Well, a lot of them, anyway. I initially reserved the right to throw out results, but my first on every table was so generous that I will instead only reserve the right to generate them with latitude. So starting with the Ionian Ontology generator for our basic cosmology and physics, we get:
This world is an expanse, mostly void, with 3 dimensions extending out infinitely with a single point which is the "center" or "bottom" of the universe. There are three elements: concrete, liquid nitrogen, and propane, which settle in concentric shells around the center in that order. All matter has a baseline level of awareness and will - for instance, concrete has been described as demanding and liquid nitrogen as glum. Entropy is strictly preserved over time, with any destruction of organization spurring further self-organization somewhere else.
That was the first response, and hey, it reminds me of something really specific: Jean-Pierre Ugarte's brutalist landscape paintings!
In this world, those buildings form naturally for "purposes of" entropy conservation. Concrete, liquid nitrogen, and propane sound inhospitable for life, but the weight order solid-liquid-gas is positively pedestrian, organisms would be adapted to processing liquid nitrogen the same way we are to water, and the atmosphere doesn't even need be functionally alien - our own atmosphere is mostly nitrogen plus the flame-enabling oxygen, so evaporated nitrogen plus propane.
Also to preserve entropy, that infinite expanse of space, filled with concrete/LN/propane, is presumably filled with concrete castles which transfer their nutricious negentropy to the "earth" when smashed. Over time from moment 0 of this universe, more and more organized space debris from infinity should smash down, but I think this would be in proportion with the growth of the "earth?" (Both should grow on the order surface of a sphere with constantly growing radius, right?) There could also be "exoplanets" of concrete with some sort of center-oriented concave structure which captures nitrogen and propane as they fall down.
Pressing the setting generator we get:
Aesthetic inspiration Maasai × Afrofuturism
Tone operatic
Forces of production 3D printing, earthquake engines, bioengineered vampirism
Relations of production finance capitalism
Ideologies socialism, utility maximization
Crises self-catalyzing cave collapse, vampire god run amok
So we've got a relatively technologically advanced, aesthetically African society with vampires. An in a world with an entropy conservation law, 3D printing and earthquake engines could be the same thing: blow up a complex cave system into homogenous powder, force the creation of something organized somewhere else. This leads to self-catalyzing cave collapses as an ecological crisis spurred on by financial speculation in reorganizing matter through literal creative destruction, probably justified by your typical neoliberal form of utilitarianism, spurring movements for some kind of socialist management.
Having vampires be in charge of finance capitalism is just too on the
nose, so do it Blindsight style, or better yet, they're not
bloodsuckers, they're taking advantage of entropy conservation to suck
the negentropy out of something and spontaneously mutate out new useful parts (mouths, heads, arms, whatever.) The vampire god run amock is just a cancerous mess beneath the concrete crevices of the earth, its tendrils munching on structures that grow too deep, ordinary brutalist dungeons suddenly morphing into biomechanical horror shows when you

corporate consultant fighters, adjunct professsor rogues, nurse wizards, blacksmith clerics
parasocial relationship gods, truckstop bathroom inns, McMansion dungeons, arcane:divine::infrared:ultraviolet
Captain Planet spellbooks, Freemason spells, jellyfish para/demi-elemental planes
Yes, that's a mess, but it's a mess I can work with. Scorpion elves, &c. fit alongside the bioengineered vampires as modifications the elite make on themselves and/or their servants, criminals, and so on; and they probably aren't anything as discrete as "scorpion elves" per se (but financial aristocrats adding poison snappers for dangerous beauty, yes.) Mannequin gnolls aren't bioengineered, by contrast; they're retired warrior-bots assembled from spare parts, gradually repairing themselves into new identities, eking out as scavengers on the margins. McMansion dungeons in this setting are obvious; the elite with their earthquake engines have discovered how to make the earth form gaudy palaces for themselves (and as down-on-your-luck rogues or what have you, it's your job to crack these before returning to your seedy little bars.)



This is absolutely incredible. All of these tables are great, but you've weaved them together in a way that is far greater than the already excellent individual parts.
ReplyDeleteIt has the right mix of high concept weird (Ontology generator), abstract features (tone, relations of production, ideologies), activation features (forces of production, crises), and flavor (aesthetics, pig orcs table). But again, you make the sum greater than the whole.
Do you have a physics or chemistry background? I like the way you bring that kind of speculative science into the lore, while not being hung up on "hard" science fiction.
It is both the nature of the tables but also your creativity and ability to tie it all together that makes this so great.
I second this, this is amazing. The whole idea of the universe where the equivalent of Big Bang creates endless concrete megastructures-'planets' in the endlessness of voice is absolutely incredible on its own, and the rest even better.
Delete>Do you have a physics or chemistry background?
DeleteNot at all - anything that makes it look as though I know what I'm talking about is pure chicanery.
That said, very pleased that people seem to like it! It was fun to make, and maybe will make a good second G75 project once I finish (that exercise for) Tlon.
I love this! It sounds like an alternate universe you might visit by stepping through a portal on Tlon.
ReplyDelete