Calling for Staff

[Lady Whimsy]

This is a call for all you eager world-builders, budding botanists and zoologists to apply for a staff position on KGS (Kalidore Geographical Society). Anyone can participate in the discussion and suggestion forums, but in order to keep ourselves organized, we will need some dedicated people to lend a hand!

I'll be spear-heading the operations of course, but as it gets busy I know I will appreciate some help Duties will evolve depending on what needs to be done, and where each of our own specialties lie. If there's something you really like doing, then that's where we want you to be! Whether it's brainstorming or organizing data, or even drawing doodles to help illustrate ideas, just let me know what you'd like to do - I'm open to anything.

So if you're a creative, co-operative and dedicated person, and are interested in getting your hands deep into the rich Kalidore earth, give me a shout out. We're still getting organized ourselves, so every little bit helps!

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? They're all good - so post away!


Lady Whimsy ~

[Delicious]

PICK ME! PICK ME!

*waves hand excitedly*

I'm all for brainstorming, doodling, planning out in depth ecological food-webs.... world building is so awesomely fun.

[silentmoon]

*slides in with Del*

OOOH! Me too!

I can and love to brainstorm and doodle but uh... food-webs? Since when did we have predators? XD

[Lady Whimsy]

Aw, where would I be without my double dose of enthusiasm in the morning?

I'm still working on getting organized (see, this is why I usually leave that kind of stuff to Lady E!!) but I figure it's best to go into this with some semblance of planning, since I have a hunch it could get very big very quickly. After all, Kalidore is a fairly large place. Lots can happen. Plus, it has moons... and Gates... and... well, I'm sure we'll discover what else very shortly

I think a better mapping project might be in order too. The one on the site is pretty, but pretty vague. Especially as the next RP takes place on Kalidore, I think many of those vast "blank" areas will be filled in with better detail too.

I guess the next question would be... where to start? eep!

Lady Whimsy ~

[Delicious]

A more detailed map would be an excellent starting point. That way I know where I can dig in, etc. etc.

Also - ideas of what is allowed and what isn't - would be good. I mean, general stuff like "Nothing big enough to eat Unicorns" or "no predators at all" etc. etc.

- Del

[Lady Whimsy]

*nods nods* A mapping I will go!!

Currently, I'm trying to work out the seasons... it surely snows in some areas of Kalidore, while not in others... I'm trying to find a reasonable explanation for this I think I need to make a geography section, to go along with the Flora and Fauna...

As for official rules... asides from nothing big enough to eat unicorns, I think everything else is fair game Not that I think a unicorn would be easily eaten anyway! Kalidore is referred to as "the isle" - so it's probably not so much a continents as it is a really large island. Therefore, the animals who inhabit it are probably not the larger varieties seen on the mainland. Then again, whether or not there are other isles beyond the mist tends to get... well, foggy; Kalidore seems to have a rather Avalonian existence, just with more critters

I think most of our "rules" will be pretty flexible for the moment, while we get a feel for the place. As we go, we're bound to get a better idea of what works and what doesn't. (For instance, I've been trying to work Griffons in since this tale began, haven't haven't found a place to make them "fit" yet, at least, not on Kalidore Proper) Emus on the other are golden... the only question left in my mind is do we also have Moas? *G*

Lady Whimsy ~

[silentmoon]

Well, if your starting on mapping, might aswell start on what areas of Kalidore there are to explore. We can have forests, plains, beaches, coasts, deserts... well, maybe. Sand and more sand don't seem to be the best thing, but what about the savannah or something? I think emus live in that kind of biome, but I don't remember too well.

We should have migrational seasons and places! Like when it's summer, all the unicorns move towards the beach or when it's winter, they moves towards the hotter climates. And we can name em all (4 in all for 4 seasons maybe?) Example - Summercove, Autumnhaven, Winter-hide-away, and Springgrove.

[Lady Whimsy]

Here's the current Kalidore Map:

Most of the stuff is allready roughed in, but I'm not against tweaking a region if it makes more sense for them to be another way. I'm no Tolken.... but I try As for climate... the north-east seems to be the warmest region (I highly doubt it snows in the Singing Sands) with the south-west being the far more temperate. There isn't really a "tropical" climate in Kalidore - unless you count Kala's Peace. Never snows there, and for some reason seems to be eternally spring...

I don't think Unicorns migrate though, besides gathering for different celebrations throughout the year. Mares wander freely throughout Kalidore, and herd stallions tend to keep to their regions (they're rather dutiful). Koros of course get to enjoy the same freedom of the mares, and go wherever they like as well.

[silentmoon]

Hmmm... then what about a dark place. Forbidden? No one's ventured there in a long time? Abandoned? That would make some interesting stories for the next generations of foals.

I'm assuming gatherings are all on the Great Plains, correct?

Oh and what about underground tunnels? Not that unicorns are underground dwelers, but it's an idea. And we did talk about a place for humans right? As they come and go, maybe a small are where they just bed down for the night without worry? Not like houses and stuff, but... well, I'll have to think of that ^^

[Lady Whimsy]

Well, there's nothing on Kalidore that is forbidden, as it was first and foremost Kala's Gift - a haven for all. However, while there are no "dark" places on Kalidore, as I said, there are Gates And Moons And *other* places nearby... and, as you'll all discover in the next RP, no lack tales to tell to the Kore, nor interesting places to explore!

That's not to say that every region of Kalidore is *known*, either... it's a big place, after all.

*nods* I figure the plains are where the gathering happen, or the Shores of Tyressline region as well - nice, accommodating countryside, easily accessible for all. Probably somewhere along that river. The map isn't quite to any scale, so the river itself is long and meandering, very deep in some places, but shallow enough in others for a young Kore to skip across without too much trouble.

Plus Falling Stars in one of the Teachers, so I think holding class out on the wild, rolling plains beneath a symphony of stars would be a lecture not even I'd sleep through The Plains are certainly a place of gathering.

As for houses, I rather like Del's suggestion of organic homes, wrapped into the trees There are some houses on Kalidore allready - the Gaurdians have to live somewhere, after all. The one formal building on the isle would be Muse's Temple. I actually have some notes on these houses, so let me go grab my other key and post them in here.... !

Oh, and yes... I'm sure there are caves in the Skylands. I think the Skylands are the least explored of the regions, as some of those places are rather hard to reach by foot and hoof...

*runs off to fetch notes*

[Lady Whimsy]

Current Buildings on Kalidore:

Muse's Temple ~
The only permanent building on Kalidore is Muse's Temple, nestled into the great grey rocks that rise at the edge of the Kaledon Forest, the Lake glimmering nearby. The temple itself was built by elven hands many centuries ago, as once the two worlds shared a rich commerce (the jewels, worn by mature unicorns are naturally elven in make, too). It's a very organic structure with a single tall, fluted spire, wrought right out of the rock; subtle, elegant forms wind around it as gently as if nature made it that way, but closer inspection reveals much detailed work, lost to a quick glance.

Inside there are several large and intercepting rooms that run into each other around a central foyer. The "temple" is a wide round room to the front, with a skylight shining over a small spring-fed reflection pool. Inset coloured glass windows line the walls, creating a truly mystical and mesmerizing space. Further on are several other rooms - all carved smooth into the rock, circular and organic, with packed earthen floors. The living quarters are warm and cheerful, open to the central garden. Rhaine's room is one of the smaller ones, with two high windows that let in a lot of light. Further back is Muse's library, deeper into the mountain. Here, away from sunlight the climate is constant - the perfect climate for storing hundreds of volumes and scrolls. These chambers are lit by moon-orb - unique glowing rocks whose light intensifies the more are brought together. This is of course the reason why the temple was built - to hold all the lore of Kalidore. It is a Temple of Knowledge.

There's also a hot spring that runs under the mountain and heats it. (Rhaine and I share a love of keeping warm!) A narrow covered corridor circumvents the garden and connects the temple to the chamber of the Spring Pool, where the hot water bubbles from the ground and fills the enclosed pool... natural hot tub, of sorts The pool is renowned for it's healing properties, and is often used in various treatments and rituals. And recreationally too, I'm sure! The water here is constantly flowing, and runs out in a lively, gurgling stream down to the lake (though it's pretty much cool by the time it gets there).

The temple and Pool house wrap around the meditation garden, beautifully done up much like it's Japanese counterpart. Beyond that there is the vegetable and herb gardens that extent to the edge of the forest surrounded by a crumbling limestone wall. Old orchards line the surrounding, offering a perfusion of blossoms in the spring and fruit to last the temple well through the mild winter months.


The Daiga's Hut ~
The Daiga lives way up in the Skylands... and the more I think about it she probably has a summer and a winter residence, as I can't imagine winter in the mountains being pleasant? *shrugs* Her chief residence is her summer house - a tent-hut of sorts - built on a calm plateau between the peeks of the tall mountains. It could probably be built into the rock at one end, which would negate the need for a winter residence, actually, and since she has lots of potions, books, and artifacts to store, moving would be a pain! The main room is a bright white tented room - piled high with various bundles and baskets of everything you could imagine. There's a lot of stuff - but it doesn't look cluttered... it's a very tidy and zen kind of place, smelling of exotic herbs and pleasant spices. The bright white walls and ceiling gives it a sort of endless space, peaceful and yet exhilarating. Here is where she would preform most of the spells and healings or whatever ritual is called for, so it's a sacred space, too.

Her own living a storage quarters are beyond this room, and are small and cozy. She has a garden as well but it's wild-tended - plants growing among the wild things in perfect harmony. She also keeps goats.

Traveling to the Daiga's hut is probably a bit of an ordeal, so I don't think it's something done that often. And besides, the Daiga has a way of showing up right where she's needed, anyways...


Lilaini's Home ~
Nestled snugly in the Kaledon Forest is a small log cabin, built of reclaimed logs and moss growing from its thickly thatched roof. So much a part of the forests, one might even miss it even though it lies just to the side of the one of the main roads. The one-room cabin is sparsely but pleasantly furnished (Lilani did like nice things) and the wide door is generally left open (it's really just for inclement weather) so it's not uncommon to find many a forest animal snoozing somewhere inside the house.

Lush greenery is everywhere, for Lilaini has always had a thing for plants. She's also a very knowledgeable herbalist, and keeps a vast array of tonics and powders on hand to cure a wide range of aliments. What she doesn't have, can generally be plucked from her back yard. A small spring-fed pool gurgles a short distance away, complete with a family of ducks and cloistered with waterlilies.

Her home is not that far away from Muse's Temple, as she and Rhaine have always been fast friends.



Tyden's Home ~
Tyden lives up in the mountains with Odin, but a different part from where the Daiga lives. (The Daiga is fairly isolated; Tyden lives in the inner valleys where the unicorns frequent, over looking the forests). His house... imagine one of those almost viking-like cabins built into ground with small leather-shuttered windows and a thatched roof that's alive and growing. It's a rather small abode, but then, he probably only uses it much in the winter, since he's quite fond of camping out under the stars like the Unicorns. Getting to Tyden's place is a bit of a trek too, but not as bad as the Daiga's. I figure he spends most of his time where the action is anyways, down in central Kalidore with Gaurdians and everyone else.


* * *

Does that help? I've probably got more notes on Kalidore then any one person should have

Lady Whimsy ~

[Delicious]

Pfffft! There are NEVER too many notes. I've similar note piles for my own worlds over the years, hehe. So it might be that I'm just a teeeensy bit biased. Maybe.

@gryphons - Wooo! I'm all for adding furry winged cat critters. I've always envisioned them as living in the mountains type area - but if you don't think that the Skyfields would make a good place for'em, perhaps a particular rocky (and/or volcanic) island a ways off shore? They could be primarily fish-fed birds in that case - perhaps a more osprey/fishing cat derivative rather than the typical eagle/lion pairing. On Kalidore one could always have a smaller version - kestrels & house cat sized? Or even a smaller warbler/mouse type breed. Can you imagine being trilled awake by a particularly vocal song-gryphon in the treetops? *wistful*

@organic housing - oh yes please. I might have to scan in a few pages of this absolutely gorgeous "tree house" book I've got. And perhaps track down some of the Dinotopia paintings. I've always adored the idea of living with & around things, instead of just living in-their place, so to speak.

And got it - no big predators. >.> I think I can manage that. *grin* At least, until we find a safer ... or more removed .... place to put them. *cough* Hehe.

- Del

[Lady Whimsy]

*pulls out her Dinotopia book*

You know, this is probably not the best route of action for me as I'm heading off to work, lol... now I'll be doodling funky houses all day long!

I stumbled across this artist online, and I really adore is "greenery" pictures too - I'm sure there are some parts of Kalidore that look like that. And his tree houses are lovely, too His doomsday picture is nice also, but don't worry - I'm not planing to annihilate Kalidore any time soon! www.philipstraub.com/illustrations_page.htm

Ooh, osprey-griffons I like that! It was mostly the predatory nature of the wingéd cats that made me hesitate to place them on Kalidore. But I suppose if they live up in a northern part of the Skylands, they might not cross paths too often. And if the were lithe and slenderly built, a unicorn might simply be too much of a mouthful at any given time. Plus I can't imagine any of the larger Kalidorian creatures not being sentient, so there were probably agreements made; perhaps the Unicorns gave refuge to the first wingéd flock centuries ago, so now the griffons act as the unicorn's sentinels?

Griffons... Gryphons.... *mulls around the word* *debates whether she likes F's or Y's better... (don't mind me.. I'm very visual when it comes to words) LOL - yodeling flying kitties.... now that's something I'm sure you'd just love sitting on your back fence...! We might have to invent the tin can just to have something to throw at them.

Don't worry... there will be... predators... there's a lot of Dark in the universe yet, it just hasn't quite made it's way to Kalidore... yet...

[Delicious]

Hehe. The y spelling is so ingrained that when I write it out, I don't even think to waffle about the other version. But I can try to remember to use f's if that's what you prefer.

Sentience would be preferable, to me - but not sure of HOW sentient you want them to be. Also - yeah, honestly as gryphon (to me) would seem to be a fairly light-boned beastie, otherwise (outside of magic) how exactly would they get in the air? So depending on how big we make them (granted - while something the size of a liger is truly appealing ... it isn't exactly NECESSARY) - they could definitely be fairly easily quelled (in theory) by the unicorns. *hrms* Mebbe something the size of a great dane at biggest - and more commonly, perhaps the size of a border collie? Definitely a trade accord of sorts would likely help heaps, if they actually live on Kalidore.

@ Dinotopia - there is ALWAYS time for Dinotopia. And I can think of worse things than house doodles all day. Hee hee.

- Del

[silentmoon]

Gryphons should be the size of... well, maybe something smaller than unicorns but not the size of cats. They just never came to me as small. Big and well guarded. And they could come in bird and cat colors? Birds ranging from all families and cats from big to small? Reason for this is because Unicorns are typically natural horse colors (unless you use one of those stones) so why not gryphons too?

I've been thinking, we should have dragons and fair/mer folk! Wouldn't that nice? They'd make an interesting addition with emus and unicorns. Huh? Huh?

Ofcourse, with evey new creature that comes onto Kalidore, doesn't it need history? Would only make sense, I'd say.

[Delicious]

@gryphons -

I dunno - I've always thought that they could come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and persuasions. Hehe. The most common is definitely lion sized or so - but there's something innately precious about a pocket-sized gryphon.

I can just see them flocking in brightly colored groups, and being real pests (even if you still can't help but love'em, 'cause they're just so precocious and pretty). Definitely wouldn't recommend keeping a loosely guarded hen-house tho, I could see a flock of'em eating through that in a single night, and then twittering/catcalling eachother for the rest of the night, bragging about their "hunting prowess". Hehe. 'Cause chickens in a coop are so hard to catch - the silly things.

Speaking of gryphons - >here's< a pretty!

Edited to add:
Egads! Look! Osprey gryph! SO PRETTY!

And speaking of pocket gryphs - >x< >x<

[Lady Whimsy]

Can you believe I've spent the whole day drawing griffons? *G* I've been working out all sorts of subspecies, from the very large the quite small, and I'm sure a great many of them would fit right into the wilds of Kalidore! I will have to scan them in tomorrow night.

POCKET GRIFFONS! Squeeee!!! <3 *starts drawing again madly*

And I'm still debating the spelling of the word... (really, Lady E can attest to my absurdities when it comes to the way a name looks)

Griffon... Gryphon....Gryffon? Gryffin Griffyn Gryfalcon....


Mercritters, Silentmoon? But we do allready have them... they just haven't officially landed yet The protosketches are still up on the main site though, in the needing-to-be-updated newstream page...

Lady whimsy ~

[Delicious]

We have to wait until tomorrow night for sketches?! I demand them right nooooooow! D:

Hehehe.

[silentmoon]

*facepalms*

I think it's another time to look through the website, I must be forgetting so many things, or atleast missing it! D:

[Delicious]

*starts looking under rocks for gryphons*

[Lady Whimsy]

Since it's that time of year..... and I am actually going to put you both to work very shortly... lol... here's a little gift to our wonderful and dedicated KGS Staff members:






Hehe. They're twins Happy Holidays, you two! And please, keep inspiring me!!

Lady Whimsy ~

[Delicious]

*snuggles and snuffles her be-horned beauty*

Whatever work you've got, just say the word. They're so preeeeeetty.