An Afghani Jingle Truck

An anonymous friend of mine who works for the US Government studying contractors tells me:

“In Afghanistan, [shipping]’s not as big a problem [as between Kuwait and Iraq] because the shipping companies are mostly local and they know who to pay off. If you look at pictures of Afghan and Pakistani trucks online, you can see they are covered with jewelry and paintings, which serve to announce their alliances.  They call them ‘jingle trucks’… that’s why convoy security isn’t as difficult in Afghanistan.”

“Holy crap,” I said, paraphrasing myself for this post, “That’s the Silk Road. Still.”

Lest we forget as creators of fictions, I will state this: systems, including Modern systems, are not perfect. They don’t make a homogeneous, Star Trek world. There are local needs that aren’t satisfied by distant, putatively benevolent systems of control. There are traditions that are kept, social mores that evolved for the particular requirements of that area of the world. They don’t change just because there are teleporters.

(Thanks, Rob)

In Xenon: the world is made of a map that’s created by the World Player as the travelers leave their home behind. Technically, the map is a relationship map with broad categories. The Xumph prey on the Canwana. The Canwana raise the Xumph for ritual sacrifices. The Canwana trade Kogantaw wax with the Feihun, who return to them Choum that they steal from Yikl merchants on the Siaia Way. The Canwana are at war with the Treloudon and their kings Protu, Behun, and Goksh over the idol of Great Nadwhu, the primordial Xumph.

Now, what’s neat about that is that you wind up with a physical map of the world in the process. Just writing down a people on the map gives them not only their relationships to others, but also where they are in the world, how far you have to travel from a place to get to them.

Consider the map at the top of this post. It’s a Renaissance European map of the world. Note that the cartographer is under the impression that Europe is as big as Asia and Africa. He’s drawing it from his perspective. It’s not literal, and the guy knows that you couldn’t navigate by it, because the real world is much more complex than all that (never mind not knowing about three whole continents and only knowing the tiniest amount about one, which is shown as an amorphous mystery at the edge of the world-ocean), but it conveys what you need to know.

I’d like to see a lot of map making in Xenon: and will probably take a page from The Dragon Killer in that regard.

Xenon: is entering real playtesting tomorrow night. I’m very excited. Dare I say Gen Con 2010?

From a photograph of the arist at work, studying a Europan Whale.

In 1998, as part of a drawing class, I made a book called A Trip to Europa in which I “edited” the works of a Dr. Kesling Frankh about his exploration of the oceans and life forms of the vast world-ocean of the Jovian moon Europa.

Europa is covered in ice and has a small rocky core. Tidal forces of Jupiter cause constant shifting of the ice, which releases heat and keeps liquid the vast world-ocean 2 kilometers beneath the surface liquid.

Click images to see closer.

There is only one “species” of life on Europa but its stages of life fill all available niches. Life “starts” as small, striated Spores that hatch into mineral-consuming Plankton. They become and are consumed by Foxes, small predators that, in turn become and are consumed by Wolves, the next phase. Wolves, when their local population becomes too great, are consumed by scavenger Foxes, Plankton, with the remainder becoming Whales, who consume minerals, Plankton, and any other organic detritus in the water. They lay Spores that eventually hatch into Plankton, restarting the process.

As Xenon: takes form, I’m discovering a small but elegantly creative “speculative evolution” and “worldbuilding” communities. They’re intensely creative and often collaborative environments, and there’s just as often a set of standards about authorship. You might even say that these communities have developed System for such endeavors.

One such really incredible world is called Snaiad. It’s remarkable not just because of its creativity, but also because of the extraordinary skill with which it’s been created. The paintings are rendered with amazing texture. Some textures, you recognize from animals you know. Some seem to be vegetable. Some body parts look like you’d expect. Others aren’t at all what they look like.

Enjoy your visit to Snaiad. When you get back, I’ll have some comments about other worldbuilding sites and projects, including my own Europa project from 1998, newly edited.

Man, those folks did beautiful work. It’s gets all cosmic ‘n’ shit at the end, but this could be right out of Barlowe’s Expedition.