They promise the groundlings better weather, maybe even a trip up to the palace, anything to keep their serfs from running off to the underground.
On the other side of things Subterraneans do their best to compete with the offers of Flyers. They're very interested in recruiting artists and engineers who can find ways to make their dank and dark homes as beautiful as a home in the sky.
PC ideas: The PCs are Flyer princes tasked with improving relationships with the groundlings, maybe even convincing them to come back to the surface. If they do a really good job maybe they can make willing serfs out of the subterraneans.
The PCs are Subterraneans tasked with recruiting artists and entertainers for their city, but who makes the cut? There are rumors of a groundling singer with the perfect voice of heaven, but she's been taken to the Sky Palace to sing for the local Flyer Prince. There are even rumors he's aiming to marry her and that she possesses a modicum of Flyer abilities...
>>46350548
Does that mean Groundlings are generic humans? Feudal society, massive contrast between rich and poor, yet unified in jealousy of the Flyers. Some of the nobles secretly sponsor the Subterraneans, providing them with resources and manpower in an effort to topple the Bird-Kings from their perch.
![Montgolfiere_1783[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Psj5CFy.jpg "Montgolfiere_1783[1].jpg")
Before planes, there would probably be experimentw with hot air balloons.
>>46350766
All groundlings are commoners, every noble is a flyer. They're human and can reproduce together.
But otherwise, I think it would be a regular feudal society, except that your local lord lives on top on an inaccessible mountain peak or on a cloud castle (depending on whether you want the setting to be high fantasy or low fantasy).
Would there perhaps be flying megafauna, giving the Flyers legends a la St George and the Dragon?
OP here. I know there's no stopping the faggotry by now, but I did, in fact, intend for this to be an alternate history. That's why I specifically mentioned "Europe". Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed with where the thread went instead, since it's completely irrelevant to me, but I guess there's nothing that can be done about it now. Feel free to keep talking or whatever, though I would appreciate it if you avoid turning this into a quest or whatever you had in mind. I'd like to repost this some day when I have more time to pay attention to it so I can develop the idea properly, and I'd rather not be redirected here and told I'm ripping off my own ideas when I do.
>>46351085
On one hand, you're asking nicely.
On the other, you're a whinny entitled faggot that does 1 line OPs and asks /tg/ to stop brainstorming.
>>46351145
He was pretty clear about this intentions, as I've been saying throughout the entire thread. It's not his fault /tg/ can't read.
>>46351085
>>46351145
>>46351300
Just continue from either >>46349863 or >>46348449/the whole King Solomon story. They're ultimately pretty similar, though I personally prefer the second scheme. That said, I agree other places in the Near East might benefit from having their own powers. The King Solomon story focuses on the setting on places his descendants could've gone, which I think is a neat thing to have in an alternate history. For extra fun (or to excuse it) you can also add magical peoples in Japan, India or even North America, as there've existed tales of ancient Israelite tribes settling in those lands for at least centuries now.
>>46351694
Which, thinking about it, offers some truly fascinating avenues of alternate history exploration.
Imagine the Europeans arriving at North America, and finding that some of the tribes there can also fly - a trait which, in Europe, is synonymous with nobility/being chosen by God.
This is the type of divergent event that could lead to a completely different history of the entire Americas down the line.
>>46351694
This. I think we need various powers for ethnic groups, possibly based on mythology. Maybe they'll interact, maybe they won't...but it would certainly be interesting, no?
>Europeans gain flight (probably would prefer healing or metalshaping if we're going by mythology, but this one's already been determined)
>Native Africans gain invincibility and strength, from legends of mighty heroes being the best source of mythology we've got
>Mediterranean peoples gain power over the sea, whipping up waves, carrying small vials of saltwater everywhere as part religious icon, part tool and weapon
>Eastern countries gain a sort-of necromancy, calling upon the spirits of their ancestors to do battle and help
>Alternately, they have power over all things green and growing, being able to call vines from the earth to ensnare their foes and wield weapons of living, nigh-indestructible bamboo
>South Americans are shapeshifters, calling upon the wild monsters of the jungle and becoming one with them for war and strength
>North Americans are also shapeshifters, but much less violent, using their animal forms for travel and hunting rather than war except when necessary
What did I miss? Maybe certain hybridizations could occur later - if we move on to a more modern era, John Henry could have some American and some African blood, gaining immense strength and the shape of a mighty ox as large as he
>>46352127
Maybe scandinavians? Also "Eastern" seems to be fairly generalizing, since in the east you have Slavs, Arabs and Asians, which are quite different I think.
I suck at creativity though, so I don't have any ideas right now.
>>46352444
Point, I was just thinking of the Chinese and Japanese. Mongolians are probably a thing too. Let's see..
>Slavic peoples have mastery over ice and cold, and wield blizzards as toys
>The Mongol hordes of the plains are as quick as the wind itself, travelling leagues in seconds with but a single step (teleportation or speed, I'm not sure)
>The Arabs see not just the visible, reading a man's mind as easily as his face
>ALTERNATE: The Arabs know not just what is, but what will be, staring into the many paths of the future
comfyest setting comming through
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Skylands
>>46352654
>>The Arabs see not just the visible, reading a man's mind as easily as his face
This is interesting. Bluffing (or whatever you'd tie self-/facial controll to) has just become way more important. Only, of course, if the description is taken literally.
>Need to do 3 capchas in a row, without any message of having something wrong
Fucking greedy google
Oh yeah, also just though of something for the Scandinavians. Maybe Enchanting/smithing magical-ish items or something along those lines, because there is a fair number of magical items in their myths.
>>46352963
That's not actually what I meant. I was going for telepathy. If you want to get interesting, though...
>Most of the High Arabic bloodline have a minor degree of the talent. Intriguingly, all who do must wear a strange sight-distorting glass over their eyes in order to see properly. The greatest Arabic seers are, ironically, blind; their eyes are open to the minds of all around them, but not to the true world.
>It has become custom, in houses of business, to provide colorful and intricate cloths and mosaics on the walls and floors. As a mind focused on a pattern or tune to the exclusion of all else cannot be read by all but the most skillful seers, anyone who wishes to do business will often stare at the patterns provided to "block" their minds. The most prosperous businessmen are capable of thinking along two tracks at once to accommodate this.
Why not, let's procrastinate on my Calculus a little bit longer-
>Most High Americans are fixed to the form of a particular animal, and the hide of that animal is as a second skin. Certain shamans have been said to be able to transform into any animal, running with wolves one day and with bison the next; however, all of those shamans bore animal marks upon them - a pair of horns, hooves for feet, a shaggy tail and coat - reminiscent of those they transformed into.
>The greatest ice callers are said to have descended from the ancient Jotunheim; while nobody knows if this is true, an ice caller's skin is pale blue and chill to the touch, even in the warmest weather, and the callers must retreat into the icy mountains for the summer or suffer heatstroke.
Basically: Imagine these people with more body horror relevant to their powers - as their strength grows, they become less and less human.
>>46351085
>I know there's no stopping the faggotry by now. I did in fact intend for this to be an alternate history
Sorry OP. I read "Flying European nobility" and took the two words I thought would make an interesting setting and discarded the word I thought was extraneous.
>I'd appreciate it if you avoid turning this into a quest or whatever you had in mind, I'd like to repost this some day when I have more time to pay attention to it so I can develop the idea properly
No can do OP. There's too much potential in what I've brainstormed.
>Feel free to keep talking or whatever
I'll make another thread. It's clear you don't want more "faggotry".
>I'd rather not be redirected here and told I'm ripping off my own ideas.
The brief OP description does not make the ideas in this thread "yours" OP. You provided a concept, I and others developed the concept into a setting. The very fact you're complaining about it shows that the ideas (baring the King Solomon Magic Races stuff) are not yours. Don't be so entitled.
>>46351734
>we arived in this strange new land.
>Johann thought he saw a Flyer.
>captain smakced him for his idiocy
>lo and behold, a redskinned flyer
>we found the land of the gods!
>>46353161
>>46352963
>Bartering Market Stall Arabs
>Muh Magic Hammer Scandinavians
>Skin Walker Native Americans
Be honest. You guys have very little understanding of folklore and mythology. You're taking stereotypes and turning them into D&D races. Its cringe worthy. Are you going to have the Japs shoot ki blasts?
>>46353161
>That's not actually what I meant. I was going for telepathy
Yeah, I know. It just sprung to my mind to take the sentence literally.
>Basically: Imagine these people with more body horror relevant to their powers - as their strength grows, they become less and less human.
I like the idea, but I think it doesn't really fit the setting that way.
Well, maybe strong evil guys could find a way to extend their ability at the cost of the human shape and maybe psyche.
>>46353271
>>Muh Magic Hammer Scandinavians
What about the foldable ship, what about gungnir, what about draupnir, etc.
There are many Items with magical properties in the mythology. It's the first (well second) idea that came to my mind. But feel free to suggest something better. I mean, I know that I'm not all that creative.
>>46353271
What the fuck?
>Bartering Market Stall Arabs
First of all, it's just general telepathy. I just took the "business halls" idea and ran with it because it was the first place I could think of where you would find a Highborn and it would be polite for them to not casually read your mind, even if they didn't mention it.
>Muh Magic Hammer Scandinavians
Not my idea. Also, he has a point that many Scandinavian myths revolve around heroes and gods that are mostly normal, but with special tools, fantastic weapons, and their wits - if anything's a cop-out, it's my ice powers idea.
>Skin Walker Native Americans
Animal spiritualism was very important to the Native American tribes. Also, skinwalkers were followers of the Witchery Way (for lack of a better word) in Native American lore, so if American Highborn are all that kind of skinwalker it's a bad idea anyway. It's more like voluntary lycanthropy than American-myth skinwalkers anyway; skinwalkers took animal hides and put them on to become the animal, in some versions, while these people are just transforming themselves.
>>46353339
Eh, I don't know. I just think it could be cool to have a little theme of extending to the might of the gods at the cost of one's own humanity. Maybe just the most powerful? It could be a way of determining who's REALLY part of the royal line by whose skin is the bluest, who has the animal features, whose skin is slightly wispy and fragile, who is completely blind and sees anyway?
>>46352127
>>46352444
>>46352654
Keep in mind, they all should at least sound like it might be possible for their nobility to have been descended from King Solomon. Some crazy far-off places like Japan have myths about it, but not, say, Australia or South America.
>>46352127
>>Europeans gain flight (probably would prefer healing or metalshaping if we're going by mythology, but this one's already been determined)
Going by higher up the thread, Roman descended European bloodlines get weather control/flight, Celtic-Germanic bloodlines get animal powers (maybe King Arthur was so badass and legendary since he had both?), and Arabs get astronomy powered divination.
>>46350946
>>46350766
>>46353197
New thread for the divergent setting here.
>>46353559
>>46348688
>Err, okay, and the Carthaginians' magic was... Bull manipulation? Let's go with that.
>not Minoans
>>46349442
These guys are limited to Europe only. There were plenty of other countries that could have developed powered flight without interference, such as China or Japan.
>>46350432
How would the nobles respond to missiles?
Say some guy goes to China, sees the fireworks, and decides to weaponise them.
>>46355017
They have their own power structures.
Maybe one of the most curious families capturer inventors instead of killing them and put them to work in a remote location, but I don't see flying caste encouraging powered flight.
By the way, how much can they carry? Only their own weight (nude fights, then), some light gear, full plate armor, a backpack full of stones, anything?
It would shape the setting
>>46355331
Fear factor would be big part of it, if this world has intelligent thunderclouds. Seen as angry gods/spirits at first.
FIreworks are gonna be pretty shitty against whooshing people. Maybe would work best as a saturation weapon during big battle, to break enemy formations.
It won't remplace bow and arrows, though.
>>46355504
I like that they can lift their own weight, and then it's basically whatever they can carry - if they could walk while carrying it, they can fly while carrying it.
>>46355331
>>46355504
>>46355539
>>46355539
Discussion for this kind of stuff belongs in the other thread. We're discussing alt history here.
>>46347398
Wouldn't the flyers have immense difficulty capturing areas outside of Europe? Not to mention the difficulty in controlling a place where no one loyal to you speaks the language. Also, hitting a highly mobile enemy would be difficult, and so they'd have to get closer, which would make them vulnerable to arrows. Which means that the Mongolian Hordes would be their worst nightmare, because they literally lived in the saddle, and used bows quite heavily, as well as the whole "invite enemy prince for peace talks then pour molten silver in his eyes and mouth" thing
>>46355640
kthxbye
Migrating to >>46353559, then.
Stick to relatively focused powers. The idea here isn't allowing for every fantasy stereotype to exist, it's to see how even a few of them (the original idea was just a single one) could completely change the course of history.
You guys do realize almost every single thing the "fantasy world" guys on this thread said is exactly as valid assuming an alternate history? Literally the only thing changing is what the countries are named like. Splitting this into two threads is retarded and juvenile.
>>46357077
What's done is done. Both threads have descended into pure faggotry. A fucking shame. This idea had potential. I'd revive it myself at some point but from the looks of it fantasyfag's already going to turn his version into a quest, so the whole thing's pretty much wasted.
>>46347564
i cannot express how much that manga annoys me. STOP CRYING
>>46357453
What manga is it?
So at which point exactly in history do we want this set? Medieval is implied, but "medieval" is a very broad term. Depending on how early exactly we want the timelines to diverge (King Solomon, for example, is traditionally said to have lived around the 6th century BC), exact dates might lose some or all meaning due to domino changes, but I think we want the setting to remain somewhat recognizable still.
If magic originates from King Solomon, how come Celts and Germanics had native magic before interaction with the Romans? I appreciate the idea of flying, lightning hurling Equites fighting literally shapeshifting Berserkers but this needs some explanation (unless we're really going with "Solomon was such a stud he just had children with wives from cultures there's no indication whatsoever ancient Judeans could've possibly interacted with. Which would, admittedly, be in character).
Hey OP. When we finish putting the pdf together how would you like to be credited?
>>46357699
Irish mythology, at least, posits that the original inhabitants of Ireland descended from Noah.
Alternatively, you can just say that "Pagan" type magic has a different origin. Devilry or what have you.
>>46358175
>Devilry or what have you.
Do demons exist in the setting?
>>46357833
Jesus Christ, I was just about to go to sleep. Now I need to read through two threads and I really don't have the time for it.
>Read through two threads
What the flying puck. No, I'm not planning to write a book or make C&D request, I just like the idea and would've liked to be able to repost it at some later date without being directed towards some quest or told I'm ripping somebody else off. Dude, I said I had no problem with you continuing to develop your own ideas, I just asked you don't make a franchise out of them to prevent this from becoming an issue. This is pretty uncool.
Regarding the credit issue, I'm thankful for the offer. It IS the gentlemanly thing to do. Credit me as an anonymous, just make sure to mention the circumstances involved in a respectful way. Preferably, if it isn't too much trouble, one which clarifies which small part of the fundamental idea was originally suggested by me, so that I can at least try and use it as a basis for its own thing later without the concept being automatically associated with the rest of your setting. Make no mention of the double threaded argument, it makes both of us look bad. Just "inspired by some anon's idea of having nobility be tied to powers of flight", or whatever.
Imagine how much more popular feather themed decorations would've been.
>>46359096
Speaking of which, what about artificial wings for ornamental purposes? Could replace the cape in our own history. Stylish and useful, assuming Roman nobles use wind to fly.
>>46358175
Irish mythology along with most European mythologies were co-opted and Christianized post conversion. Them being descended from Noah is literally a retcon make to keep the church happy.
>>46359185
Yeah, but isn't the premise of the setting that nobles are literally magic? I was thinking we're kind of rolling with that sort of medieval thought.
I wonder how much sooner than in our own timeline these guys would discover the Americas. Depends on the range and speed of flight, I suppose.
>>46353224
I love this one. Seems to be heading towards the venerable alternate history state of ndependent tribal nations,possibly with peaceable relations with the Europeans.
![DSCN_Blackbird_War_Shirt[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/tQUx2a3.jpg "DSCN_Blackbird_War_Shirt[1].jpg")
>>46359143
Since feathers aren't the easiest of things to put in clothes, especially when flying at high speed, I think something stylized, like pic related (more european, of course). And capes made of long strands of tissue. I'm not sure we should go full amerindian and give them feathered hats, though.
>>46359185
What alternatives are you suggesting? I like magic having a clearly defined, singular source. I'd be okay with it having a very few sources (preferably ones that tie together neatly at some point if you trace them back far enough). Any other way of tying pagan European magic to the blood of King Solomon?
>>46359491
Depends on purpose. You won't put on actual feathers for high speed flying, but for the airborne equivalent of artful dancing or whatever else it is aristocrats do but fight? Feathers all around.
Which culture/ethnicity gets the ability to see and interact with/possibly summon ghosts? That's a pretty essential sort of magic, isn't it? Probably some pretty exotic one with a strong cultural focus on death.Am I the only one who's getting a very strong 7th Sea vibe from this? I can't help but imagine this setting forwarded several centuries, and it struck me that this is pretty much what it is.
![52061c185e054a4e5af29f5f5297298d[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6RFTiFz.jpg "52061c185e054a4e5af29f5f5297298d[1].jpg")
>>46359491
Example of cape/ornament (hard to find a fitting pic)
>>46359631
I'm picturing the three musketeers or fortunes of france with flying nobles. It's hilariously good.
