…inside the mind and books of CJ Moseley

Still Building Worlds

Posted on Friday, October 9th, 2015 at 16:02

I have recently finished the 1st draft of my first Cthulhu-thriller “With Strange Aeons” (or maybe “Eldritch Stars Cycle“) series novel (it needs a lot of work before it sees the light of day although my Alpha reader really likes what I’ve come up with, it’s a bit too full on for a first book for the market I have in mind…) and I have started planning on my idea for a kid’s book series, “Cyberpixies“, but that’s still quite early in the planning. I haven’t got a lot of it done yet, it’s been a busy week.

Me “Best-Man”ing

I was a Best Man at the wedding of mine, and my wife’s, best friends earlier in the week. I wrote my speech, and it might have been the best monologue I ever wrote… Although I did have to cut several sections on the fly while delivering it, as the Father of the Bride and Groom had already covered those points. Still, it was well received, but the whole thing has kept me busy away from book writing a little recently. I have a T13 session tonight that continues the world-building on the Adaption Files universe. I decided I wanted to get the players to directly help me fill in some details of the world. They are familiar with the premises that the world is built on now, and have as clear an idea of the universe as I do (except exactly what is behind the Darwin virus). So I’ve created a list of questions that I want to get them to answer, I plan on asking them these during the session (They also have to deal with a new land-type that is newly appeared, the Morphmoor). I accept that for most of you won’t have a clue what any of this means, but I hope you can enjoy the concepts that are being bandied about and see how they work as part of the world-building of that series.

When a Morph is killed, you often find a Morphbone, a weird shaped bone that are said to have bizarre properties. Describe one.
Weirdest insect thing that has evolved e.g. Nose Leech, a leech that has evolved to live in an animal’s sinuses. Drinks blood but enhances your immune system against nasal and blood infections or Zap spider that has a superconducting silk. It can fire them as a taser, or electrify its web. Or the Orblight spider that can make its webs so they glow to attract night flying insects. Goblin markets use them as street lights.
Weirdest plant that has evolved e.g. Lightning Oak that builds charge and releases pheromones to attract animals to its area, before it electrocutes everything over its roots and under its boughs with a curtain of lightning (they can only do this rarely). Don’t complete the circuit early though, touching a limb and exposed root at the same time can kill you.
If you were with a carnival nomad tribe, what would your act be? E.g. A powerful minded mystic who can train and control Morphs, Trollish Strongman?
Pick a city somewhere in the world. How has it survived? Is there a Goblin Market, is there a Techno Bunker, a Mystic enclave or temple, or something else?
Weirdest herd herbivore that has evolved? E.g. Giant vegetarian canines (Horskis) evolved in Siberia (they eat pine needles and lichens, but they supplement their diet with meat, especially females during pregnancy).
Weirdest predator that has evolved? E.g. Swarming giant carnivorous chicken – flightless bird, about half the size of an ostrich. Has flightless wings, and fanned tail. Kills with swarm and ambush tactics, pecking and razor sharp claw spurs. They can’t fly but can use their wings to help them climb, jump and glide. They can form quite large flocks of ten to thirty (Peck). Males become exceptionally aggressive during the breeding season. The enter breeding season anytime food is abundant (basically anytime they make two or more kills in a row).
What do people say the Morphs are up to?
What do people on Earth know about the Technos/Sky people? Have the drones become the people? What do people think they are up to?
What do Mystics think of the Nomads? Goblins? Technos?
Weirdest rodent descendant? E.g. Wire squirrels, giant sloth like rodents that crawl along power lines and help maintain them. (They rebuild pylons and use cultivated spiders to reweave wire with superconducting silk.
You’re a spider-goblin, able to weave all manner of silks, hard silks glow silks and superconducting silks, what do you make for yourself? Weave a computer?
You work in a Goblin-market, what do you trade? Water gourds? Electrical kites?
Weirdest thing you might look up in the night sky and see.
What trade good do Goblins in different regions consider the best currency? Clean water? Gold? Batteries? Morphbone. There are a number of good choices.