FRACTAL 2012/06/14(Thu)17:50 No. 56079 ID: ecb09c
File 133972144462.png - (108.97KB , 700x600 , crotchmandiblessss.png )

i
i can neither confirm nor deny the canon existence of crotch mandibles at this time

itt we discuss the deerling reproduction process which will remain a highly guarded secret that is undoubtedly integral to the weight of decisions thus far and in the foreseeable future

several theories might include
budding - is genetic information involved at all ? is this a process independent of sex and sexual organs ?
arcane ritual - unique procedures of indeterminate physical consequence bring new lives into being. the question still remains; is this process independent of sex and sexual organs ?

what are crotch mandibles ?? we just dont know.

>>56080
It's not necessarily a highly guarded secret, I just haven't chosen to discuss it in canon yet! However, you are correct in assuming that it'll be very important to the plot. It'll probably come up soon, but until then I can answer questions like this.
Rekitzchen reproduction has nothing to do with genetic material at all. It is not a physical process.
You could call it a ritual, in some ways, because there are certain specific parameters that must be met! These parameters require the full participation of both a Frölich Rekitzchen and a Traurig Rekitzchen.

>>56081
IS it at least a fun ritual?

You know what the best fix would probably be to the pronoun conundrum? Make some up. If you're lazy, here:

Frölich- Ti (singular) Tir (possessive)
Traurig- Fi (singular) Fir (possessive)

... actually, given the letters they start with, I suppose you'd want to flip those.

i use

e, e's (he she, he's she's)
h' (him and her are VERY problematic if you notice the incongruous tone-pairings with the below two cases ..)
h's (.. his and her ..)
es (.. his and hers)
aself (himself, herself)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_pronoun#Summary
table sucks, because english is a terrible language.
.. doesn't german have a -lot- of pronouns you can use ?

>>56091

trust me, no matter how bad you think English is, German is one hundred million times worse.

Besides gender neutral pronouns like "you", can't we just use their names? GUNTER and GUNTER'S, LIEF and LIEF's?

>>56093
I thought about that, but that would get really stiff and awkward in a relatively short amount of time. However, using "they" has already become stiff and awkward. X_X

>>56091
German does use the neutral pronoun "es" ... however, once you get into conjugation everything is stupid and nothing sounds like anything else.

>>56090
I actually really like these! Now that I think about it, I'd rather use these than a totally neutral pronoun, because a deerling's Gemüt (whether they are Frölich or Traurig) serves almost the same role in their society - actually, it's probably MORE important to them than sex or gender would be if they had it - so it makes sense that they would differentiate.

>>56091
English is hardly the only language to lack a gender-neutral pronoun. Outside of spelling weirdness it's honestly more straightforward than people seem to think.

When deerlings have had a deerlet, do they need to repeat the process if they want to have another one? They would need to [i]somehow[i] have more than one offspring on average to keep the population from collapsing.

>>56229
perhaps it can be done again once the first one has grown enough?

So I'm thinking this is a better question for discussion land than the quest itself- Do people's antlers serve any actual purpose? Female deer don't have them, and the whole non-standard gender approach here seems to be avoiding any features only one sex or the other has on all the human traits, and male deer only have them for sparring to impress females which... really seems unlikely here. So... is it just "eh, antlers are neat" or something else?

>>56229
Since we don'T know if they "die" at all, I doubt that.

What if dying is also heavily ritualized? The gods probably thought of something (I bet it's one of the stories to find).

We also don't know for sure, the Traurig deerling always returns with only one kid.

With this kind of magics involved in this quest, I personally wouldn't apply the methods used to analyse the earthly reproduceuntilyoufindnothingtoeatandthendie attitude of the populations we know of.

How is deerlet fed

How is deerlet fed how fawn get milk

Will there be a reward for hearing all 20 stories?

Also, will all stories relate directly to the gods? Are there any known gods besides Oberin and Gonner? Is it known how non-Deerling species such as Dryads reproduce? Are Dryads sapient (capable of reasoning/higher thinking)? If not, which, if any, sapient non-Deerling species are known to Deerlings? When studying at the university, did Lief focus on anything in particular? What is the name of the village and country we are in now? What other nations do you know of? You described magicka tattoos as being "illegal in parts of the country", which implies the existence of sub-federal legal jurisdictions. Are these states, provinces, prefectures, Bundeslander, or something else? Does this planet have a name? Is the picture of you two above Lief's bed a painting, photograph, or something else? Who runs the general store and apothecary? Would the apothecary sell any (magickal or non) drugs or potions that could help us on our journey? Are there any friends other than Fritzi and the shopkeepers who might be able to help out somehow? Do you or Lief keep in touch with anyone in either city or nearby who might be able to help? Are the names Edelweiss and Marmota family/clan names? If so, does the deerlet receive one of these names at birth or is it given later in life? When the Traurig returns bearing the deerlet, is it just found lying on the ground next to tin? Is it traditional to leave the body lying after the ritual killing, or to arrange it in some way? Does the Frolich have to stay at home while waiting for the Traurig to return, or can fi stay with the body? Do Frolich and Traurig have any biological differences aside from fur/antler coloration? Does the Traurig return exactly 72 hours after the killing, or is it simply after 3 sunrises and sunsets?

Also, does the gamut develop at birth, and if so is it known what determines it?

Also, is there any particular reason for the use of the German language in this quest, or is it just because it looks/sounds cool?

Also, has a third party ever observed and reported on the ritual, and is such a thing even possible? Is there any way to find out exactly how is derlet formed how deer get child?

Also, has a Traurig never returned with more than one deerlet?

Okay, I am gonna basically answer all these questions in a series of replies focusing on different question subjects.

About Traurig/Frolich differences, etc:

Antler and fur coloration is generally different in Traurig and Frolich deerlings, but it can get kind of fuzzy. Traurig always have white antlers and usually have darker coloration, while Frolich always have black antlers and are usually lighter in color.

Because of this, it's generally considered attractive for a Traurig to be as dark as possible and a Frolich to be as light as possible. (Example: performers, models, and other Rekitzchen whose livelihoods depend on their physical attractiveness are usually either extremely dark-furred or extremely light-furred.) Some Rekitzchen in urban areas dye their fur, but it's generally considered a little trashy and fake to do so.

Antlers serve no practical purpose, but elegant, large antlers are considered more attractive. (Evolution is not a factor in the deerling race, because they were directly created by the gods - scholars who believe so are mistaken. There are, however, other creatures and species who have and continue to evolve.)

Gamüt is determined at birth. Because coloration can vary and talents do not manifest until the child is at least one year old(or one solar cycle, as Rekitzchen call it), the most accurate way of determining whether the deerlet is Frolich or Traurig is antler color. More on this when I talk about the ritual.

About the birthing ritual:

The ritual can be repeated whenever the deerlings feel ready - so technically, you could even perform it every three days. However, just because the ritual was successful once does not mean it will be successful subsequent times. Every time the ritual is performed, the relationship between the Traurig and Frolich must meet the parameters of "completing each other," both participants must be completely willing, and the ritual must be performed with "pure intentions" (that is, without ulterior motives).

It is necessary to bury the body. The first and relatively less important reason is that the body must be protected from harm during the three day period of birth - remember that only injuries inflicted by the mate with the intention to kill will be healed. The second reason is that the deerlet will be drawn from either the water or the dirt in the ground, depending on the gamüt of the child. (Gamüt is determined by whichever parent deerling is the dominant personality in the relationship.)

The Frolich technically could stay by the burial site, if they wished, and some do choose to do so. Most Frolich, however, are deeply disturbed and distressed by the ritual - understandably so - and spending time near the site is too traumatic and upsetting for them.

No one has ever observed the actual process of deerlet birth because, as stated above, the Traurig must be buried for the deerlet to be created.

"3 days" is defined as 3 sunrises and 3 sunsets.

On Deerlets:

Deerlet's first names are given at birth, while their last names are given when they develop and manifest their talent. The last name is not necessarily connected to their talent - it's usually picked on aesthetic terms.

Deerlets are fed soft food until their teeth grow in (this usually occurs at their first demicycle, aka half a year). By this time their markings have begun to darken and become more defined.
These markings are usually completely sharp and visible by the time they are one solar cycle old, and this is when most deerlets first begin noticibly exhibiting signs of their talent. Talents are actually made possible by these naturally-occurring markings. (Similarly, magicka tattoos emulate these markings in order to give deerlings the ability to use artificial talents or boost the ones they already have.)

More than one deerlet can be formed through the birthing ritual, and twins are actually quite common (occurring perhaps 30% of the time).

On Dryads and other species:

Dryads are sapient. They are generally considered less reasoned/intelligent than Rekitzchen. There are other species on the planet who are sapient/capable of speech, but - like Dryads - they are all exceptionally rare, and Dryads are probably the only variety that are friendly.

There are also many forms of beast, mostly avian or reptilian. Many are domesticated, but deerlings do not eat meat. Doing so makes them violently ill. Any livestock they keep are kept for milk, pelts, or to feed other beasts.

Many beasts are extremely dangerous, but most settled areas are set up far from areas with dangerous beasts. They are often hunted for venom, bones, blood, and other things that are useful for magicka and potionwork.

On the planet and environment:

The planet is unnamed. Because deerling are unaware of other planets, it seems completely unnecessary to name theirs. It is just here. Most Rekitzchen (not counting scholars, many of whom have actually done studies on this subject) don't conceive of a space outside of the planet. To them, the planet they live on is everything there is, and it has never occurred to them to assume that there may be something outside of it.

The planet is small, probably the size of venus, and has three main continents and one very large set of islands. Rekitzchenstreben takes place on the smallest of the three continents, Hirlen.

Hirlen is divided into three countries, each of which are divided into provinces. Each province has a slightly different form of government, but each has an administrative head of state.
Lief and Gunter live in the village of Ahornblatt, in the province of Baum-Provinz, in the country of Leuchtetwald.

Cities usually have their own administration as well, but many villages - including ones as small as Ahornblatt - have no administration, government, or law enforcement, but simply an honor system and the expectation that villagers will assist each other and uphold the peace.

On Gods and Stories:

Rekitzchen only believe in two gods, Oberin and Gönner. I can confirm here that Oberin and Gönner exist.

Dryads and other sapient species also have small-scale religions, but are rarely as devout as Rekitzchen (most likely because their gods, if they exist, do not manifest themselves as overtly as the deer gods).

There are small subsets of deerlings who practice and believe other religions, but they are generally viewed as unhinged crackpots by the majority of Rekitzchen. There are also atheists here and there, and while they're not viewed negatively, per se, most deerling probably just wonder WHY they don't believe in the gods when there is so much evidence pointing towards their existence.

Most stories will be about the gods, but there are a few that are simply stories about the characters. There isn't necessarily a reward for collecting all 20, but you probably need the information in most of them to achieve quest objectives and advance the plot.

Also, I forgot to mention: Since they are not under the jurisdiction of the deer gods, non-Rekitzchen species reproduce sexually. This is something that deerlings look at with a faint sense of disgust, and it's something that is often cited as "what separates us from beasts."

And some miscellaneous answers:

The german-based language used in the quest is Rekitzunge. It is the language used universally by deerling. There are some dialects, but for the most part, speech is pretty cohesive across the planet.

The pictures shown in the deerling's cottages are photographs. Cameras are relatively new and extremely expensive. In urban areas, it's relatively easy to set up a portrait session. However, rural communities typically have to wait for a travelling photographer to come to their village (typically once or twice a year). At that point, the entire village (or almost all of them) gather to have their yearly portraits taken.

Lief studied Biotheology and Supernatural Chemistry at the university of Geweihburg.

Okay, that's everything! If I didn't answer your question it's probably because it was something that's going to be revealed in canon anyway.

Yayifications!

>>56258

that's quite interesting- I just imagined myself as a non-sexual being who's casually watching porn like a documentary. first I thought it was interesting and the sounds and faces they made made me giggle. but then the guy ejaculated and I spat my popcorn out in disgust.

what's this evidence on the gods' existence you speak of?

Thank you very much for answering!

Oh, are the twenty stories for chapter one, or across the entire quest?

Also, in which parts of the country are the tattoos illegal?

>>56272
Y'know, you could just type out all your questions into Word then post them. Or delete your older questions and C+P them into a larger post.

I put the questions up as I think of them. I didn't think it was possible to delete or edit posts.

Does the fact that the Traurig and deerlet awake underground, and preusumably have to be dug out by the Traurig, mean that deerling have at least a limited ability to survive without air?

>>56278

it's possible. mainly because triple posts get annoying to look at after a while.

Let me chip in and say, this quest is absolutely gorgeous.

For me, it's exactly the right amount of intriguing story, fantastical world building, little humour thrown in here and there and absolutely wonderful art.

Although I don't participate much atm, be sure you have an avid follower for however long this will continue. Which I hope is something between decades and centuries.

Answers:

The 20 stories are to be collected across the entire quest. The bodies are buried in very shallow, loose graves in order to allow the Traurig Rekitzchen to escape more easily (if the ritual fails, the Frolich is left with the horrifying task of unearthing their mate's corpse to bury properly. It's pretty grody.) Also, the tattoos are illegal in a lot of various places. Maybe when I eventually get a map up I'll delineate the areas, maybe not.

Also, anonymous, thank you so much! That really means a lot to me. I'm glad I'm creating something you enjoy! :>

Is the paper doll we're seeing now an accurate, uncensored picture of Deerling anatomy (apart from the urethra, which I guess could be too low for us to see/hidden under fur)? Do same-Gamut relationships exist?

Yep, it's accurate! Same-gamüt relationships do exist, but they're exceedingly rare. I wouldn't say that they're looked at in a negative light ... most rekitzchen view "gay" deerling the same way they view atheist ones - with puzzlement. I'd say the general social view of deerling that are attracted to their own gamüt is that they're not really serious, and that the relationship couldn't actually be physical (even though in reality they are). Seeing as deerling anatomy doesn't vary between the gamüts, sex doesn't vary between "gay" and "straight" deerling.

Is there a significant difference in the way the gamüts dress?

If so, how does transvestism go over with people?

And why do they look like they've been stitched together? The doll vibe is a little creepy.

>>56325

I agree. except replace creepy with sexy. but seriously what's up with the stitches man.

>>56324
There's no difference between the fashion habits of Traurig and Frolich deerling. You might notice throughout the quest that I typically draw Frolich in black clothing and Traurig in lighter clothing, but that's a stylistic choice due to the monochrome color scheme, not necessarily a representative depiction of typical clothing choices.

>>56325
They don't! The marks that look like seams and stitches on Gunter there are really just fir markings (fir motif is one long line with two small perpendicular hash marks, so that repeats over and over again on fir body). For example, on Lief, those same general areas (possibly more or less) would be marked with dots or circles. On Fritzi, there would be triangle markings, on Lutzi there would be scrolls, etc. Gunter just happens to have a motif that looks a bit like stitching.

wouldn't it be Fröhlich?

Nevermind, looks like it is, earlier. Wonder where the umlaut and h buggered off to.

>>56356
The american keyboard scheme (the most common) has no umlaut keys, and going to a text editor every time you make a post seems to be a hassle when you just want to give a quick reply.

>>56364
Learn alt codes. Or at least keep the appropriate letters on the clipboard.

>>56364
Windows should have a charmap.exe ... search for glyphs by name, Unicode block, font, etc.

>>56376
>>56381
>Do this do that
Nope.
Why does this matter when you just want to post a quick reply and everybody involved in the conversation knows what is?
I support any effort made for successful communication, but as soon as the message gets across, why bother? Efficiency matters.

u+F6, (alt-246?) for ö
u+68, (alt-104) for h
But the h key has a nice central location on the keyboard. Hence, this is a joke.

ALTERNATELY
It is accepted German orthography to replace the umlauted vowels ä, ö, ü with ae, oe, and ue when umlauts are unavailable. So, Froehling.

**Froehlich. Though "Froehling" and "Trauling" as abbreviations of "Froehlich Deerling" and "Traurig Deerling" do seem like useful portmanteaus that could be taken away from this error.

The missing h is just a lack of consistency on my part (not sure if I'll keep it this way or not - I'm worldbuilding as I go here. The words don't actually need to be exactly faithful to German. Meh, we'll see).
As for the lack of umlaut, as >>56358 and >>56385 said, it was just that I was typing out a 30-second reply for the disthread and figured you guys would know what I meant. I've tried the alt codes, and for whatever reason, they don't work on my keyboard. Usually I use the windows character map, but, like I said - 30 second reply to the disthread.

Also >>56387, about the abbreviations
Deerling just use the words "Frohling" (NO UMLAUTS FOR YOU) and "Traurig" to denote "blahblahgamut Deerling." I was planning on using "Froh/Trauling" and "Froh/Trauchen" as diminutives of that, with blahchen being a little more formal than blahling.

Goodness, up until now I always read 'rehkitzchensterben' instead of 'rehkitzchenstreben'...

Which still fits, in a way. But it set a really gloomy atmosphere.

>>56391
oh my god, you're right
it still fits, which is ... horrible and hilarious all at once

Well, our Rekitzchenstrebens is to prevent a Rekitzchensterben. (Rekitzchentot?)

Since Schafwolle translates to lambswool, I assume that most of our common domestic animals exist in this world too?

Also, do Rekitzchen hooves make shoes unnecessary?

>>56403
Versions of them! Rekitzchen view them basically the same way humans do - there are plenty of Rekitzchen who flip shit over the captivity of beasts and think it's horrid, but there are way more who think that's just the natural order of things. However, as stated above, Rekitzchen do not eat meat - not because it's taboo or considered immoral, but because it makes them ill.

Also, shoes are unnecessary, but they still exist. They're kind of the same as gloves for humans - you use gloves, and they're common, but if someone wore gloves whenever they were doing something with their hands you would think they were weird.

Is there any noticeable difference in the pitch or timbre of voices between the Gamuts?

>>56463
Nope! Pitch ranges between individuals across both gamüts, but they're never extremely high/feminine or low/masculine.

>>56505
Do Rekitzchen sometimes try to adopt?
Even though all children are made by choice... well then again maybe there are unintentional deerlings where someone kills their mate for reasons other than bearing children, and somehow they still manage to truly love them even when they kill their mate and it ain't for ulterior motives (shit happens somehow, the Traurig is somehow killed by its Frolich and it all contains pure motives while having no intention of creating a child), and HERE WE GO ACCIDENTAL CHILD because every world (real and fictional) and its metaphysics are weird as fuck and the seemingly impossible happens frequently. But with how hard-written the ritual sounds, it sounds like while an accidental child is physically possible, but it's very, very improbable and may be theoretically impossible.
Well, what I was going to mention before I went on that tangent is that since all kids are made by choice, I doubt anyone would give them up to an orphanage. However, there is still murder and death and sickness in this world so I figure, hey, maybe deerlings DO end up in orphanages somewhere and because of the riskiness of conception, maybe there's high demand for second-hand deerlings.
Or maybe they settle for another race even. I mean, shit, there's got to be a bunch of Reki couples who'd just rather adopt another sentient species than go with the risk of not completing the certain "parameters" required to make a child.

>>56512
It seems more likely that orphans would come up from two deerlings having a kid, then dying for unrelated reasons

>>56512
The ritual is specific to the point where if it is performed without the intent to create a child, it won't work. However, there are plenty of orphaned deerlets.
For lack of a better way to put it, children are an exceedingly valuable commodity in deerling society. The stakes involved in creating them, their rarity, and the fact that the deerling population is almost always teetering on the edge of extinction (relative to other creatures, at least) are all factors that combine into an environment in which deerlets are insanely precious.
The requirements for adoption are extremely stringent. Children are in high demand, because there are many couples who don't feel that they are or ever will be prepared for the ritual ... but the catch-22 is that in order to adopt, your relationship with your mate basically proves to be near-perfect. (It's like the paradox of loans - in order to borrow money, you first must basically prove that you don't need it. That kind of thing.)
Rekitzchen do not formally adopt non-deerling sapient creatures. The only non-hostile sapient beings in existence are Dryads, and they are generally considered somewhat savage and unfit for Rekitzchen society. The rest of the sapient species existing in this world are violent and hostile, and couldn't be raised by deerlings, even if adopted in infancy.

>>56538
There must be a black market to worry about then if children are precious.
If a deerling couple has enough bank... well I doubt adopting will be difficult for them. Either from such a black market, or bribing a poor couple that managed to do the ritual with enough cash to sell if the couple is having trouble with raising the child.

FRACTAL 2012/06/29(Fri)10:27 No. 56566 ID: ecb09c
File 134099085143.png - (947.43KB , 1000x1750 , grouppicture.png )

okay so apparently quest art is supposed to go here, not in the draw thread
soooo
group picture
(fritzi dyes fir hair, the little floozy)

FRACTAL 2012/06/29(Fri)10:28 No. 56567 ID: ecb09c
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also this

FRACTAL 2012/06/29(Fri)10:28 No. 56568 ID: ecb09c
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and this thing

Are there any professions that (accurately or not) are stereotyped as being the domain of one Gamut exclusively? Are there Rekitzchen ethnic groups with phenotypical differences?

Also what kind of calendar(s) do the deerlings use? Does the group photo confirm Fritzi/Lutzi as a former couple? I can't see why Lief and Gunter would pose for a photo with tin otherwise?

>>56566
>>56566
OH MY. Look at that smuggness-cuteness combo.

That is a very interesting style you got there, mister. The characters have a lot of personality.

Also, what do Gunter and Lief do for a living?

>>56581
The only thing that's really consistently stereotyped is the position of medical doctor/healer, because Frölich talents are generally much more suited to that kind of work. It's sort of the same way with a lot of other professions; if it involves destructive/negative work, you'd expect it to be a Traurig-dominated field, whereas you'd expect more Frölich in a job that requires reconstruction/physical creation. That's not to say that all Rekitzchen go into a job that has to do with their talent, though.
Also, no - Rekitzchen are a small population and generally are pretty homogenous.

>>56582
The deerling calender is split into three seasons: Barren, Rainy, and Harvest. Each of the three seasons are split into three stages: early, mid, and late. Each stage consists of about 20 days, which are 30 hours long each. A week is 10 days. So, to recap: 30 hours to 1 day, 10 days to 1 week, 2 weeks to one stage, 3 stages to one season, 3 seasons to one solar cycle.
Lutzi and Fritzi are cousins - it's the reason Lutzi moved from the city to Ahornblatt in the first place. Fritzi's Traurer and Lutzi's Traurer were both born from the same couple. Fritzi's traurer and fröhrer died about two solar cycles ago, so their grandparents asked Lutzi to move to Ahornblatt to keep an eye on fir.

>>56587
Gunter doesn't have a solid profession - fi just farms to keep them fed, and makes little odds and ends to trade or sell for what the two of them need. Lief has been unemployed since returning from the university (ti had planned to become a scholar of supernatural chemistry, but that plan was scuttled when the two ran out of cash).
Fritzi is the village healer. People generally pay fir in food and goods for fir services.
This kind of bartering wouldn't fly in an urban area - it's cold hard Saat or nothing up there. In a small community like Ahornblatt, however, it's kind of generally understood that everyone contributes whatever they can to the community.

>>56583
Ah, thank you. :3

FRACTAL 2012/06/29(Fri)15:08 No. 56593 ID: ecb09c
File 134100771286.png - (743.15KB , 1000x1750 , grouppicturesepia.png )

oh and also a sepia version of that photo because i can't resist the overwhelming urge to be tacky
this is how it actually would have looked, anyway - they don't have color photography yet

What's the current date? What are the terms used for siblings, and does Gunter have any? What's a Rekitzchen's average lifespan? How old are Gunter and Lief? When are their birthdays?

Speaking of jobs, Handel isn't a good business man, isn't he?
I know I mentioned that in the thread, but that was a suggestion for Gunter to ask. Maybe. I just need to point it out.
Those five day and seven day provision plans will go to waste if every customer is smart enough to just buy a bunch of three day packs. I mean, you can buy three three-packs for an extra two days of food for 100 Saat cheaper!
He has to price these packs so that the price-per-day ratio gets smaller as the packs get bigger to encourage buying them!
Imagine if I could just go to the store and get two half galleons of milk for cheaper than a full galleon? Two half galleons cost more to make thanks to the amount of material to make the jugs that contain the milk are doubled! Meanwhile, the galleon probably only costs 1.33x the cost of a single half-galleon container. The producer of that milk lost money, motherfucker! Everyone's buying the half galleons and the full galleons are just expiring! That's wasted milk and plastic!
You think that fucking cardboard you put the food in is free, Hadlen? Fuck no it ain't, it costs you money!

Oh, that just got justified in thread while I was making that post
Did you have that art in a buffer because you knew suggesters were gonna point that out?

>>56596
No, I drew it really really fast. And also I realized it could be justified by saying that each of the packs takes up an inventory space - so buying several 3-days would take up more space than buying a 7-day, etc, making the 5 and 7 packs valuable because of their economy of space.
But Handel is also just kind of dumb, anyway.

>>56597
All right, well Gunter has more business knowledge than Hadlen (well, at least when Gunter has us suggesting), fi could definitely get a job helping Hadlen out with money and pricing (Before you had the inventory justification. Though, from a business standpoint, I think it would still cost Hadlen more money if the customers are willing to suffer that extremely small inconvenience for better prices). Probably pays better than farming!

Well, this is after this whole quest thing gets done.

Oh god, this alien pronouns are probably doing wonder for my grammar. At least in regards to them specifically.

The current date is the 10th of the Late-Harvest Stage, in the 564th solar cycle since the Gottmördertot (the deerling equivalent of AD).
Lief is 15 solar cycles old - which, with the way rekitzchen age and mature, is about biologically equivalent to 25 human years old. Gunter is 13 solar cycles old, which puts fir at a little under 22 human years.
Lief's birthday is the 1st day of the Mid-Barren Stage and Gunter's birthday is the 19th day of the Early-Rainy Stage.
Rekitzchen typically live to be 36 solar cycles old, which is about 60 human years.
You might have noticed that parents are referred to as Traurers and Fröhrers, depending on their gamüt. There's no formal word for "sibling," but they're generally referred to as either your "meinfröhling" or "meintrauling," which literally translates to "my little Fröhling" or "my little Traurig." They're called this even if they are older. There's a special word for twin - "anlichtrau" or "anlichfröh."
Gunter has no siblings.

FRACTAL 2012/06/29(Fri)18:31 No. 56602 ID: ecb09c
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Somebody asked about how deerling use tools.
Generally, deerling can manipulate a lot of simple, everyday items with the two halves of their cloven hooves and their dewclaws. However, a lot of things - especially weapons - cannot be used that way.
There are weapons (and other held objects) that are made specifically to fit the user's hoof and stay on, but because hooves vary widely in size, length, and shape, these usually have to be custom-made and are extremely expensive. Most deerling use items like that by tying them firmly to their hooves/wrists for the duration of the task.
Somebody in the irc asked for a deerling assassin, but i got a little carried away and drew full rekitzchen combat armor instead.

How are Gunter's parents doing(grandparents too if they're still alive)?

>>56602
Since you drew combat armour, I have to ask: How often do deerling face armed conflict?

I would guess it's mostly combat with the wild beasts outside of deerling civilization, and maybe law-enforcement, but since the populations numbers are so low (at the brink of extinction), I guess deerling to not wage inter-species war as e.g. humans do (who usually get a baby-boomer generation after surviving the last attempted mass-homocide).

>>56603
Gunter's grandfröhrer on fir fröhrer's side passed away when fi was very young, and fir grandtraurer passed away about a solar cycle and a half ago. Traurig rarely stay in contact with their families, so fi doesn't know much about fir traurer's parents. Fir parents herd sheep-like creatures several miles to the west and visit about once a solar cycle. Fir traurer dislikes Lief, so things are a teensy bit strained.

>>56610
You're correct - most combat is with beasts, most warfare is with sapient non-deerling. Deerling are a generally peaceful race and attempt to avoid combat among themselves at all costs. There is still violence and crime,of course, but deerling war is almost unheard of. this is partially because people who try to start wars get their asses smited by Oberin and Gönner pretty damn quickly - the gods don't like risking that kind of population loss.
Most places do have a kind of centralized military, but it's more for show than anything else.

>quest thread
>introduce inventory system
>we get rid of inventory slots at the first opportunity
Haha, that's so typically us.

>>56618
I usually try to restrain myself from asking too many questions in order not to ruin the feeling of exploration in the quest itself, but this post just opened a whole new dimension of neckbeardy interest.

Do all deerlings share a homogenous culture? The religion of Gönnner and Oberin seems to play a key role in deerling life, so it's probably a strong unifying force?

Yet, you mention that certain places keep a military for show.
This indicates a certan degreee of regionalism (we show what 'we' have in contrast to 'them', the outsiders).
Do deerlings identify with their village, city-state or even nation-state, or rather the respective deerling-equivalent of these things? Maybe to varying degrees on different continents? Or rather, do culture and identity have their roots in deerling mythology?
(e.g. 'this is the place where Oberin first touched the world', 'this is where Gönner turned the forest to stone' or similar).

If they have some form of government, does theology play a big role? Are there priests and temples of Gönner and Oberin? And since the gods are such a real power in deerling life, don't they make certain forms of government redundant to a certain degree? (since their theology and the clergy (if such a thing exists) would provide rather strong and obvious guidelines for life). Since you mentioned the gods would not allow dire conflict among deerlings, they seem to wield much more power over everyday life than we have witnessed yet in the quest.

And at last, is the planet comparable to earth, e.g. having different climates?
You described the calender and the seasons, but with magic and deities being real factors in this setting, I could imagine things like weather and seasons, flora and fauna being more, well, 'mystical'. Like a place of 'always-raining' without actually drowning the landscape etc. simply because that's how the gods envisioned the place.

And, really last thing, how much does the abbilities of the deerlings and the magic influence deerling technology? Weapons seem medieval or ancient, yet clothes seem more modern.
Artistic freedom or a reason within the background story?

Sorry if these questions are tedious, but I hope a certain degree of enthusiasm for the quest, expressed hereby, serves somewhat as an excuse.

>>56621
I don't mind the questions at all! It makes me happy that you guys want to know more about the world.

Deerling culture does differ slightly from nation to nation, as well as from continent to continent, but most of these cultural differences are rooted in food, music, dance, etc., not actual social customs. Deerling socialization and morality is pretty consistent across the board. The real difference is actually based on socioeconomic status, and most behavioral/social differences are rooted in class.

Most deerling identify with their country first, continent second, city third. Regionalism is also a class thing, though; rich deerling are way more concerned with national pride and patriotism than poorer deerling are. Investing time and money in flags and parades and national holidays is considered a rich deer's luxury. Plus, because wars almost never happen, international relations really only directly affect merchants. Working class deerling just don't give a shit.

Theology is huge, and most government leaders are also religious leaders (at least to a certain degree). This is actually for practical reasons - you'd want somebody who frequently and effectively contacts the gods to be making large decisions so that you're not stepping on any divine hooves.
One of the things that's important about the deer gods is that they stay in their respective domains. 99% of the time, Oberin deals with Frölich rekitzchen, Gönner deals with Traurig rekitzchen, and that's that. Their interventions are not widespread or even that frequent - they're just dramatic when they happen.(This answers the question about climate; they don't fuck with the weather or any other physical details of the world if they don't have to. If they're not directly making changes to mess with their personal creations, they let science do its thing.)

Deerling talents are usually the most important when choosing a career path, and it's considered ideal for deerling to obtain a job in which they can use their talent to maximize their potential. (When the owners of the apothecary and magicka shop show up, they will be prime examples of this.) Talents often make it easier for deerling to create and innovate, but because talents are so varied and arbitrary, they don't have a widespread/universal effect on how technology and other products are handled. Talents largely have effects on an individual basis.

Oh, and the disconnect between the clothes and the equipment is an artistic decision to get the atmosphere I want, that's all.

What are the Rekitzchen units of measure for weight and distance?

Why hasn't Gunter chosen a career path in life that reflects fir talent? (Granted, the talent was decided on quest start, but the career could have shifted with it as well. Seems to be a small thing, really.)

I mean, as an empath, fi could make as a good psychologist or salesdeer. Are there a lot of empaths, so the economy's demand of them is pretty low?
Or does fi just like planting shit for a living?

>>56633
It's great that you take the time to cover this discussion thread.

Your answers make the dynamics between Traurig and Fröhlich deerlings very interesting, especially with regard to the first story we found in the quest.

It seems like both gods seemed mostly occupied with themself and their respective creations, at least until they 'found' the procreation ritual.

Because, as you described it, Fröhlich and Traurig deerling could almost live sperate from each other, or even be rivals (each god only dealing with the respective gemüt/gamut), if not for the tiny fact they need each other to make children.

...wait, I just realized, the whole rivalry thing is made totally obsolete by the ritual's parameters: to have a deep, emotional and true connection with each other in order to succeed.

Wow, so, that's kinda the perfect move to make two radically different beings coexist.
"LOVE EACH OTHER FOR REALZ OR YOU GO EXTINCT"

It's the perfect solution to 'enforce' harmony between such different creatures (and in the myth, there seemed to be at least a hint of weak animosity between Gönner and Oberin ("your children are naive, weak" etc).

Are there any deerlings who question the gods, or does such a things simply not exist? (because it's simply natural for deerlings to be, well, "obedient" to its god (I put the quotation marks there, because obedience implies, in a way, oppression, and that's the opposite of feeling obedient 'naturally').

How far is a deerling artist or theologian (dare I say theologician?) allowed to criticise the gods or create a new philosophy of living?
Do some of the government figures disagree how literal the god's will can be interpreted? Or would Gönner and Oberin prevent such a deception of the deerling people and remove these leaders from their positions?
(cue grimdark deerling deocracy).

Does it sometimes happen that two deerling of the same gemüt/gamut feel a really strong emotional connection? Since the ritual explicitly requires a Traurer and a Fröhrer, procreation will probably not work.
But the emotional bond could exist or could it?

Heh, I guess, the notion to create deerlings without the ritual or without both Traurer and Fröhrer involved is the equivalent of the Frankenstein's Monster story for deerlings.

>>56639
Does this help with the same-gamut thing?
>>56320
>Same-gamüt relationships do exist, but they're exceedingly rare. I wouldn't say that they're looked at in a negative light ... most rekitzchen view "gay" deerling the same way they view atheist ones - with puzzlement.

>>56641
Yes, it does, and it also covers non-religious deerlings.

Well, as the thread grows in verbosity it'll get easier to overread things... I guess I will simply pay more attention.
Anyway, thanks for the info.

>>56642
Glad to help, and it really is easy to overlook something, especially if you miss a day or so.

>>56638
Getting a job that capitalizes on your talent is ideal, but not always possible - just like how in the real world, you obviously WANT to get a job that makes use of what you're good at, but you can't always guarantee you'll manage to get one.
Gunter came from a poor family. Fi's uneducated and didn't have a lot of options. Farming was something fi could get into just to keep firself (and eventually Lief) afloat. I think eventually fi would like to try to find a vocation that's more fulfilling, but investing time in that kind of thing obviously isn't an option for Gunter right now.

>>56639
There are deerling who question and criticize the gods. To be honest, Oberin and Gönner don't really care about individual deerlings. It's when critical rekitzchen start to ORGANIZE that they get finicky. The gods generally let deer do what they like, so long as they don't start taking actions that could be interpreted as threatening.
The same thing goes for influential figures like political leaders. So long as they're not actually making moves that seem to be directed negatively at the gods, Oberin and Gönner just don't give a shit.

You've said how the gods feel towards Rekitzchen of the other gamut, but how do the gods feel towards each other? Have Oberin and Gonner cooperated on anything since they created the world and the mating ritual(they did create the world, right?) or do they generally just do their own things? Does each have a specific sphere of influence besides looking after the deerlings fi/ti created?

Also, since a deerlet is created from the soil, will the soil composition of the area in which the ritual is performed affect the resulting deerlet?

Also, does Gunter know Lutzi's last name?

Also, will stories be posted only in the quest or here also? If the former, could this lead to a situation where asking a question here instead of the quest would lead to missing out on a story?

Also, does the rest of the villiage feel the same way about Lutzi that Gunter does?

I will hopefully get around to answering questions later today (as well as an update!) but for now, I just wanted to announce a haitus in both Rekitzchenstreben and FudgeQuest from the 7th to the 15th!

>>56664
What can basically be said of Oberin and Gönner is that they tolerate each other. They're like siblings who don't get along - 90% of the time they're bickering about petty, stupid shit, and they'll go out of their way to cause each other embarrassment and inconvenience, but they don't actually want to harm each other. Still, there's definitely a lot of competition and contempt between the two of them. If necessary, they will cooperate with each other, and they can actually work pretty well as a team (provided they can stop bitching at each other for like five whole seconds, which is difficult for them).

>>56665
A little bit! Mostly in appearance. It's still pretty arbitrary, though. Because it has to be a spot that's legitimately important to both rekitzchen, people aren't exactly shopping for real estate. Besides, most rekitzchen don't know HOW soil composition affects deerlets - that's something studied exclusively by scholars.

>>56666
Lutzi's surname is Geliebte.

>>56695
It varies. Everyone side-eyes Lutzi's behavior, because a lack of commitment is considered literally dangerous (especially for Traurig), and more than a few people are made uncomfortable by tir indiscriminate advances. Lutzi seems to target Gunter especially, though, so nobody is quite as uneasy around tir as fi is. Lutzi's not the town favorite, but ti's not a pariah, either.

>>56667
Nope. Mostly you guys have been asking about minutiae. I won't answer any questions that would technically be 'spoilers' for information you have to figure out later.

FRACTAL 2012/07/06(Fri)09:25 No. 56820 ID: 6808dd
File 134159195782.png - (103.60KB , 671x404 , wipconceptgods.png )

is it, like, not classy to post super messy WIPS
don't care

>>56820

snakes with horns are now my favorite thing. possibly even for a whole few days.

>>56819
>lack of commitment is literally dangerous (especially for Traurig)

Wait, what? Did I skim over the explanation for that earlier or is that info you're holding for later or is it just nobody asked? Do they go crazy or something?

And the gods got a bit of greek feel to them, that they're powerful but got a lot of what's considered to be mortal problems (anger, pride, lust, etc.)
Has one of them tried seducing a goat or a horse? Because gods notoriously love seducing goats and horses.

>>56824
Well, I just meant that because if you're a traurig in a relationship and you're not committed, and you try for a deerlet, you're gonna die. Granted, the lack of commitment could be problematic for either partner, but promiscuity in general is viewed as an extremely dangerous thing - and that cultural view bleeds over into situations whether or not a particular deerling is actually looking for relationships or deerlets.
And no, no horse/goat-fucking as far as we know. The gods don't have much of a sex drive.

>>56821
ty! the god's design was heavily influenced by nicholas kole's short comic 'the hollow men,' so if you like them, you should check that comic out because it's really, really lovely!

>>56827
I never asked about something as vulgar as that.
Seduction isn't just about fucking, it's about ego boosting.
But I am interested what sort of crazy shit they would generally get into that isn't the creation myth we learned. Mythology is ALL about how drunk, murderous, lecherous, etc that gods can be! Or how their well known heroes can be. Abrahamic mythology, for example, doesn't have a lot of stories where God does a lot of crazy shit like other mythologies have, but has a lot of heroes of Christian mythology pretty much make up for that with just as much insanity.

Add in the hubris of being a god or even being near one and all sorts of fun epics happens. You don't have to tell any specific stories, but just knowing that there are epics about gonner and/or oberin or relevant deerlings getting ridiculous is exciting in and of itself.

You created a very interesting scenario, I just can't get enough of it!

What is considered "promiscuity" for them? A deerling can truly love more than one individual? Other relationships, such as friendships and family, can interfere with their "commitment"? There are deerlings dissatisfied with the gods?

If not asking too much, a request... Lief in lab clothes! Ti looks so dreamy!

>>56834

first I thought this question was a bit too philosophical for my liking, but then I thought up something similar myself: has a deerling ever had two deerlets from two different deerlings? if so, were both partners simultaneously in a relationship with the parner they shared, or was one of 'em dead already so said deerling moved on or something?

jegus this is hard to ask without using he or she

>>56831
There are definitely lots and lots and lots of stories. Enough to fill up all 20 canon plot stories and then some. Unlike mythology in human cultures, not all tales of the gods are known or even confirmed as true - because a LOT of them aren't made up. There are historians who study godlore - or, as it stands, the history of the gods.
As Gunter briefly mentioned, there are a few key stories that every Rekitzchen knows, but there are also a lot that exist only as written accounts. An uneducated or illiterate deerling might not know a lot of the stories.

>>56835
>>56836
These both kind of tie in with one another so I can answer both at the same time.
It depends on the deerling. Some deerling are capable of truly, deeply, honestly loving more than one person at a time. Some can't - they can only have one soulmate. Some aren't capable of those feelings at all (kind of emotional infertility). Whether or not a deerling can juggle more than one relationship and still be "committed" is tricky business.
For them to be able to have more than one relationship with the intensity and integrity required for childbirth is rare, so it doesn't really figure into public opinion, but it's happened.
Even though they don't link sexual activity and reproduction, deerling DO link sexual activity and romance, so sex is generally considered to be something emotional. Because of this, sexual promiscuity is considered a transgression in most mating relationships. On the other hand, most deerling don't have a 'best friend,' because that kind of commitment and caring could be considered competition to a potential mate. Similarly, deerling generally don't cling too tightly to their families. When your life or your mate's life depends on you being completely attached to them, 'distractions' in the form of other rekitzchen - regardless of the nature of your attachment to them - are undesirable.
(as you can imagine, this can lead to some pretty creepy codependence in mated pairs and extreme anxiety for the single folks.)

As for that request, I'd love to! I'll draw it when I get back - which reminds me, my week long haitus begins tomorrow! See y'all when I get back.

FRACTAL 2012/07/06(Fri)22:50 No. 56855 ID: 6808dd
File 134164023027.png - (27.41KB , 278x290 , Dexters-Lab.png )

here, this can tide you over til i get back
i'm not sorry

>>56853
Man, when reproduction isn't tied to pleasure and is instead tied to something unpleasant, you kinda wonder why so many deerlings want children. There obviously very cautious with the reproductive process, but you have to imagine that other couples are gonna be like "Nope. Never. Hell naw. Fuck having kids. What do we get out of it but another mouth to feed?"

Is there a natural drug release when the Traurig dies for either party? Either upon revival and digging out of the grave with the child in hand or upon successful "conception" when the physical murder takes place? Because, again, reproduction without immediate incentive just seems so weird. How are the deer compelled to populate beyond the satisfaction of parenthood? Is that actually enough? Is there propaganda to convince deerlings to do their part and keep the race going by risking death? It's just blowing my mind. Reproduction with no short-term incentive?

I mean, hell, even for infertile humans using invitro to have a child probably had fun attempting regular conception. Deerlings don't even have the concept of "the fun in trying", trying isn't fun at all! Even if successful, that Traurig felt the complete pain of a lethal wound and dying from it. Then they come back from that with their memory in tact, does the healing factor also heal mental wounds?

I mean, it's not like Frolich are walking through a supermarket and notice an extremely hot Traurig, whispering "Daaaayumm, I want to murder that ass all right," to fir best Frolich buddy, who then nods promptly in agreement, right?
Gotta be some creepy Frolichs out there.

>>56855
Deliciouso. Have good times.

>>56853
Thanks, that's what I thought. Ah, their life is really hard. Anyway, now I understand better the relationship between Gunter and Fritzi.

>>56855
My! This made my night!

>>56858
I'm not dismissing the pleasure of sexual intercourse (leave me be, I like to say "sexual intercourse", it's strangely erotic), but that's hardly the reason for people to have children.

there would be a LOT less kids if sex didn't feel good.

>>56862
Exactly my point
Otherwise, they'd really have low numbers. So either there's psychological imperative or biological imperative to reproduce. I can't help but feel that individual deerlings could give less of a shit of how the population as a whole is doing and would rather worry about their own life's dramas.
But these deerlings are still kid crazy!
They legit think that if a Traurig lacks a commitment (if I'm interpreting >>56827 right), that they're gonna get themselves killed trying to make a kid, which implies desperation that even the playboy Traurigs want kids desperately that they'd kill themselves over it. Unless there's some form of instinctual issue for Traurigs to get themselves killed by someone they care about, then the reproduction makes sense.
I mean, living the life of a playboy deerling can't be dangerous at all unless deerlings are programed to desperately want kids or Traurigs love suicide by even the weakest love. If its neither, than playboys are nothing to worry about aside from the fact that they might wither a partnership of a child-wanting couple by flirting with one of them. Or make it stronger if they resist completely.

>>56877
You're ignoring social aspects, that we are one of the few species that take pleasure in sexual activities and the fact that human beings are able to understand the consequences of sexual intercourse. If it's just pleasure what matters, masturbation, homosexuality and anal play wouldn't be "frowned upon". Formerly, progeny was perceived as source of manpower, someone to help support the family. Today there are several other reasons, primarily to "consolidate a relationship" and "start a family". I'm probably wrong, but I don't think it's different for deerlings. Having a child means that their relationship is, according to their standards, ideal or even perfect.

>>56880
It just, really feels like an alien concept.
Granted, we're dealing with a very alien race here, but just trying to figure out all the motivations for child rearing for them would help understand their views better.

I mean, you have a chance of losing your life just trying for a kid here, so those motivations have to be either very strong like how we reproduce, much of the motivation is from wanting pleasure, and then we have other reasons to have children such as pride, legacy, etc. but as a whole we generally can pinpoint it to pleasure and that's always been a factor for human reproduction (hell, for all I know it might be the main reason we are so abundant and one of the most populant species on Earth despite our long gestation period). There are secondary reasons for us because we're sentient, but they're still secondary, not primary. And we can't really ask why other species have children because they're not sentient at all. They just do it, it's instinctual.

Rekitzchen aren't that simple because of their sentience and they don't have evolutionary programming thanks to being directly created by gods, so what's the big draw for parenthood when there's so much potential sacrifice? It could be from what you suggested might be true, but again, it's death for progeny, a symbol of great love or support. That just seems like so weak a motivation for most Traurigs to die for. Willing to die to experience the wonder of parenthood I can understand, but can a species successfully populate with that reasoning as a whole? I can't help but feel there's a much more powerful motive to have a child. At least, as powerful as our own desire for the physical pleasure of sex.

Most of us are pretty sex crazy, even if the pleasure is so frowned upon, kids are basically an afterthought in comparison. I mean hell, Catholics may frown upon contraception and unwedded sex, but if those qualifications are met, they bone like crazy and they aren't really disappointed when there's no actual conception unless they're actively trying for a child really hard.
Rekitzchen are kid crazy and Frolichs gotta kill their Traurigs to get 'em. If they don't get a kid, they're super-ultra-mega sad. Well, one party can't really feel any sadness anymore, but still, Frolichs be bawlin' their eyes out. Now they gotta be lovin' each other completely for the ritual to work and have no ulterior motives, but a legit, powerful motive to have a child must exist to even think about doing the ritual.

>>56885
This discussion is getting a little out of hand. Maybe you want to continue in a more appropriate place?
>>/meep/21715

About deerlings, we should wait for FRACTAL's answer.

>>56880

it's also because masturbation and anal play don't feel nearly as good as your good old intercourse. sure, a hole is theoretically a hole, but when you're pleasuring your partner, the pleasure you get yourself is doubled through some weird psychological effect. I think it's called ego or empathy or something. anyway, buttsex rarely feels good for the female participant, condoms apparently feel too weird for women to enjoy themselves and masturbation lowers self-confidence significantly. so people often engage in vaginal sex just for the immediate benefits and then someone gets pregnant and then the lady is like oh no I don't wanna abort because it already has fingernails and that's so humanlike and by now abortion would feel like murder.

true stoy. (except for the last part which I directly pulled from a movie called Juno.)

mmmm, sex.

> that we are one of the few species that take pleasure in sexual activities

Um. no.

>>56908
Sorry, "we are one of the few species that do sex for recreation".
Now, can we take this discussion to another place?

I believe its quite relevant and not a big dumb argument.
At least right now.
I'm not really arguing at all, these are all questions, with detailed reasoning why I'm asking the questions to try and get the best answer.

I had no intention of starting an argument, it's all just one big question.

well really it's a discussion, since Fractal's gone for the week.
I thought I was seriously discussing it. Not arguing at all.

This isn't what I meant. This thread exists to discuss about Deerling Quest, not about sex.

>>56916
I thought this was about Deerling Quest.
I only brought up sex to compare reproduction methods, it's not the big thing, it's just an easy comparison to explain my confusion.

But I'll discuss it in there. I am making big posts here. I hope Fractal isn't annoyed by the big fat posts I made, just trying to understand why them deers love having kids so much.

>>56917
I don't think they "love" to have children. It's far more complicated than that, I suppose. Besides the other obvious complications of their reproductive method, this is possibly one of the reasons for deerlings being an endangered species. Either way, their situation is completely different from ours, comparisons aren't really appropriate.

>>56919
I want to understand that complication!
That was the point.

Just popping in really briefly to say A., I thought the discussion was still pretty much on topic because it was discussing the inconsistencies inherent in deerlings reproduction vs. real world reproduction, and B., that inconsistency is something that'll eventually be covered in canon, provided you guys poke Gunter's nose in the right places and ask the right questions.

FRACTAL 2012/07/17(Tue)09:06 No. 57257 ID: 6808dd
File 134254121652.jpg - (501.01KB , 700x1656 , lablief.jpg )

OKAY I AM BACK AND I HAVE LOTS OF DOODLES TO POST

but first here's the request of lief in lab clothes

>>57257
Oh my goddess! Thank you so much!

FRACTAL 2012/07/18(Wed)06:28 No. 57338 ID: 6808dd
File 134261811057.jpg - (513.95KB , 1000x812 , Scan0028.jpg )

okay guess what YOU GUYS GET A MAP OH HELL YES
so uhm yes this is rekitzchenmund in its entirety basically
remember, size of venus, we don't have tons to work with here
anyway see the continent at the bottom with the cute little tail? we're in leuchtetwald, the country in the middle.
BUT FRACTAL, you scream hysterically, BADGERLANDS? ARE THERE BADGERS? WHAT ARE THEY TOLERATING BEHIND THAT LINE?
to which i say calm your tits we're gonna get around to badgers in a second

>>57258
You're very welcome!

FRACTAL 2012/07/18(Wed)06:46 No. 57339 ID: 6808dd
File 134261920812.jpg - (1.41MB , 2288x2713 , dryad.jpg )

also okay so you know how in greek mythology dryads are these really beautiful willowy nature women who like flit around in rivers and trees and peek out coquettishly and blah blah
yeah that's not how dryads work in rekitzchenstreben
this is a sea dryad, but there are earth and tree dryads and they have legs and stuff
dryads are non-hostile towards deerling - in fact, they're often even eager to help - but they make a habit of dragging basically any other species underwater or into forests and caves and peeling their skin off with their horrid crooked little fingers and devouring their flesh with their horrid little rows of teeth
dryads are not pleasant creatures

FRACTAL 2012/07/18(Wed)07:02 No. 57340 ID: 6808dd
File 134262012657.jpg - (262.23KB , 800x1116 , badgerconcept1.jpg )

continuing concept art spam woooooo
okay so this is one of the badgerfolk, aka les blaireaux. badgerfolk are not nice. they are not your friends. they do not want to help you complete your quest objectives. they want you to leave them the fuck alone and maybe if you catch them in the wrong mood they want to crush your dainty little skull between their massive jaws and leave you to die, a bloody pulpy mess of broken dreams.
badgerfolk are almost entirely confined to one continent, the badgerlands. (as you can see, badgers are very creative.) that's the way they like it. remember the line of tolerance on the map? that's how close they will tolerate you. like, several miles out to sea. the line of tolerance is basically a political way of saying "leave us alone or we will fucking gank your punk asses."
blaireaux, like rekitzchen, have a really tight, cohesive culture. they speak blairlangue, but most of them know rekitzunge because you kind of have to in order to get by in this world, even if you live in a militant isolationist nation where rekitzchen are basically killed on sight.

>>57340
also don't ask me what happened to her leg I JUST DON'T KNOW, OKAY

FRACTAL 2012/07/18(Wed)07:17 No. 57342 ID: 6808dd
File 134262104911.jpg - (241.05KB , 800x768 , heightcomp.jpg )

OKAY AND FINALLY
here's how the three main sapient species of the quest measure up against each other and against humans
badgerfolk are fucking terrifying look at that shit

>>57339
do sea driad taste like fish?

>>57343
no they taste like mud and pain
but uhm in all seriousness i guess they would if you could get your hands on a body? but when a dryad dies their bodies deteriorate at an incredible rate. if you killed a dryad you wouldn't even be able to pick its corpse up - its body would be a rotting drippy disgusting mess in the time it would take for you to bend over and lift it up
i guess you could try to eat one alive but that is also nasty and gross
dryads are just nasty and gross

>badgers
Getting serious Redwall flashbacks here. Nooo, not another feast...

Dryads looking really scary.

How do Badgers cope with their planet being a rehkitzchenspielwiese? Is their aggressiveness towards others their way to vent frustration? With the other people having, you know, real GODS to protect them.

Are the badger names/places french-themed ?

>real GODS to protect them.
When those gods are taking a break from having them kill each other. :V

>>57350
screams because redwall was basically my entire childhood
though okay after admitting that, this is gonna be a hard sell, but i swear that redwall is not the reason i have a race of enormous, warlike, armored badgers here
anyway, information about badgers (specifically the history of their race and explanations of their culture) is stuff that you've gotta piece together for yourself in-quest
once you find the basic backstory i'll be happy to expand on stuff here, but until then no spoilers!
and yes, blairlangue is basically french.

What a wonderful and fucked up world you have here!

Do the dryads have their own language? Do "we", the posters, exist in some concrete form in the world, or are we just thoughts Gunter's having?

>>57377
Thank you! :D

>>57384
Dryads do have a sort of dialect that branches off of Rekitzunge. It doesn't really have a distinct name - it's generally just referred to as "Dryad" - and it's kind of like pidgin, in that if a Rekitzchen was listening to a dryad speak this dialect, they'd probably be able to more or less make out what they were saying.

Ooooh, we're getting meta. The suggesters exist neither in the world of the story nor in Gunter's thoughts. When I have Gunter react directly to suggestions, that's just a meta storytelling thing, not an actual representation of his actions in-game. For example, when the questers asked about what happened between fi and Fritzi, the update was merely showing how Gunter felt about that subject - in the actual context of the story, however, fi did not at that point actually take a moment to turn away and look upset. It's merely illustrative.

What denominations are Saat issued in, assuming Gunter hasn't been carrying around thousands of individual coins? Do Rekitzchen use a base-ten number system despite the hooves, or is this just translated for the ease of the readers? Do they write with the Latin script and Arabic numerals?

>>57645
If I was gonna be totally realistic here, they'd most likely have a totally different numbering system, as well as a different alphanumeric system. But I am lazy so they use base-10 numbering, roman letters, and arabic numbers.
Saat come in 1, 5, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000, and 2000 denominations. 2000 denominations are kind of the equivalent of a $100 bill - yes, they exist, but who the hell carries around $100 bills?

So, Rekitzchen's version of spicy loving is... riding one another like a mechanical bull while naked? Dry humping erogenous zones? French kissing with crotch mandibles? Erotic crotch-belly rubbing?

That was a straight up Martin Gaye Sexual Healing type ending.

So psyched to have it back and I can't wait to unravel this mystery and collect all the collectables.

IF we are going to discuss that thing in here I just want to say

I was setting up for an internal discussion with Gunter. A reflection so to speak. Generally, taking a bit of an ignorant personality when asking such a question might help us understand Gunter more as a character, and everything I said in there I want to be in there as supplemental perspective to put into Gunter's head, for fir own thoughts on this. We know little of Gunter and how fi reacts to things in her environment right now, so I'd like to see how fi might talk to aggressive, guilt inspiring thoughts in fir own brain.

Gunter said she was bored, so reaching deep inside yourself and thinking might help fir pass the time instead of playing silly road games.

Did Lief move into Gunter's cottage, or vice versa? What did they do with the unoccupied one?

>>58221
Probably sold it because they are such broke-ass deer.

Seriously, do all the Traurig think Gunter is Hot? Sure Fi has really light hair, but fi has little itty bitty horns. And if Gunter IS hot, why wasn't Leif at least a little bit into that? Gunter's an empath, if Leif was interested, Fi would have been able to tell.

And why Isn't Leif hot? Ti has very dark hair and larger horns than Gunter. Is it because Ti is too short? Or too light-furred? Or doesn't have curly enough Hair? And does this mean that Apothecary Traurig was ugly as hell? Hypothetically, on a scale of 1 to 10, would Gunter hit that?

And if Traurig are generally grumpy or sad sacks or disagreeable, why aren't there more gay Frohlichs? Wouldn't more Happy deer want to be with happier deer?

Wall of text end.

>>58235
a lot of deer apparently want children
that was my probs earlier man
but that's apparently gonna come up later, maybe. Might be another one of the stories we have to collect. Look in the corners people! Press buttons, walk into pixel paintings, shoot windows and walk on the thin edges outside! Keep pressing E on all the walls. We're gonna figure out why more deers ain't gay if we have to demolish all the levels and chapters!
shit son press ~ and type in noclip or fly then move into a wall

>>58221
They moved into Gunter's cottage because it's bigger, and eventually managed to sell Lief's. It's hard to sell property in remote, rural areas like theirs, because people rarely move in.

>>58235
Gunter has a relatively light complexion, and while fir antlers aren't big, they're a pleasing shape and they have a good number of points. It also comes down to the fact that fi has a cute face and is charming in a bumbling, stupid sort of way.
Lief has lighter fur than would be considered ideal for a Traurig, and his horns may be tall, but they only have two points each. The fact that he doesn't have motif markings on the bridge of his nose is jarring or awkward-looking to a lot of deerling, and also he's just sort of scrawny and pointy and stuff. (His general air of LEAVE ME ALONE might scare away potential suitors, too.)
Also, state of your hair has nothing to do with it, really, unless a rekitzchen specifically likes curly or straight hair. -shrug- The apothecary Traurig is actually a hottie with a body, because ti's antlers had like a bajillion points and are pretty big for tir size, which sort of counterbalances tir mediocre complexion.
(Lutzi has super-dark fur and huuuuge antlers with five points each. Sexy as hell.)

Deerling are, for the most part, naturally attracted to the typical personality traits of the opposite gamut. (no umlauts fuck you guys) So while in human culture, we celebrate people being positive, extroverted, and proactive, deerling attraction varies based on "gender" and personality traits are considered a "gendered" thing.
However, it doesn't just split into sad/happy. I think I'd say that the only generalization you could really make is that Traurig are pessimistic and Frohlich are optimistic, and that there's also a general introverted/extroverted divide ... but Lutzi is clear proof that that isn't always true! Ti's cynical, self-centered, and disregards other's feelings - all negative traits by human standards - but ti's also extroverted and actually pretty cheerful.

In the same way, all the Frohlich we've met so far have been pleasant, upbeat individuals, but there are plenty of Frohlich who are definitely not nice.

What I'm getting to here is that Frohlich tend to be attracted to more introverted, pessimistic/rational, quiet deerling (which is why Lutzi is considered physically attractive but doesn't have any serious suitors), while Traurig find themselves attracted to positive, optimistic, active individuals. However, it can be taken to extremes that are found generally unattractive - for example, Lief does fit the profile of a Traurig personality pretty well, but ti's also just ... unpleasant, a lot of the time. That's why people are often surprised that someone as generally likable as Gunter is with tir.

Also, Dirtbag hit it right on the head - in deerling culture, kids are SUPER important. Reeeeaaally fucking important. So being heterosexual is pretty important, too. That's gonna be discussed more in-quest.

/ACTUAL textwall

what is typical lifespan of deerling plz?

Ever since we did a class on letter formatting I've been wondering about the use of honorifics among deerlings. For example, are traurig that have gone through the ritual referred to differently in letters and such?

>>58244
Thank you for that. Obviously Lutzi is super sexy, so I was just kinda fumbling around for things that are the opposite of Tin.

Are Letzefeld/Die Odlands your typical good/bad afterlives? Do other afterlives exist? Can a Rekitzchen become a ghost? Can the living contact the dead? Do Dryads have souls that persist after death? Did Gonner and Oberin create all life on the planet? If Rekitzchen don't conceive of a space beyond the planet, do stars not exist, or are they just regarded as a sort of backdrop?

>>58245

Rekitzchen typically live to be 36 solar cycles old, which is about 60 human years. Lifespans for Traurig are obviously much shorter on average, but only if you factor in all the Traurig who participate in failing rituals.

>>58276
Deerling with children are referred to as Frohrer and Traurer, based on gamut. These roughly mean mother/father/parent - so if Gunter and Lief had a deerlet, you'd refer to them as Frohrer Gunter and Traurer Lief. This is pretty formal, though! You'd probably only call them that if A.) you were meeting them for the first time or had only met them in passing, B.) were apologizing or asking a favor and needed to show respect, or C.) you were a deerlet yourself. Other than that, there are just job titles (Professor, Doctor, etc.) which will be written in English.

It is worth noting that these titles, while not commonly used because of their formality, are pretty weighty. Having deerlets garners you a hell of a lot of respect and status.

>>58321
Letzefeld and die Odlands are the basic equivalents of the Christian heaven and hell for Rekitzchen. I'd say that die Odlands are a bit more mild than the Christian interpretation of hell, actually. They are Rekitzchen-specific and other species do not believe in them.

There is absolutely no fun if I give you the secrets of life and death in the disthread.

Dryads have a very rudimentary religion, but they do not believe in an afterlife, which is why morality isn't a big factor for them (hence cannibalism and other such atrocities running rampant throughout the deerling population). Although, to be fair, that's not a direct result of them having a relatively weak faith, it's a direct result of dryads being completely batshit crazy to begin with. Most other species also generally accept that dryads do not have souls.
Dryads do, however, believe in the Deer Gods in addition to their own beliefs.

Oberin and Gonner only created Rekitzchen, and they only technically have jurisdiction over Rekitzchen, though there are stories to be unlocked in which they completely shit all over that tenant.

There are stars, and their planet has two sister moons. However, Rekitzchen consider these celestial bodies to be encapsulated within the "universe" that they are comfortable with.
Again, there are scholars who challenge this, but the basic public opinion is that their planet is some vacuum-packed little sphere that encompasses all existence.
(This is obviously completely and totally inaccurate.)

I'd just like to say that with the latest update regarding Lief and Gunter's own discussion of having a deerling combined with the information from the Lovers story and Lief's background is that there's something ominous up with Lief. Gunter's belief in that Lief wanted a deerling to prove their love seems way too ideal for Lief to have as a legit reason.

Serious ominous shit. My alarm is going off. Lief's done something and is keeping it private, I got that feeling. Of course, this is because I've recently started associating Walter White/Heisenburg with Lief thanks to his own terminal disease and scientific background.
Lief IS THE ONE WHO KNOCKS.

I forgot to ask a question.
Are there scholars who have are studying the ritual to increase the chances of success? Like measuring brain waves, thought patterns, different methods that may increase the likelihood of success such as committing the kill during a romantic gesture, to raise the affection and love during that moment? Seeing that even after having a successful deerling once, committing the ritual again does not guarantee another deerling can one conclude that their love in general is not taken into consideration but instead the amount of love at that precise moment is what's actually matters? Are scholars set on defining what "true love" is in terms of the ritual or has that been successfully defined yet either by the gods or scholars in the past?

Can we have the names of the moons? What phases are they in? How is time divided within a day?

>>58345
Scholars have certainly tried, but love is a difficult thing to quantify. They don't currently have the technology required to measure brain activity or chemicals like dopamine, seratonin, etc. - in fact, they don't even know that they exist. And even if they could, this is an arcane ritual. Sure, the body has measurable physical responses to the emotion of love, but the success of rituals is based mostly on the abstract, including intent and state of mind.
Also, as for the fact that a couple can fail the ritual after having one or more successful attempts - relationships change. The state of the relationship in general is definitely important (as is the love at that precise moment), but usually if a couple fails the ritual after already completing it before it's because the state of their relationship has declined since their last attempt.

The smaller moon is Süße Dame and the larger moon is Reizende Dame. They are always new moons, so they are difficult to see and provide little light.
I've also already talked about how Rekitzchen handle time, but I'll just copy/paste it:
>So, to recap: 30 hours to 1 day, 10 days to 1 week, 2 weeks to one stage, 3 stages to one season, 3 seasons to one solar cycle.

>>58375
Okay, assuming that hours remain constant, that'd give them 5,400 hours per year. So in Earth time, they have a 225-day solar cycle, meaning that 1 of their years equal .616 of our years, so if anyone ever needs a reference for the characters' ages, 5 of their years are roughly equivalent to 3 of our years.

Yep! However, their biological time moves at about the same pace as their chronological time, which means that even though their year is technically shorter than ours, they also age faster than we do. So the ratio is flipped, there - one solar cycle ages a deer the same as one human year ages a human, so a deer's age relative to solar cycles is about 1.6:1 a human's age relative to years.
okay that was really poorly explained i hope you guys get what i mean ajgfdgjdfk

FRACTAL 2012/08/10(Fri)08:00 No. 58378 ID: 6808dd
File 134461083767.jpg - (409.15KB , 700x1130 , humangunter.jpg )

also i sketched up really fast renditions of Gunter as a human, both male and female.
usually, if i think of a gender for Gunter in my head, i imagine fi as male - but of all the characters, i think Gunter is the one that flips back and forth between the genders the most easily in my mind.

FRACTAL 2012/08/10(Fri)08:01 No. 58379 ID: 6808dd
File 134461091755.jpg - (404.28KB , 700x1326 , humanlutzi.jpg )

and here's the same thing with lutzi.
my headcanon lutzi gender will always be male and nothing will ever convince me otherwise
even though lutzi would be a BABE as a woman
anyway, i'll do lief and fritzi eventually

>>58377
So what you're saying is that their lifespan is shorter, so they age 1.6 times faster than a normal human would, and therefore an 18 year old is equivalent to a human 30 year old?

Also, those drawings are wonderful.

>>58380
yes. thank you for being far more articulate and concise than i ever manage to be.

and i'm glad you think so, ty! :>

>>58381
So I came back to find this and I have no idea how to accept compliments like these gracefully, every reply I can think of either implies that I think far too highly of myself or far too little of you. So I'll go with a sincere thank you and hope this doesn't get awkward.

And I keep imagining female!Lutzi as Marena form Keychain.

>>58375
Oh yeah, sorry for the re-ask.

Can different Rekitzchen have the same talent? If so, is Gunter's inability to shut off fir empathy something a trained empath could avoid (or at least deal with better than Gunter did), or is it something inherent to the talent?

Does Lief's corrupting touch only apply to inanimate objects?

Also, why would a species without gender refer to the moons with the word for "Lady"?

>>58395
Yep, there are definitely repeat talents. Some are more common than others. (For example, healing powers are very common; empathy/projection like Gunter's is middling/uncommon; something as broad and deadly as Lief's corrupting touch is pretty rare.)
Someone who focused more on their empathy would definitely be able to at least somewhat block feeling the emotions of others if they needed to. Gunter has never really worked very hard on controlling firself.

>>58396
Nope. Lief can corrupt anything ti can touch. For inanimate objects that means weakening and eventually destroying it; for living things, that could mean anything from weakening/killing the being to literally corrupting their personality. It's a very broad, very powerful talent. Kind of OP, now that I think about it. Whoops.

>>58397
Because they didn't name the moons.

>Kind of OP, now that I think about it. Whoops.
If you didn't specify how much damage it can do per second of touching you could balance it through that.

> Lief can corrupt anything ti can touch.
Anything, even a god.

> Whoops.
Too late.

If it's OP, then make accurate control or resolution difficult. Make the actual effects somewhat random, or hard to predict. Apply some sort of subtle or insidious cost. Introduce a chance of failure, with a penalty. Make all these factors worse the larger or more significant the attempted corruption.

...and then don't let us or the characters know exactly what these limits or restrictions are till we stumble across them the hard way.

Boom. OP fixed.

>>58408
Well, this of course raises the question of who did?

>>58418
>>58421
>>58423
Well, I mean, I did mention in the first description of Lief's talent that the larger or more complex the object/being is, the harder it is for Lief to corrupt it. So there's something.
But yeah, there'll be restrictions. I just haven't really had to think about Lief's talent yet because ti's bedridden and stuff.

>>58427
The gods basically found this planet as it was, and when they came into contact with it they gained a lot of basic, very very old knowledge of it - including the names of a lot of stuff. Susse Dame (fuck you no special characters) and Reizende Dame are just the Rekitzunge translation.

>>58429
> I just haven't really had to think about Lief's talent yet because ti's bedridden and stuff.
Meaning that we can save tin? Here I thought you would... Okay, it's too early to celebrate.

All ready got a theory going on in my mind with all that extra spicey recent info, in combination with that extra spicey story a bit back and a little bit of info about what Gunter said about what Lief believes.

We have it straight up confirmed that the gods created the Rekitzchen, but for some reason or another, a the deer of imperical science Lief is, thinks that Rekitzchen came from evolution despite the physical presence of gods on the planet. Why would members of the science community just come up with that from nothing? There must be some physical evidence of similar creatures to Rekitzchen in the form of fossils or some such or another shape of evidence. Then, in that spicey love story we got mysterious pointless dry humping going on, which implies vestigial erogenous zones. And THEN we learn that the gods came to this planet from space and learned a whole bunch about that planet.

Those god motherfuckers stole the outline of the Rekitzchen from an extinct race they knew existed on that planet before. They were probably just regular old evolutionary constructs like everything else, with normal sexual reproduction like all the other races on this planet. They copied a lot of stuff from the old race (because creating a blueprint from scratch is HAAAAARD and most gods are notoriously flawed with things like wrath and sloth) and then added on their own stuff for their attempt at fun creativity, making them from land and water. They took off the sexy parts, but left in the nervous system from the sexy parts and so they have vestigial erogenous zones.

So, in a weird, disconnected way, Rekitzchen are an evolved creature only with straight up divine involvement in their conception rather than the standard evolutionary system (which also can be debated to have been also created by a god to autopilot all lifeforms), and now, since they have been introduced into the physical world, they will evolve on their own naturally, depending on how genetics get passed to each generation through the arcane ritual.

>>58439
>the gods came from space
Wha? I missed that, where does it say that?

>>58449
Where else would they come from? Space is anywhere but a planet, and any journey that uses space as an intermediate point is considered to come from there.

>>58451
I wasn't aware they were even foreign to the planet. Couldn't they have been here since the dawn of time?

>>58452
Would a planet exist then?

>>58449
>The gods basically found this planet as it was, and when they came into contact with it they gained a lot of basic, very very old knowledge of it

I'm really impressed by the theories you guys are coming up with, but obviously I'm not going to say anything about them. ;)

>>58434
Lief's survival is dependent on Gunter's success, and that's on you guys.

>>58457
Regardless of if there was a planet here when they were born, there was an origin point for them. There is no indication it was somewhere other than this location, as far as I know.

>>58467
So my "they come from space" is a theory too then.
Sa'll good.

FRACTAL 2012/08/13(Mon)11:54 No. 58597 ID: 6808dd
File 134488404567.png - (186.90KB , 700x600 , hanssketchies.png )

i finally made myself a pencil texture brush in SAI and i am really excited about it so here
have some sketchies of the new deerling

FRACTAL 2012/08/13(Mon)13:42 No. 58601 ID: 6808dd
File 134489054241.png - (500.18KB , 700x600 , disciples.png )

uhm okay hey let's barf out a picture of the typical appearance of hardcore disciples of oberin and gonner

gonner babs are on the left, the one on the right is oberin's

disciples of gonner write their vows on their robes and have to rewrite it after washing them, in order to make sure the vows are always in their minds. they are not allowed to cut their hair, and while they are allowed to pursue romantic relationships, they are not allowed to attempt the ritual.

oberin's followers are expected to shave their heads and clip both their ears and their antlers. they, like gonner's followers, are allowed to have relationships but not to attempt the ritual. they also must remain veiled any time they are outside of their monastery.

la la la might vomit up a lot of sketchy stuff in the next few days
motherfuckin' pencil texture brush, y'all

Are there any special honorifics used to refer to priests/monks?

oh oh oh I got a question

are there any chubby deerlings

because right now they're all model material

>>58602
Yep! Religious leaders are referred to as "Kind," with a short I, which literally refers to them being "Gottkinder" (children of the gods). Everyone is a child of the gods, technically, but religious leaders are just better than you.
Your normal garden-variety disciple is referred to as just that - "Disciple." I.E. Disciple Edelweiss, Disciple Marmota, etc.

>>58605
Yes! Ahhh I was just thinking earlier today about how I should have more variety in the characters. Chubby deerling are kind of rare, because deerling have naturally slim builds and kickin' metabolisms. They're just slight creatures to begin with. But there are chubby ones, as well as ones that are just shorter and stockier like Fritzi.
The problem I've run into when trying to introduce a little variety to their designs is that because of their general shape, chubby deerling just look kind of weird unless i make them short. I'm still sort of working on it.
It's a good thing to point out, though, and i am gonna try to incorporate more body types!

FRACTAL 2012/08/13(Mon)17:10 No. 58611 ID: 6808dd
File 134490304291.png - (265.68KB , 700x600 , profiles.png )

also idiom asked for deerling profiles!

deer faces are ALMOST humanoid - their eyes are bigger and the bridges of their noses are wider, longer, and flatter. the nose itself is also flat.

the big one here is based on gunter's face and is a good example of an "average" rekitzchen face, but the shapes can vary - along the side are profile views of Lief, Fritzi, and Lutzi.

Also, it might look here like traurig always have longer/thinner faces than frohlich, but that's not supposed to be representative of the whole gamut. it's just that all the traurig/frohlich characters introduced so far have personalities that i happen to visually characterize with either slender or more compact features.

inb4 Lief's old professor is the one who died.

given that half all rituals fail, does that mean there is a preponderance of Frohlich over Traurig?

Are there such things as same gamut relationships?

>>58623
>same gamut relationships
Addressed here:
>>58244

What are the names of the days of the week? Which one is today?

>>58623
There are, but it's actually not overwhelming, because a majority of deerlets born are Traurig.

Also, as the poster below you said, same-gamut relationships have been addressed several times. They happen, but they're rare, and viewed with puzzlement by most straight deerling.

>>58628
Huftag, Wintag, Reistag, Deitag, Upstag, Hoentag, Monnestag, Foehntag, Krammetag, and Oestlertag. The names don't really correspond to anything or have any special meaning. -shrug-

FRACTAL 2012/08/14(Tue)10:10 No. 58638 ID: 6808dd
File 134496421432.jpg - (225.06KB , 900x675 , deerlingscreencap.jpg )

also i am officially the hugest dweeb to ever exist

>>58638
That is strangely awesome.

Oh, and I think you lost the title of hugest dweeb, someone just made a Thundercats quest.

>>58638
>Deerlings: The Anime
FUND IT

>>58638
>cheeky mouth
It really IS like one of my japanese animes!

Hmm, I said I had two questions, but I see one was already answered! I guess a lot of people wonder how 'gay' works in such a uniquely gendered society.

My other one is about one of my favorite concepts from older cultures [which happens to have a TVTropes page]: Do the deerlings have any sort of concept of SACRED HOSPITALITY? It came to mind since the main character is on a journey and all.

Frac, you inglorious basterd.

>>58654
no, not really! In rural areas most deerling are open to the idea of inviting a stranger into their homes, but it's not really an overwhelming cultural thing.

>>58658
doing what i do best
-salute-

The last update... those puns... this whole quest... this whole fucking quest...

I... no words.. just.. sad and funny... laughter and tears...

Damn you. Damn you for BEING SO AWESOME.

>>58601
So is each a mix of black and white?
Or does one have a dominant black or white?
On first click I thought the reverse disciple belonged to each.


That Oberin Kind does look a little ominous.

>>58699
ahhhhhh ty ty i'm really glad you like it!!

>>58711
If you're talking about the colors of the outfits, Oberin's disciples wear white with grey veils, Gonner's wear dark grey (because they have to be able to write on their clothing with black ink).
If you're using black and white to refer to Traurig and Frohlich, there is no integration. Oberin is always worshipped by Frohlich, Gonner is always worshipped by Traurig. There's not really any point in praying to the god that isn't in charge of your gamut, because they won't pay any attention to you.

>>58750
There must have been some dumb stubborn deer that have tried to worship the in charge of the opposite gamut though. Just some dumb deer either doing it pointlessly or their frame of logic makes them think it will score them better points with the opposite gamut. Or maybe just to be a little rebellious or stand out due to dumb immaturity.

>>58750
I meant the outfit colors, thanks for clearing that up. I was thinking about doing some fan art. I actually was a little tempted to give the Gonner disciple black cloth with white writing.

FRACTAL 2012/08/17(Fri)20:02 No. 58867 ID: 6808dd
File 134525896641.png - (576.42KB , 1000x613 , oberinglade.png )

lalala concept art

>>58867
nice!

>>58867
I like how the body seems to go on for miles.

Also, waterfalls from treetops? Could it be the glade is located 'underground'?

The only thing I can think of that deer can do that can be considered disgusting while requiring flexibility in any form is 69 rimjobs.
I know its a vulgar question but well, I can't really help but ask it, is rim jobbing a thing in deer culture at all? It's the only thing I think they can actually do that we do that we consider sexual that ISN'T kissing.

That is unless they have no rims to job, which makes me worry about what they do with food after they're done eating it.

>>59152
They do have different erogenous zones. Maybe rubbing their bellies like dogs, but with their own antlers or some such weird shit?

crotch mandiblesssssssssssssss

That's not really disgusting though
Then again maybe ti is only calling it that because it would invade ti's personal space.
But the things ti knows about other people should not only desensitize ti to hate, but to most disgusting things as well including the invasion of ti's personal space since it's all in the thought. So my mind flocks to rimjobbing.

I can only think of rimjobs since the canoncity of croch madibles is really debatable and if it is true, that full nude of Gunther would detail that they are retractable to the point that we could be fooled into thinking it's just a harmless, bare smooth crotch.

guys
guys
there are no crotch mandibles

(deer do have sphincters and urethras, by the way.)

>>59158
I figured that, but I forgot to spoiler the second paragraph to get in on the joke.
Just making another joke that the mandibles are like those desert spiders, hiding and waiting for prey to appear before pouncing for food and then hiding again underneath their rocks/smooth crotches.
But now I've started a new epidemic, deer rimjobs. oh nooooooo

I'm guessing Verheim's powers only work when ti's within a certain range of the secret-keeper? Otherwise, ti might wind up knowing every secret in the entire world.

>>59213
MAYBE TI ALREADY DOES ;O;

>>59215
Oh Deer God, no wonder ti's so melancholy all the time. Ti's seen it all.

... ti would make a great cop, however.

>>59274
Eh, if "my talent says so" is a good enough reason for a search warrant, I suppose so.

Which brings up a question: What's the police force like, if any?

FRACTAL 2012/09/05(Wed)16:49 No. 60416 ID: 8dbc01
File 134688897048.png - (125.02KB , 700x600 , psa.png )

Hey guys!

okay, so i am now fully settled into art school and I'm having a very nice time but i am also super busy! updates aren't gonna be coming in as quickly as they used to (for ALL of my quests, but i'm posting this in the deerling discussion because i think it's my most popular quest.)

i know it didn't work very well last time i suggested it, but i think i am going to try to get on a schedule - deerlings and fudgequest twice a week, katherine quest three or four times a week. i am actually gonna try pretty hard to stick to that now because i feel like it would help me stay consistent.

i really hope to stay away from a haitus as long as the one i just had, but things will be slowing down! thanks for hanging in there, guys. OuO

OK, I can't be the only one who thinks the new Frohlich bears an uncanny resemblance to this lady, can I?

http://www.court-records.net/chara3-4.htm#chinami

>>60416
Are you kidding. You are now in art school.

I love your quest and style of storytelling, but NOW GO AND LEARN/GRADUATE/ACCOMPLISH THE FUCK OUT OF THERE

>>60450
don't know who the is, but the new Frohlich is definitely female looking. you held out this far, Fractal, but this time you've made a deerling with a gender.

Hey, this isn't some kind of compromise or work, we're just having fun together. As much as I love your quests, I just wish the best for you. Yes, go and accomplish the fuck out there.

>>60493
> definitely female looking
Just like Andrej Pejic.

>>60553
not exactly, she's a female who looks androgynous while the Frohlich is an androgynous who looks female. the difference lies in that humans have a concept of androgyny while deerlings don't have the concept of femininity.

I have become confused on how the fi/fir/fin and ti/tir/tin thing works. Nobody in the quest has ever used fin or tin, I noticed- what are they for? Fir and tir appear to be used for both singular possessive and second person singular- his/her and him/her. Fi and ti are obviously he/she. Perhaps fin and tin are reflexive pronouns? Like himself, herself?

Thanks for all the well wishes! :D

>>60493
>>60553
>>60573
androgyny (by our standards) is what i've been striving for in all the deerling designs - i guess i just pushed a little too far towards the feminine side with Verheim's mate!
actually on that note i wanted to just point out that realistically, there WOULD be deerling who wear skirts/dresses, use cosmetics, or have very long hair, but because i know how strongly those things read "female" i've been staying away from them in the designs.

>>59275
It depends on where you are. Ahornblatt (Gunter's home village) has no police force or jail, because it is very strictly expected that those living in the village will be civil and non-violent, and that if a crime occurs it will be worked out between the victim and perpetrator. Deerling are generally extremely peaceful, especially among their own kind, so violent crimes are extremely rare and most crime is theft or other civil/petty crimes.
larger cities do have police forces, jails, and courts, but even there violent crimes occur at extremely low rates. even robberies are typically non-violent - thieves typically use their talents to commit their crimes as opposed to physical violence.

erm, fractal?
>"..fir mouth twitching defiantly as fi reaches up to rub angrily at her watering eyes."

btw, how are you doing in art school? loads of fun? and how often do you expect us to see you?

>>61287
FUCK i always do that
i do end up gendering the characters in my head - i can't really help it - and sometimes i slip up, especially since the pronouns rhyme!

art school is going very well and i'm really enjoying it! i really was hoping to update a few times a week, but my work load varies quite a lot. i am going to try to get a little more regular though!

>>61298
well, you're a human trying to write about vastly different non-humans. it's ok if you fuck up from time to time.

just stopped by to say it's a cool quest, i enjoy reading it

Are draw stones just normal, non-magical lodestones? Is Mina's condition a genetic (or this world's equivalent; geologic?) disorder like albinism or the like? Did you mean to have Lutzi introduce tirself as "your Frohrer's cousin instead? Because Mina's From acted like she knew Lutzi while Verheim didn't (and if Verheim's tir cousin, Lutzi is even more disgusting).

Is Verheim Mina's sibling or parent? Eltern = Parent?

>>61413
FRACTAL's said before she ain't into incest (when discussing all possible relationships for FUDGEQUEST, saying that she was for all pairings except Hamilton x Harriet).
Unless incest isn't a thing for deerlings, or FRACTAL doesn't consider cousin pairings real incest, you don't have much to worry about. And Verhiem detects secrets, ti doesn't read minds. Ti could merely find some hedonistic secret activity of Lutzi's disgusting (I hypothesized rimjobs, though it could be easily ti's promiscuity and lack of commitment if Verhiem still follows deerling standards despite ti's talent.)

>>61415
>though it could be easily ti's promiscuity and lack of commitment
It's now that I realize that is not something Lutzi keeps secret and would not qualify. I'm honestly surprised Luzi has any secrets, and in fact takes ti's revealed but unmentioned secret in pride to Verhiem. What shame could ti possibly have! Unless ti doesn't kiss and tell, that might count as a secret.
But who could ti drybone or rimjob that could be disgusting?

>>61415
OK, but if they're cousins, they've probably met before and Lutzi would know about tir talent.

Who's the Traurig in the picture on the wall? Tir horns don't look like Verheim's.

>>61413
Verheim and tir mate both know Lutzi, just not very well (Verheim did refer to Lutzi by name when ti answered the door.)
Also, yes, drawstones are just magnets. They're a novelty to deerlings and considered to be a pretty cool toy.

Also, the family tree goes like this: Lutzi and Fritzi are both Verheim's cousins. Fritzi's Frohrer has two siblings, both of whom are also Frohlich, and each of them has had at least one deerlet (one of whom is Lutzi, and one of whom is Verheim). Verheim's mate (whose name, for the record, is Gertie) is not related by blood to Fritzi or Lutzi.

I might draw up a family tree after I update tonight to help out.

Also, to clarify a bit more - the exchange between Verheim and Lutzi was just an offhand sex joke! You guys are looking a little too much into it.

>>61420
The Traurig in the picture is Mina's older sibling. This indicates that at some point, Verheim and Gerti's relationship has changed enough that the dominant personality has switched! (As a side note, it's pretty neat that after such a significant change in the relationship's dynamic, it has stayed strong and healthy enough to complete the ritual successfully.)

Ah, I also just noticed that part of the confusion may have been Verheim's introduction dialogue, but ti was only introducing tirself for Gunter's benefit. And again, Lutzi knows the family but hadn't interacted with Verheim enough that the talent had come into play. Sorry, the dialogue there really was written in a confusing manner and it didn't portray the family relationships the way I meant it to.

I'm guessing the heartthrob on the poster is "in" a play? Does recording technology more advanced than a still camera exist?

I'm honestly surprised idol worship exists in such a religious land.

FRACTAL 2012/10/04(Thu)20:50 No. 61744 ID: 8dbc01
File 134940904178.jpg - (820.66KB , 2772x1794 , familytree.jpg )

okay here's the family tree i promised! i probably could have shaded in traurigs or marked them F and T or something but whatever

>>61742
yes! kristof von eckendorf is a relatively popular stage actor. there is no video technology - deerling will travel to major cities to watch their favorite performers in plays and other performances. kristof is known for tir lead roles in romantic dramas that many might consider a little tacky, and is very popular among most frohlich mina's age.

>>61743
actually, you are not far off. the kind of behavior mina is displaying - i.e. expression intense adoration of a romantic bent for someone who realistically could never be your mate - is considered pretty dangerous, foolish behavior and is generally looked down upon and discouraged. it's a little more tolerated when a deerling is mina's age and not really at the point at which mating is a serious concern, but in a few solar cycles you can bet fir eltern are going to sit fir down and have a long, serious talk about taking those posters down and focusing on finding a mate to create an absolute bond with.

Anonymous 2012/10/04(Thu)21:11 No. 61745 ID: 4a328b
File 134941028785.png - (2.24MB , 2772x1794 , I_HOPE_YOU_ARE_HAPPY_FRACTAL.png )

>>61744
BOY I SURE HOPE I GOT THESE RIGHT
TOO BAD THEY WERE NOT PRE-MARKED >:D

are there pedo deerlings who are like into those without markings and no breasts uh I mean antlers?

>>61744
Oh boy these are cool!
And oh no, deer parents are pushy about the grandchildren like they are with humans! Oh deer, I don't suppose parents of Traurig are a little less pushy though, seeing as how trying to get grandchildren may get their child, that one of the parents died temporarily to make, killed.
Oh god, speaking of that situation, how do the families of the Traurig feel towards the Frohlich mate after an unsuccessful ritual? I mean, the parents are probably REALLY pissed if they're alive too. I mean, I'm sure a few are understanding, but the funeral must be TERRIBLE for the Frohlich. All the Traurig's friends and family there, knowing that fi is the cause of all that gathered sorrow. For empath Frohlich's like GUNTER, the funeral would be so much more awful. On top of experiencing the shock of some of Fritzi's emotions, just being within range of the funeral must have been horrible for Gunter. Imagine being the SUBJECT of all that hate and sadness, Gunter probably would turn into a dribbling insane patient.
Lief is kind of an asshole for asking for Gunter to kill ti for the ritual and getting mad at fi's refusal. The amount of crap empath's would have to deal with in this culture... do empath's get any special treatment in comparison to deer with other talents? I mean, how do parents react when their kid is an empath? Their siblings? Their friends? Not only do they have to deal with the emotions of others constantly, others might have to worry that their emotions around an empath like Gunter to be faked or hijacked.
Are there any talents in which a deer is typically shunned and/or witch-hunted in this society for having?

>>61754
Deerling are definitely pretty pushy about offspring because it's considered sort of a social duty, and so discouragement of what is considered dangerous behavior is partially about keeping the deer/their future mate safe, and partially about fulfilling a societal obligation.
Empaths don't really get special treatment or consideration, and nor do any other talents. Because it's considered rude to ask directly about someone's talent (you're supposed to infer it via interaction or wait until they mention it themselves), deerling spend a lot of casual interaction not really knowing what talents the people they're around have, so there's no real protocol for dealing with certain talents because a lot of the time you're not even going to know what they are. There are loose, unspoken etiquette guidelines, but for the most part, people have the general mindset that you would be naive to think that someone wouldn't use their talent consistently throughout day to day life. In the case of empathy, it's generally considered sort of a low blow to use your talent to influence someone to an extreme degree if they don't know about it (but if they know about it, it's sort of a "they know it's coming, they should be aware that emotional influence is a possibility) sort of thing). But also, depending on how good you are at using your talent - they can be honed and (to a certain degree) strengthened! - you can't really do TOO much to a person's emotions without them noticing that there's an outside force at work, even if they don't know you're an empath. Gunter can't do more than general atmospheres and slight nudges before it becomes obvious to the target that he's using his talent.

Gunter's decided to be a guy again, I guess.

>>61745
Clausa and Carsten - three children, 50% failure rate.

Dem grandparents know whats up.

>>61778
Hmm, I just now thought of a question, and I'm not entirely sure if it has been answered, or if it's technically been answered before.

You say that Deerling's do have that societal obligation to have children. Does anything particularly bad happen to those that shun that obligation? I mean, obviously Lutzi has and it looks like ti still has good relationships with everyone but it might be because ti's attractive and probably figure ti might one day still settle down?
OR has ti's parents just settled that one their little deers isn't going to have kids of their own and deer keep to themselves that much that they aren't curious, so Lutzi's case might be a little different than the average deer that shuns their reproductive duty?

FRACTAL 2012/12/16(Sun)06:07 No. 65108 ID: 6808dd
File 135566686005.jpg - (21.46KB , 500x375 , guntercosplay.jpg )

GUYS
SOMEONE PUT TOGETHER A MAKEUP TEST FOR GUNTER?????
i .... i know them and we're buddies but it's like a total surprise she just popped this into my inbox and was like "look i'm the first deerlingquest cosplayer!!!" and i just
ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

(ALSO ahem i'm done with finals and i have a month off so i hope to get back to a regular update schedule)

>>65108
Oh, neat. Looking forward to it.

>>65108
wow, that looks really good.

>>63699
it's really just sort of a social stigma. imagine the "school slut" at your high school. she still probably had good friends and people who liked her and whom she had fun with, but there were plenty of people who disliked her even though they didn't know a think about her, and the title of "school slut" was something that followed her around in whispers. that's kind of what it's like to be a deerling who clearly has no plans to have deerlets. there are still going to be people who like you and are friends with you, and people may, for the most part, be nice to your face, but there's always going to be whispering behind your back and a general sense that the others are "better" than you somehow.

"oh, lutzi? ti's certainly good-looking, and a talented tailor, but - oh. well, you know. ti isn't the type you'd do the ritual with, if you get my drift."

FRACTAL 2012/12/17(Mon)10:07 No. 65169 ID: 6808dd
File 135576766536.png - (331.08KB , 598x920 , mantiscommg3.png )

also i've been filling the void left in my soul by my inability to update by getting commissions from cool artists!

this one's by vilkest on furaffinity! she's a huge sweetheart and a super trooper and the poor thing had to redo my entire piece bc her computer crashed ;u;

FRACTAL 2012/12/17(Mon)10:09 No. 65170 ID: 6808dd
File 135576777499.gif - (117.28KB , 406x960 , gunterfloat.gif )

i also got a gif diptych from crownkind on tumblr! i'm asking her to tweak a few little details for accuracy's sake but i'm super happy with both of these so i'm just gonna post em right now anyway

FRACTAL 2012/12/17(Mon)10:09 No. 65171 ID: 6808dd
File 135576779673.gif - (151.61KB , 406x960 , lieffloat.gif )

aaaand part 2

from now on the official disthread for all my quests is here: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/65967.html