Spoiler: large images kophis ref! and i changed around tekai's ref a bit so it resembled ferra slightly more
the myna bird gave me an idea for Predators: spirits that project an aura of loneliness. they sound like a gryphon kit crying and they make their homes around treacherous parts of forests and swamps. often have a symbiotic relationship with larger and more dangerous creatures, luring gryphons close and feeding on the scraps left behind by the monsters.
neptune by sleeping at last fits tekai fairly well. i love him, and i want him to be happy, but he's gotta work through a veritable mountain of buried feelings before that happens.
i've been playing with the idea of 1. tekai losing control because of some sort of massive magical upheaval and 2. kophis manifesting because of the same event. a Pleasing Duality for certain
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO A BUNCH OF PLOT POINTS FELL INTO PLACE FOR ME..... so the plot had been disconnected. wasn't sure what killed/dispersed tekai's pride or why he wasn't there at the time, wasn't sure where ferra came in, didn't know why he was heading to the ocean (..kind of. more of an aimless wander), wasn't sure if losing his family and voice was enough to kick off litai's descent into Demon Possession, etc etc ETC. Spoiler: possible endgame spoilers, click at own risk Spoiler: It's Free Angst so. -pride dispersal/death: dangerous and unknown plague, contracted from sick prey (atypical diet? maybe dwindling prey made the pride's hunters go after carnivores instead), which acts somewhat like rabies in the aggression/hydrophobia realm. tekai is not one of the faster hunters in the pride, but he's built for soaring and endurance, so he manages to outfly the infected. he flees to a nearby pride inhabited by his on-and-off mate litai, but the sick track him there and they flee together. when they return, litai's pride is scattered to the four winds. tekai invites him to stay with whatever remains of his pride, but when they make it there they find. ruins. tekai's pride was less nomadic than litai's, and the outpost they were living in was destroyed, tracks obscured by the dead and the dying. tekai Loses Control of his fire, obliterating most remaining hopes of figuring out how to cure the disease and litai's voice to boot. at least he sterilized the place? tekai takes off, fleeing further into the forest, barely an adult, bereft of (almost) his entire social net, basically homeless ...naq fhssrevat sebz n ybatre-vaphongvat sbez bs gur qvfrnfr, ohg gung'f abg dhvgr eryrinag lrg. naljnl. yvgnv, fvzvyneyl na Nofbyhgr Jerpx naq va gur rneyl fgntrf bs gur qvfrnfr jurer ntterffvba fgnegf gb znavsrfg, qrpvqrf va uvf vasvavgr jvfqbz gb fhzzba n qrzba vagb uvf bja obql gb xvyy grxnv, jub ur oynzrf, evtugyl be jebatyl, sbe gur gentrql. gur qrzba xrrcf uvf obql gbtrgure sbe ybatre, juvpu vf jul ur qbrfa'g snyy qrnq juvyr punfvat grxnv, ohg vg trgf cerggl taneyl. xbcuvf pbzrf va... fbzrjurer. xvyyf cbffrffrq!yvgnv, znlor fubegyl nsgre zrrgvat grxnv? vg'q svg orggre jvgu gur gvzryvar. nsgrejneq, grxnv znxrf hc uvf zvaq gb jnaqre gbjneqf gur frn, jurer uvf unys-fvfgre sreen yvirf, gb fgnl rvgure jvgu be arne gurz. (sreen ivfvgrq ure lbhatre unys-oebgure n pbhcyr gvzrf, juvpu vf ubj fur zrg vyin, jub'f cneg bs yvgnv'f cevqr. gunaxshyyl gur qvfgnapr orgjrra gurz ceriragrq vyin sebz trggvat ure pynjf gbb qrrc va, va gur yvgreny naq va gur rzbgvbany frafr, naq (fubegyl orsber gur ortvaavat bs gur fgbel?) sreen gbyq ure gb uvg gur ebnq naq fgbccrq ivfvgvat. ~PVARZNGVP CNENYYRYF~, naq gung'f ubj grxnv xabjf ure.) gurl znxr vg gb gur frn, ohg grxnv'f orra npgvat fgenatr. frpergvir naq ntterffvir, abguvat gung pna'g or rkcynvarq ol tevrivat ohg fbzrguvat frrzf Bss, naq gura. Fprar: Spoiler: script of dubious quality -grxnv fgnaqf ng gur gbc bs n pyvss naq fgnerf qbja ng gur jnirf. Ng Ybat Ynfg gurl unir znqr vg gb gur bprna naq rirelguvat'f tbvat gb or bxnl ohg -grxnv, nccerurafviryl: ...jr'er urer. -xbcuvf, ybbxvat nebhaq, xvaq bs boyvivbhf: jurer'f lbhe fvfgre'f cnpx, gura? -grxnv: gurl yvir qbja gurer. pybfre gb gur jnirf. gurl zvtug or shegure nybat gur ornpu. -grxnv: ...v pna'g tb qbja gurer. -xbcuvf, cvpxvat hc ba uvf nccerurafvba: lbh fnvq fur fgbccrq ivfvgvat orpnhfr bs na rk, evtug? gurer'f ab ernfba gb or fpnerq, vg'f abg yvxr ure bcvavba bs lbh'f unf punatrq be nalguvat-- -grxnv: -grxnv: ab, v'z-- -grxnv, gheavat gb snpr xbcuvf, jvgu qvyngrq chcvyf naq fcrpxf bs sbnz ivfvoyr ng gur pbeare bs uvf ornx: -grxnv: v pna'g tb qbja gurer. xbcuvf gnpxyrf uvz bss gur pyvss naq vagb gur jngre, cebonoyl jvgu gur hfr bs zntvp orpnhfr xbcuvf vf n abbqyr. grxnv'f n qrnq jrvtug naq unys-qebjaf orsber xbcuvf qrfcrengryl chyyf uvz bhg bagb gur qel fnaq naq fghzoyrf vagb n arneol qjryyvat gb ybbx sbe uryc. Jbaqre Bs Jbaqref gur qjryyvat orybatf gb n urnyre, rfgryvgu, jub vf noyr gb nqzvavfgre uryc. grxnv fgehttyrf ohg chyyf guebhtu, nygubhtu cbffvoyl abg jvgubhg creznarag srne bs ynetr obqvrf bs jngre, naq npg gjb ortvaf, va juvpu grxnv, sreen, naq xbcuvf (naq cebonoyl rfgryvgu gbb) erghea gb gur nern va juvpu grxnv yvirq gb frnepu sbe uvf erznvavat snzvyl naq nqzvavfgre pherf. rfgryvgu vf n Obt Jvgpu naq n jngre zntr, fb fur pbhyq cebonoyl uryc jvgu obgu grxnv'f ulqebcubovn naq uvf srne bs uvf bja sver zntvp. GOD Y'ALL I'M SO SATISFIED
iiiiiif the word for female was something adjacent to jaeger than jaerynn would be 1. a feminine name and 2. a derivative of "hunter" jiav changing their name to, well, jiav, would mirror my own name change as well as being symbolic of turning from their pride's expectations and forging their own path--from being named "hunter", essentially, to being named after the muse, a nod to their storytelling. ohohohoho jiav was always meant to be a me-expy and this.. this definitely helps that.
hmm. roak and jaeg singular, or roakii and jaegra plural work in progress but i kinda like that, and it's Much better than like.. hen. or keythong, although i actually like keythong so i might work that in somewhere
jaegroaka thats a godawful portmanteu but i like the idea of plurals/neutrals being either truly neutral or a fusion of m/f, rather than the androcentric Hot Garbage that english has work in progress continues to be in progress
idea: really like ijahv being associated with moths by jiav's pride mostly bc im sentimental and that'd associate them closer to the person that theyre based off of but also i like ijahv with weird limbs and giant moth wings and that differentiates them from the same entity as seen by different prides, since i really gotta come up with some variety in religious imagery
alternatively, ren as a neutral plural/name part kophis reh [pride name] tekai roa [pride name] jaerynn je gwasdau-->jiav reh [peregrine derivative]
just learned about catatumbo lightning there's DEFINITELY a place like that in caiosverse setting, and there's probably a massive shrine to a storm god there -- ...hm. ideas for communication: leylines which can be operated by any decently skilled mage, long-distance message fliers, and favors from gods; there could definitely be some sort of service in the larger shrines/temples where a lesser spirit teleports messages left in some sort of box to other shrines, where they can be picked up. long distance communication would be difficult, but not impossible, and probably over weeks and short spans of months rather than years. this would imply some form of nations/united groups BUT i can open that can of worms when it's not nearly 2am.
i don't know enough about Planets but doing weird divine stuff with multiple moons and constellations would be neat i think there's so much about caiosverse to figure out that it's kind of overwhelming sometimes, but it's fun thinking about Worldbuilding even if most of this stuff probably won't come up
slow dancing in a burning room by john mayer--tekai towards litai, just after the plague and just before injuring him quiet little monsters by we were promised jetpacks--litai empire by of monsters and men--tekai and kophis, but also to a lesser extent jiav and zaliel taxidermy by white lies--demon!litai towards kophis/tekai, kinda neptune by sleeping at last--tekai towards kophis wicked game by ursine vulpine--litai towards tekai before turning bluebird by paper rival--tekai towards kophis, after kophis kills litai you can run by adam jones--demon!litai towards tekai the mystic by adam jensen--tekai, shortly before the story begins. the lyrics aren't an exact match but it's a good fit for his #mood perspective by polite fiction--tekai toward kophis something wild by lindsey stirling and andrew mcmahon--ferra. not because it really fits the events it's just her vibe strangers by halsey--ilva thinking about ferra hate u love u by olivia o'brien--ilva towards ferra those are kinda what i have so far but i should come up w some more. Thematic music for the setting and for the more minor characters probably
tekai li'i tovao (looked up tekai, found a reference to samoa, tovao is an abbreviated version of togavao (samoan word for forest). samoan word for son is atali'i, so i looked up a few permutations of that, and the first result for li'i was "word/voice" in weyewa, which doesn't have any connotations i want to avoid) so: [given name] [gender indicator] [pack name]. closer to [given name] [gender indicator] Of The Forest, or Of The Forest Pack gender indicator isn't quite right, probably, it's also probably "mage"? i don't know whether to make gender like.. A Thing, other than i know tekai would (hhehehe) translate to trans in human terms anyway that's his full name. at last. canonizing that
what's better than this. just gals bein pals more ferra nd estelith content because it's always time for lesbians
