3/4 Silv 2025/05/21(Wed)17:11 No. 1108393 ID: 1effd3
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Flan and Flumph interact with the new arrival Kazooie, but someone's missing.
“Hey Fern, do you know where Naiad is?”

Fern suddenly freezes and begins swaying slightly. They’re trying to avoid eye contact with you.
“Chiiiiiiiiiiiiirp…?”

“Master Silv, I do believe they’ve misbehaved somehow.”

“...Fern, what did you do?”

4/4 Silv 2025/05/21(Wed)17:11 No. 1108394 ID: 1effd3
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“...Why is Naiad like three times larger than before?”

Do you have any requests, Galena? We have tech runes now, so we could make a section of the island with a tech affinity.

>>1108393
Fern, did you feed Naiad something?
This is slightly worrying. We need to avoid letting our voidlings getting any bigger than that. We still don't know that much about how their lifecycle works or how likely the bigger forms are to eat bits of our home island.

>>1108393
See?
Big sister aura.
Projecting the fear of being told off to any misbehaving younger sibling in the radius of effect. Fear of punishment or even worse than that,them being disappointed in you.

Uh.
Naid IS looking a lot bigger...
Usually returning to a significantly larger exotic pet means they ate the others, but they seem to be ok... so...
Do they appear gravid?
I mean, did they make the voidbeast with two backs?
Do they even do that?
Hmn.
Ask fern.
galen is- sorry, galena is right.
She does look guilty.

Now Fern, no matter how cute they look you can't overfeed the voidlings. So what did they eat, runes? Did you see which ones?

Yeah, I think Fern needs to be taken off ranching duty. Galena can work with wild animals until we find more golems.

Did… did they feed him runes or something? Don’t voidlings usually get bigger the more runes they have?

Hmm... I think the tech rune has opened doors for us. If we were to infuse a large patch of dirt with Tech, Tremor, and Stagnate runes, we could potentially create simple earth golems that could commanded into a form which could then be made permanent and self repairing. We can make an actual, warm home rather than this stacked up hovel. I'm also willing to bet Tech + Tremor might make a golem rune or something similar, which would simplify the process.

We seriously need more runes though.

>>1108415
Ooor this could lead to a borg or phyrexian situation. From wat weve seen, Silv needs context and understanding for things to fully utilize them. Galena has an affinity we dont know yet either.

Oh right we should Identify Naiad now.

>>1108419
Oh I wish.

The system or whatever it's called can indeed step in and make assumptions when we don't give it enough info (like with that void fire), but it readily accepts any pseudocode we give it.

Silv's understanding is more of a bottleneck for us rather than a prerequisite. While we can write/program as long and complex of a spell or infusion as we want, if the concepts and/or complexity overwhelm Silv then she won't be able to execute.

This is all to say: If we write a simple pseudocode program with clear purpose through the lense of currently unlocked runic concepts, we can produce any effect we want, no gray goo/borg/phyrexian risks at all.

If we want to increase possible length or complexity we will either have to teach Silv more stuff, or discover a language she can read without our help so we can record detailed instructions for her.

>>1108429
That's... mostly wrong. We can't supply "pseudocode" to anything directly, we're instructing Silv to make spells. Those spells require a structure that she can't deviate much from.

>>1108430
I don't see what you're getting at. Since I described Silv as a bottleneck required to execute our instructions, doesn't that imply what you just said?

>>1108394
Well, she's not rampaging. I agree, let's pop an Identify.

>>1108431
It's like putting cause before effect. You're talking about it as if we're making the spell and then Silv is the problem if it doesn't work. In reality, we're the problem. We keep trying to get her to make spells that don't fit with the required spell structure.
There's no "bottleneck", there is no "system" to accept "pseudocode". She has told us how to make spells, so we're not going to get anywhere trying to make spells any other way.

>>1108455
What are you even talking about? We've only ever been given vague outlines on how the magic system works, and then when we try to use it we get warnings and errors. What I'm describing is a way to interact with whatever system there is based on lessons I've learned studying the errors it's thrown at us and trial and error. You said there's a pre-defined structure, what is it then?
Also, *both* we and Silv are the problem and that's fine! We are organically discovering a complex magic system and finding creative ways to solve problems and create tools with that system, however all actions must be communicated and performed through an imperfect actor- Silv. Whether we expand our knowledge of the magic system, attempt to use what we know in clever ways, attempt to improve our imperfect actor, or something else entirely, all are valid ways to approach situations.

Your rigid thinking would make sense in a video game or established canon. This is an ongoing, incomplete narrative where our suggestions can and often do shape the world through the author's lense.

Also I believe our argument has reached sufficient length that we should move this to questdis.

1/2 ASP-Ian 2025/05/29(Thu)09:02 No. 1108807 ID: 1effd3
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>Oh right we should Identify Naiad now.
>Well, she's not rampaging. I agree, let's pop an Identify.
“Identify!”
— — —
Name: Naiad

Race: Swimmer Voidling
Natrualborn of the Void, they consume and recycle all that exists. Smaller voidlings can only eat matter that breaks down into the most basic of runes.
Primary Runic Affinity: Unknown.

Abilities:
Breakdown:Voidlings consume any matter for sustenance, and convert it into runes. It is not a fast or efficient process.
Fluid Efficiency:Can generate runes from fluid matter more efficiently.
----------------
Updated Abilities:
Specialized Breakdown [Fluid]: Replaces the Breakdown and Fluid Efficiency abilities. This Voidling can only consume fluids, in exchange for greater efficiency in rune generation.
— — —
“It doesn’t look like Naiad changed much, just that they can only consume fluid now, but it’s more efficient?”

“Isn’t that good Master SIlv?”

“Kinda? But we don’t know much about how Voidlings grow or do things besides eat and make runes… and become giant rune monsters.”

>Fern, did you feed Naiad something? This is slightly worrying. We need to avoid letting our voidlings getting any bigger than that. We still don't know that much about how their lifecycle works or how likely the bigger forms are to eat bits of our home island.
>Naiad IS looking a lot bigger… Usually returning to a significantly larger exotic pet means they ate the others, but they seem to be ok... so...
>Now Fern, no matter how cute they look you can't overfeed the voidlings. So what did they eat, runes? Did you see which ones?
>Did… did they feed him runes or something? Don’t voidlings usually get bigger the more runes they have?
>Yeah, I think Fern needs to be taken off ranching duty.
“Fern, what runes did you feed Naiad? We need you to tell us, or I won’t let you take care of the Voidlings anymore!”

Fern suddenly explodes into a cacophony of chirps and flailing vines. It sounds like they’re spilling their guts about something, but unfortunately, you have a minimal understanding of Fern.

2/2 ASP-Ian 2025/05/29(Thu)09:02 No. 1108808 ID: 1effd3
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Fern then grabs a burnt stick and starts scribbling into the dirt, while still chirping up a storm. The scribbles remind you of the Elder Florafolks, but there’s many more directional arrows used. One of them you do recognise immediately.
“The Nature Runeling?”

Fern continues to draw arrows and symbols, crossing out ones that look like runes.
Galena observes the chittering doodles, her eyes dashing between the lines drawn.
“...I think they’re saying they’ve done this before.”

”WHAT?!”

Fern quickly dashes away into the storage, and brings back a piece of Voidmatter.
“You fed Naiad Voidmatter, not runes?”

“I see now.” Galena says. “Voidlings consume matter to produce runes, but consuming Voidmatter instead accumulates mass for the Voidlings.”

Looking through your supplies, you and Silv notice that x2 Voidmatter is missing from Inventory!
“So they don’t get bigger unless they… eat each other?”

“Or otherwise consume Voidmatter in one form or another.”

After more doodles and chirping, you begin to put together that Fern and the other young Florafolk were feeding voidlings runes, and then when they got fed Voidmatter, that’s when things escalated out of control. Simply put, Fern created the Nature Runeling by accident.

>>1108808
Alright, it sounds like feeding runes to voidlings is bad, and creates Runelings which are hostile(makes sense, runes are basically voidling poop so feeding a voidling runes can't be healthy), but feeding them voidmatter is fine and just makes them progress along a normal evolution line. Hmm, where does voidmatter come from though? I wonder if voidmatter was made by whatever process destroyed these worlds.

Considering we spend runes to expand the island and thus create matter, and then voidlings eat matter to create runes... is that cycle lossy or gainy? Do we want to make our voidlings as big as possible and let them eat bits of the island that we can then rejuvenate via the runes they make? Or will we need to bring in outside materials to keep them fed?

We could measure how much water is in the pond now, and how much is in the pond when Naiad next makes a rune. Then use the rune and see how much bigger the pond gets. But all that would take a while to do, and we need to get back to the freezing problem.

In the meantime, Fern please don't feed them any runes, and keep a track of how much voidmatter you give them. Not too much, we might not have enough island to feed them if they all get big.

>>1108808
Ok, I'm not sure I follow. I get that Fern is the one who accidentally created the Nature Runeling by feeding voidmatter to voidlings, sure. But then why did they go and do it again with Naiad? Do they want another Runeling?

>>1108812
I think its implied it made the runeling first, then gave it voidmatter which made it big and ahressive. And now is avoiding runes entirely. Granted Fern has a more limited understamding than even us

>>1108808
This also implies that "killing" a big one is more akin to splitting them back into smaller ones, but let's not entertain that line of inquiry at this moment.

>>1108812
She thought her pet was hungry, and wanted to feed it. That does belie the application of organic assumptions to an inorganic being, but it's not like we're not guilty of it as well.

It does seem like the aspirational tamer could use a companion more in sync with her traditions, though.

>>1108808
Hm.

Shes repeating an action, but must be doing it more cautiously.
Otherwise we'd have a far larger voidling here.

Experimentation and the curiosity that inspires it is commendable.
We have learned something new about voidlings as a result
However, given how wrong it can go, its not a thing to do unplanned or alone.

Larger voidlings, tamed, may be important to this biosphere were trying to bootstrap from, well, nothing.

Make sure she knows to tell you next time she tries.

huh, good to know... but does this mean we have to worry about our voiding eating each other?

Also I think this also means that the next time we expand the island we're going to have to make a bigger pound for Naiad.

1/2 Silv 2025/06/02(Mon)08:50 No. 1109003 ID: 1effd3
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>Ok, I'm not sure I follow. I get that Fern is the one who accidentally created the Nature Runeling by feeding voidmatter to voidlings, sure. But then why did they go and do it again with Naiad? Do they want another Runeling?
>I think its implied it made the runeling first, then gave it voidmatter which made it big and aggressive. And now is avoiding runes entirely. Granted Fern has a more limited understanding than even us
>She thought her pet was hungry, and wanted to feed it. That does belie the application of organic assumptions to an inorganic being, but it's not like we're not guilty of it as well. It does seem like the aspirational tamer could use a companion more in sync with her traditions, though.
>Hm. Shes repeating an action, but must be doing it more cautiously. Otherwise we'd have a far larger voidling here. Experimentation and the curiosity that inspires it is commendable. We have learned something new about voidlings as a result. However, given how wrong it can go, its not a thing to do unplanned or alone. Larger voidlings, tamed, may be important to this biosphere were trying to bootstrap from, well, nothing. Make sure she knows to tell you next time she tries.
“Fern, I understand you were trying to be helpful, but something like this shouldn’t be done alone. Maybe we can experiment things later… and not on our friends.”

Fern lets out a slow, sad chirp.

>Alright, it sounds like feeding runes to voidlings is bad, and creates Runelings which are hostile(makes sense, runes are basically voidling poop so feeding a voidling runes can't be healthy), but feeding them voidmatter is fine and just makes them progress along a normal evolution line. Hmm, where does voidmatter come from though? I wonder if voidmatter was made by whatever process destroyed these worlds.
>This also implies that "killing" a big one is more akin to splitting them back into smaller ones, but let's not entertain that line of inquiry at this moment.
>huh, good to know... but does this mean we have to worry about our voiding eating each other?
”They haven’t eaten each other yet… So maybe we don’t have to worry about it? We just have to keep them out of where we keep the Voidmatter.”

>Considering we spend runes to expand the island and thus create matter, and then voidlings eat matter to create runes... is that cycle lossy or gainy? Do we want to make our voidlings as big as possible and let them eat bits of the island that we can then rejuvenate via the runes they make? Or will we need to bring in outside materials to keep them fed?
”No idea… I wish there was someone we could ask about this stuff…”

>Also I think this also means that the next time we expand the island we're going to have to make a bigger pond for Naiad.
“We might need to make the island bigger faster Tetsi. It’s starting to become a little cramped.”

“I agree with Master Silv, Master Tetsi. Enhancing your current estate would be quite beneficial, and provide more room for storage and accommodations. Digging out a storage cellar and constructing a…proper dwelling should be high in priority.” Galena says, looking at the shack.
“How do you expand this landmass Master Silv? Do you take smaller chunks and attach them?”

“Not quite? Though we did kinda do that with some small chunks that were floating nearby. We put runes into the Manapulse Nexus, and I gotta focus on stuff? I’ve messed up a few times and got some weird stuff. The pond and the copper behind the shack were originally mistakes.”

2/2 Silv 2025/06/02(Mon)08:51 No. 1109004 ID: 1effd3
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“Let’s see… We have 24 runes total, but we should save about 4 for a new spell if we need it. That gives us 20ish to work with. We still don’t know how different runes affect the island, so should we just use a bunch of Tremor runes to expand it?”

Where should the island expand?
Feel free to draw your expansion suggestions.

HOT.
SPRING!

A forest could help make Fern more at home.

Metal forest

>>1109004
Is the island even deep enough for a cellar right now?
Well, to make the shelter bigger, regardless of what direction, we need to expand towards the rear of the shelter so there's more room. More rock/ore would be good.
Let's try throwing Tech in as well to see what happens. ...there aren't a lot of advanced runes that I'd feel confident putting into terrain. Convection brings to mind volcanos which are dangerous, and stuff like Toxin, Decay, Corrosion, or even Cycle and Stagnation are more obviously harmful. Oh, we should probably put a Flare rune in somewhere to heat up the island a bit. Should probably keep the hot region somewhat separate from the temperate region. Long term planning I'm thinking a kind of four corners layout, with a cold region, a hot region, a temperate/wet region, and... hmm, not sure about the fourth one. Experimental region?

Oh! Now that we're back home, try that Primal+Eldritch combo a bunch now that it won't consume runes. Uh, I think I'm right about that, wasn't that a benefit of us being here? That we could experiment with combining runes without spending them?
We could also try Climate+Charge(lightning?), Decay+Life(fungi?), Life+Tremor(trees?), and Tech+Life(robots? AI?). Ice+Ice might give us a new basic spell.
Let's also do Flare+Stream and Breeze+Tremor to fill out our basic combinations even though they're opposites and probably won't work.
(and once we try out some Tech combinations the rune grid will need to be updated again to add the new column/row...)

well like I said before, the lake needs to be expanded. Or at the very least a river connecting to the current pond that's big enough for Naiad to swim in.

Wonder if we could find fish to fill the pond down the line to make it into a makeshift fish farm to help with food?

Nalthar 2025/06/02(Mon)18:00 No. 1109041 ID: fd169b
File 174891244520.jpg - (244.01KB , 1000x800 , from nothing planning.jpg )

1) expand the island
2) expand the lake
3) try to get some trees in the south west corner
4) use stream and convection runes to make a hot spring up on the ridge. Then dig a trench so it flows into the lake. I'm interested to see if it will make a continuous flow or just drain away. We can refil it later if it does.
5) use a static rune on the north edge to see what happens.

>>1109041
I like the hot spring.
If we ever learn to shape the copper, pipes to the house for warmth would be viables.

Maybe those tech runes could be used to make a techy thing Galena knows what to do with?

>>1109041
Seems fine.

ASP-Ian 2025/06/07(Sat)18:02 No. 1109283 ID: 1effd3
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Figuring out island expansion soon, so get your ideas in! It'll be 1-2 weeks minimum due to other priorities.

>>1109283
I love that "working" gif. Cute.

1/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:50 No. 1109958 ID: 1effd3
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>Is the island even deep enough for a cellar right now?
Silv peeks off the island's edge.
...Seems like enough room to you.

2/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:50 No. 1109959 ID: 1effd3
File 175038423470.png - (537.86KB , 900x750 , 061925_FromNothing2_054_LandExpansion.png )

>A forest could help make Fern more at home.
>well like I said before, the lake needs to be expanded. Or at the very least a river connecting to the current pond that's big enough for Naiad to swim in. Wonder if we could find fish to fill the pond down the line to make it into a makeshift fish farm to help with food?
>>1109041
>I like the hot spring. If we ever learn to shape the copper, pipes to the house for warmth would be viables.

Silv has made her decision!
Total Runes allocated: 20

x10 Tremor to expand the island.
x5 Nature around the expanded landmass.
x2 Stream to expand the pond.

Galena observes silently and Fern dances around as stone forms into new landmass, grass, shrubbery, and trees grow upon the dead stone, and the pond's borders grow.

“Fascinating Master Silv, Master Tetsi. A power such as this is… unprecedented.”

“We still don’t really know how it really works. Do… you want to try?”

“...I suppose I can make an attempt, however, do not expect much Master Silv.

3/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:51 No. 1109960 ID: 1effd3
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x1 Static on unused landmass.

Galena tosses in the rune.
The edge of the island immediately explodes.
Silv and Fern scream in terror, and the voidlings cower.
“...With all due respect Master Silv, I do not believe I should try that again.”

“Maybe for the best… What’s this stuff?”

Fulgurite
Sand and dirt crystalized by the shocking force of a Static rune.
Primary Runic Affinity: Unknown.

“Crystalized sand…? And it’s a rune type I don’t know.”

“Crystalized Sand would be glass, or in other terms, Crystal.”

“So there might be a Crystal rune? But how would we get it…”

4/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:51 No. 1109961 ID: 1effd3
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“What will you be using the last two allocated runes for Master Silv?”

“Uhh… Oh right! Tetsi’s been wanting me to do this for a while. Let's see… How would it go…?”

x1 Stream and x1 Convection added for…
A Hot Spring.

Steaming water confronts the chilled air as cracks below heats the spring.

5/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:52 No. 1109962 ID: 1effd3
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“Master Tetsi wanted a hot spring? For what purpose?”

“Tetsi wants me to take a bath…”

You look at Galena.
“When was the last time you bathed Master Silv?”

“Uhh… I haven’t…?”

“I see.”

6/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:52 No. 1109963 ID: 1effd3
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“Pardon me Master Tetsi.”

7/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:52 No. 1109964 ID: 1effd3
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Suddenly, you are airborne.

So is Silv’s hat.

And dress.

And her undergarments.

You cannot process just how fast Galena just stripped Silv.

“AAAAA-”
SPLASH

8/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:53 No. 1109965 ID: 1effd3
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“Please hold still while I wash your hair Master Silv.”

“Ok~”

9/9 Silv 2025/06/19(Thu)18:53 No. 1109966 ID: 1effd3
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>Now that we're back home, try that Primal+Eldritch combo a bunch now that it won't consume runes. Uh, I think I'm right about that, wasn't that a benefit of us being here? That we could experiment with combining runes without spending them?

Rune combinations attempted:
Primal+Eldritch= Failure(?)

Primal and Eldritch did not fuse… yet. x2 runes lost.
2 attempts performed.
“I don’t think it works that way Tetsi, because we’ve only got two runes left… and I’d rather keep them for an emergency.”

THE CONCEPT REFUSES ONCE MORE. MORE ATTEMPTS ARE REQUIRED.

Our HUD is telling us that you just need to attempt fusion a few more times and eventually the combo will unlock. Worry about it later.

Today was a great day for salvage. Now, do we continue to scavenge the city before all the good tech gets eaten, or should we look for survivors over at the ice?
Personally, I guess we should look for survivors.

>>1109965
Making sure you take a bath.
I told you.
Big sis energy.
>>1109966
Yeah.
Wouldnt want to be caught wanting them.
Good work though.
Getting closer.

Say, galena... how cold is it right now?
Can you register and gauge temperature?
You see, one worry we had was encroaching cold on our little home.
It was bleeding off heat slowly.
Im wondering if the spring is enough or at least slowing it a little.

maybe we can get a crystal rune if a voidling eats a piece. Although it might be too complex a rune for our little voidlings.

It will be interesting to see if this pond maintains its volume or evaporates away.