Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Constructed Cultures' LiveJournal:

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Saturday, December 22nd, 2007
5:36 am [qiihoskeh]	Hi! I recognize a few user names. I've been conlanging for a long time, but have never done any conculturing before. I could be wrong, but I think my post is more appropriate to this community than to conlangs, even though there's not much original culture here: I'm using a slightly modified present-day Earth. It's more of a conscenario. I was thinking a bit how I might make up some background for my conlang MNCL5 (I haven't figured out its real name yet), to "justify" its peculiarities. First, MNCL5 is not very naturalistic; it's very regular, there's little or no lexical compounding, all non-initial morphemes begin with vowels, the syntax uses embedding, most roots are borrowed (it's easier to invent and remember words this way), and maybe a couple other things that escape me at the moment. At the other end, it's not a loglang, definitely not a taxonomic language, and not like Ithkuil either; also, it's not designed to be an IAL. So, all this places limits on the scenario. What I'm considering is this: at some time in the past, a group of aliens came to Earth and transformed themselves into humans, albeit with some subtle differences, mainly in the brain I guess, so that their fundamental character was preserved. Somehow (I need to figure this out), their alien origins were forgotten, so that the present-day descendents think they're purely human. By chance, a group of them come together. Dissatisfied with human languages, because their brains aren't perfectly adapted to them, they create a private auxlang (which is of course MNCL5). I think this explains the peculiarities of the language, although there a lot of details to be worked out. For instance, how long ago the aliens arrived and whether they can breed with original humans or constitute a parallel species. For fictional purposes, I may add the following. The aliens were followed by aliens of a second kind who were persecuting the first kind. The second group, who have also transformed themselves into humans, also retain their fundamental character. They basically have no redeeming qualities, but are clever in disguising this. The first group tend to be gentle and pacifistic except that they can become instinctively violent when encountering the second group. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 19th, 2006
10:15 pm [sluglord]	how does this sound? y'all can see me as Shigeru on http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/index.php, and i've made quite a few posts about my conlang Extmws and the concultures that speak it: the citizens of Haal, the Yionyooxscer Covenant, Theitspund, Esstams, Amaqis, Vlatch, Twauffists, and the Aa'aan Church. they live on a world that is the "crust" of our universe. any familiar with the Hollow Earth Theory, the idea is that the world is concave. my con-universe is concave on a grand scale, so that the inner surface of the universe is a habitable area. the population is centred around Haal, the largest city in the universe. the heart of the city is the Lighthouse Palace which shines bright enough to illuminate an area the size of the surface if neptune. on the edges are several Twilight Deserts. how does that seem to y'all, any ideas? (Comment on this)
Monday, August 7th, 2006
3:29 am [boroparkpyro]	Heyall Heyall, my name's Steg. I'm from the New York City area, and have been on the Conculture yahoogroup for a number of years. I just got into LiveJournal, found this community, and am saying "hi". My main conculture is the Rokbeigalm, who are also my main conlanging project; they're a mixed stone-age civilization of humans and Avarin elves living in the far-yet-mostly-tropical southern unexplored reaches of Tolkien's world. I'm also a sometime contributor to Ill Bethisad. Current Mood: friendly (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 26th, 2006
3:22 am [ranka]	Introduction First off, personal info My name is Nik, I'm a 27-year-old currently living in Overland Park, Kansas. I've been conculturing and conlanging since high school, maybe even middle school. Anything else you want to know, just ask, or take a look at my LJ. :-) Now, onto my culture. They are known as the kasshi, and, until quite recently, were aliens. I'd been gradually growing more discontent with their alienness, since their culture was, for the most part, too human, and I was caught in a bind where I couldn't do too much to the species' psychology without destroying the culture, and I was stuck on the culture due to poor development of the species. So, I decided to "divorce" them. Not sure exactly where I'll put the species. There are still a few loose ends to tie up stemming from the divorce. The Kasshi do not live on Earth, however, or even a particularly Earth-like world. My provisional conclusion is that they were a failed colony, perhaps even a crash-landing, and lost all their technology, regressing to a hunter-gatherer stage before eventually developing again. They arrived at their world perhaps 20-30,000 years in the past. They are, of course, just one of many cultures on their planet, but they are the most developed. Their planet orbits a star in a binary system. The main sun is referred to, in English, as the Sun, and teh secondary as the Companion (in their own language, "sun" in the generic sense is different from the name Sun). They have a single moon orbitting their planet They are the fourth of five planets around the primary, the fifth one being near the outer limit of stable orbits. The fifth one is habitable, but this is a non-issue for most of the history I've worked out. It's mostly oceanic, with only the highest mountains projecting above the water's surface. Their planet, Galhaf, has at least three major supercontinents. I've only worked out one of them in detail, as most of the history I've developed is restricted to that supercontinent, being too low-tech for transoceanic exploration. Only two of the supercontinents were historically inhabited with the third being remote and unsettled until more modern times (as if Columbus were to have stumbled on a completely uninhabited continent) The two inhabited supercontinents are known as (in Ivetsian) Odirá and Kraya. Odirá is the continent I've worked out. It is subdivided into two major halves, a northern half and a southern half, divided by a vast mountain range. The Kasshi are a matriarchy, tending towards oligarchy. They controlled a vast empire, which was ruled by an Empress. However, the Empress in turn was responsible to the Imperial Family Council. The position of Empress was not passed along by any rule of primogeniture, but rather, was chosen, during the days of the Second Empire, from among the Imperial Family Council by the Supreme Matriarch, the head of the church. The Empress, in turn, named the Supreme Matriarch from among the Council of Twelve, the church's ruling body. In the later days of their history, the Empress came to be elected from teh Imperial Family Council by the Council of Rulers, a sort of proto-parliamentary body consisting of the various high nobles of the Empire. I do not know much about very early Kasshi history, including the poorly-described First Empire. All I know is that that empire fell apart, adn the Kasshi came to be under the domination of other powers, most notably the Sanle Empire. At this time, the Kasshi themselves were restricted to Kassa Island. Eventually, Sanle control became nominal, and a prophetess arose among the Kasshi who brought a new religion. She united the island, and the message of her faith spread to the mainland, which at that time was reeling from the contraction of the Sanle Empire, and consisted of a number of independent statelets. Her religion spread, though much of the spread followed her death. A century and a half later, the new religion, Nrastaism, had spread to dozens of states, but was in crisis, threatened by other rival faiths and by schisms within the faith. Until the Council of Twelve announced the discovery of a young girl who was, they said, the reincarnation of the Prophetess. This girl, Chalana, became a figurehead for the unification of the Nrastaist states, as nominal Supreme Matriarch. However, she proved far more independent-minded than the Council had expected, and, in her early 20's, began to assert greater power, eventually becoming a true leader, a near-absolute ruler of both the church and the state. She brought together most of the Nrastaist states into the Second Kasshi Empire, proclaiming herself both Supreme Matriarch and Empress. However, she was eventually forced to concede to a separation of the positions after her reign. She reigned for 72 years before retiring (though, admittedly, that includes her early figurehead reign), and the positions of Empress and Supreme Matriarch were separated. The Empire was moderately decentralized, with each of the original states retaining a fair degree of autonomy. Culture The Kasshi themselves are a matriarchy. They live in large Houses, extended families, generally consisting of an older woman, her daughters, and their children. Sometimes four generations. In some cases, a House will survive after the death of its matriarch, with the eldest surviving daughter dominating it. Sons, once they reach adulthood, are not considered part of their House, but rather, a dependant thereof, until they find a wife. In the cities, the extended family structure tended to be strained, and instead, an artificial House would be formed. Generally, three or four women, with their husbands, would form a group, assisting each other in child-rearing and the like. Property is passed along matrilineal lines, for the most part, owned collectively by the Houses, both the "genetic" ones of traditional society, and the "artificial" ones of urban society (though the artificial ones have some degree of individual ownership). This even includes the tools that the men use in their work, which are then leased to men. For example, a blacksmith leases his tools from the woman who owns them, or, perhaps, may marry her. The army is mostly male in the rank and file, but the officers are generally female (in later eras, some male officers began to appear), as men are not considered to have leadership skills. The navy is one of the few truly male-dominated sectors. Which may explain the low value historically given the navy in war, and its distinctly subordinate position to the army. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 17th, 2006
9:33 pm [skellington1]	I was going to lurk, but there doesn't appear to be that much recent action to pounce on, and I've already blathered at least once in the comments. So to heck with lurking. I feel like I'm at an AA meeting. My name is Skellington, and I have a little planet that I take out and play with. In public, even. I tried to get over it for awhile, but it's a hard habbit to break. I've been working on some of the cultures, on and off, for years, while on the other hand some of them are defined only by their relationship to cheese.* I orginally started it as a background for writing fantasy fiction, but I'm a designer/illustrator by trade, so a lot more of the culture building has been visual, and therefore focused on material culture aspects, or the societal aspects that are reflected in visual culture. I've recently been trying to figure out where the gaps are (which cultures don't have anything to eat or believe in), so that I don't cover the same ground over and over. I dredged up the six key points of culture as taught to me in University, and I've been trying to have something in each slot for all of 'em (I'm failing miserably). They're the material aspects (food, clothing, shelter) and immaterial aspects (religion, language, ethnicity). The idea being that everyone has to have those (even if ethnicity is polyethnic, or religion atheist), and art and all follows after. Anyway, that chart is what I started on most recently, but I only got an hour into it and started drawing tree houses. Everyone loves treehouses, right? Okay, end of ramble. It is to bed with the Skellington, before she makes an ass of herself. Cheerio! *This is not true, but there is a group that is notable mostly for their comparative adjectives, which is about as random as cheese. The cheese bit is a misquote from the film Benny and Joon. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 5th, 2006
1:34 am [wire_mother]	A Conculturist's Library this is just a brief listing of some books that i think are of particular value to conculturists for one reason or another. i'll note that there is a bias in this list toward books which describe Irish cultures, and toward low-technology environments. this is due to my own interests: Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond Collapse - Jared Diamond these two deserve special mention. they are probably the two most valuable books for conculturing ever written. the first indicates why societies develop at different rates, even though they have the same pool of innovation. the second shows how societies fall from their heights. another special mention, though not so important for those conculturists who don't include language as a part of their concultures, is Describing Morphosyntax by Thomas E. Payne. it's been rightly called the Bible of conlangers. and now some more of the bookshelf: Irish Folk Ways - E. Estyn Evans - a very comprehensive look at the details of daily life. useful to get a sense of the variety of common items that affect a society's everyday existence. The Tory Islanders - Robin Fox - an anthropological look at a social system, with special attention to such aspects as genealogy and the perception of social space. the Foxfire series of books - a lot of useful information on how low-tech societies function. Five Acres and Independence - M.G. Kains - a somewhat dated book on running a small farm (dated only in the sense that it would prove difficult to follow its prescriptions exactly in modern North America). valuable for many notes of detail regarding crops and animal raising. A Guide to Early Irish Law - Fergus Kelly - a description of a legal system which operates under very different assumptions than the ones which underlay most (or all) modern legal systems. The Deities Are Many - Jordan Paper - polytheism is very different than a collection of monotheist faiths, and this book explains how many polytheists structure the world. Cattle Lords and Clansmen - Nerys Patterson - a case-study description of a transhumant culture in detail, indicating how its social structure and even religious rites are affected by the subtle factors of its environment. of course, reading widely on subjects ranging from religion to agronomy to just about everything else is recommended, as well. any other suggestions? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 14th, 2006
8:27 am [oracular_rufio]	Hello, people. I'm a bit of a lurker, and I've just been directed here from conlangs. I actually do have a conculture I'm working on over at kelynra, but my main purpose here is to crosspost this idea which is probably more on-topic here than it was on the conlang community. So, uh, what do you think? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 13th, 2006
10:52 pm [faminir_muse]	hi - newbie here Hello all, I am faminir_muse and I have been a conculturist for a little over 10 years. The culture I have been forming are the Alvar, much of their info is on my lj. I just foundout about this group through conlangs and hope to find good dialouge here (8 Comments |Comment on this)
4:56 pm [bloodb4roses]	Happy Love Day Tommorow is Valentine's Day, so I'd like to know: Do any of your cultures have a day to tell that special someone how you feel? Unfortunately, Danpyr are a little too private with their feelings to have such a thing, or at least they wouldn't show it in an overtly obvious way... But how about everyone else? (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
6:21 pm [wire_mother]	Obligatory Intro hi, i'm wire_mother, and i'm a conculturist. i've been developing a constructed fantasy world for the last several years, including a number of concultures. most are purely my own, but some are developed from either real-world cultures or from other fictional cultures, though always after significant development on my part. some sketched descriptions of the major human cultures: Curaidh - a Celtic-type culture, strongly drawing from the Gaelic peoples of the real world. Michael Newton's A Handbook of the Scottish Gaelic World is one of the very important sources i've studied for them. Ablashians - the "hillfolk". their society is similar in some respects to that of the American frontier in the mid- to late-19th century. ruled by Judges and Sheriffs, but with a number of lesser rulers as well. Davrai - mounted nomads. their elite warriors learn special techniques to tame bulls as riding mounts. they live in harmony with the davramanai, or bull-men. Drakkonern - the dragonriders. they've learned to live with the powerful dragons, though they are effectively the servants of the great lizards. somewhat germanic culture, but with many special adaptations to their conditions. Paynim - sorceror-kings ruling a growing empire centered around city-states. the central city-state of Payn (pronounced pah-ün) maintains control over its peripheral states by a combination of military might, magical control, and political acumen. several subordinate cultures exist under its purview, notably the Libertatim, the Mordrim, the Curim, and the Ablasim. Libertatim - a fiercely independent island nation lately come under the sway of the Paynim Empire. their concept of private property extends only to ethnic Libertatim, and they culturally advocate an institution of piratical fleets. this is creating quite a bit of friction with their Paynim masters. Mordrim - a small nation related to the Paynim (in the same way that the Spartans were related to the Athenians), who have decided as a people that their individual duty to the people extends after death. to this end, they commonly reanimate their dead to act as a labor force. Curim - Curaidh who have come under the control of the Paynim Empire. they chafe quietly under the rule of the foreign sorcerors, but maintain that their greatest leaders who died will return to lead them to freedom. Ablasim - Ablashians who have come under the control of the Paynim Empire. i don't really know much about them yet. nonhumans in the world include the Dvergr (machine elves), Davramanai (bull-men), Koni (rabbit-men), Brimanim (winged men), Dhyn (fire elves), Selachim (shark-men), Troctim (fish-men), Roim (seal-men, pronounced "roe-im"), Oragi (orcs), Uighiz (centaurs), and Drakkonen (dragons). (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 12th, 2005
11:31 pm [lhynard]	Question on Color To what extent have you worked out the significance of the various colors in your culture? Does white symbolize death or life or something else? Does red indicate love or violence? Is pink associated with girls or boys? Current Mood: curious Current Music: silence (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 17th, 2005
1:59 am [echoesimmortal]	How do you represent your worlds? I'm an architecture student in the real world, and for my concultures, I've decided a great way to somewhat represent to others how I envision the worlds/lands that they are situated in would be to have drawings/models/etc of them. I am starting work on the capital city of one of my island nations. I am currently learning autocad and using that as a starter for getting some of this drawn out, so to speak. I hope to be done by next year with this starter project, mostly because I won't have that much time for it. Anyone else using CAD or any other kind of program/similar method to represent your conculture's settings? Is the architectural backdrop for your conculture important to you or do you focus more on the interactions within the beings in the conculture and the sociological aspect of it? If it IS important, how do you come about with the "look" of the buildings in this backdrop? Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Battle Without Honour of Humanity - Kill Bill OST (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 5th, 2005
8:15 pm [bloodb4roses]	I finally can post something! Ok, here's some info on Danpÿr: Habitat: Just about anywhere on land that other races live, except places like volcanoes and the highest mountains on their world. This is because they are omnivorous, but require a certain amount of blood in their diet for health purposes. Which nutrients they require is not quite understood yet. Lifestyle: Mostly nocturnal. Unlike vampires in our myths, however, they are able to exist in sunlight, although prolonged exposure can cause them to become ill. This is less apt to affect young Danpÿr (less than 80 years old), but they start shifting toward being nocturnal by about age 25-30. They do not require as much sleep as humans (about 14 hours in the course of 5 days), but prefer to function on about three to four times that, mostly durring daylight hours. They can live indefinately unless killed by injury, disease, total starvation, dehydration, or lack of oxygen. Many live to be thousands of years old. As a natural population control, female Danpyr are unable to concieve children for long periods. It also takes a long time for young Danpÿr to fully mature. They don't have many cities of their own. Instead, they congragate within the cities of other races in "sanctuaries." Looks: They have a wide range of hair and eye colors, but their skin ranges only in the lighter shades. They are thin but generally well-muscled, and about the height range of humans with the average height slightly lower for males and higher for females. Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
Monday, October 17th, 2005
12:10 am [elvengeek]	Tribes of Tanjalith: Wistar, Tor and Lithar History of Tanjalith 1 The Wistar were the first people of Tanjalith. A new strain evolved from them, one that included men. These people migrated to the west. Later some of them left for the south- those became the Lithar. Those who remained in the north were the Tor. The telepathic Wistar learned the Torin language, and developed their own dialect. The two tribes continued to closely associate & intermarry. Thus many Tor retain telepathic & mataka powers. 2 Southern Lithar- eventually came to think that the Wistar were legends or had died out. When they found that the Wistar did indeed exist they became very suspicious of Wistar & Tor and their powers. Extrasensory & telepathic abilities were seen as dangerous or evil. Some people with such powers fled to the North & West. Wistar lived in cities on the plains but were driven into mountains by S.L. who then took over those cities. 3 Clans weaken are dispersed 4 Divan (council) is created 5 Clans reunited. Wistar- ancient race of women- ancestresses of the Tor and Lithar Wista- member of the Wistar, Wistarin- language Habitat: Live in mountains- hunter- gatherers- later herders Some migrated to foothills and became farmers Sexuality: Mataka- power to reproduce asexually at will- use meditations Language: Telepathy is primary means of communication- learned to speak from the Lithar/Tor - some have stronger powers than others Call men- hair-faced ones Appearance: Tall and lanky Invented written language, astronomy Intertribal Relations: Regarded w/ awe and respect by Tor and Lithar. They call them the Mothers of All and Fatherless Ones, Elder Tribe. Often serve as mediators and translators between Lithar and Tor The Younger Tribes, Children of the Wistar Tori- member of the Tor Torin- of/or relating to the Tor Habitat: Live in the forests of the north- tree-dwelling Livelihood: live mostly on fruits, nuts Society: loosely organized- anarchist -people live with friends and sometimes relatives. Sexuality: No formal marriage- considered “promiscuous” by some Lithar Appearance: light-skinned and dark-haired Shorter than Lithar and Wistar, men have facial hair Tend to wear minimal clothing Nocturnal, Dislike wide open spaces and sunlight Culture: Very focused on the arts. Have a symbiotic relationship w/ trees Tor was never invaded Built first ships, discovered new lands Called Wildings, Tree Folk, Lithar- means ‘together’ Litha- member of the Lithar Lithari/Litharin- of/or relating to the Lithar Habitat: Plains and river-lands of the south-east houses built from mud or stone, sometimes w/ thatched roofs Livelihood: Agricultural- raise grain, horses Appearance: tan- skinned and light- haired, Men are beardless Diurnal, feel claustrophobic in forest Society: feudal, highly structured clans First domesticated horses, discovered metallurgy Sexuality: Usually monogamous A Branch of the Lithar: River People (A.K.A. Children of the River): tribe that live along the Nemlitz River and have dominated it for centuries, controlling traffic and keeping toll bridges and ferries. Regarding themselves as the divinely chosen guardians of the river, they fiercely guard it against pollution, damming and over-fishing. They farm the fertile valley and built cities along it. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 16th, 2005
11:31 pm [elvengeek]	Intro, Micronations Hello, I'm Elvengeek, I joined a while back, I've been busy, but I'll post on my country, Tangalith at some point. Micronations are imaginary countries where you can simulate the government etc. A lot of them just have someone declaring themselves king but don't really have anyone else participating. I'm interested in finding out about micronations that are actually active. LOSS: League of Succession States this group is 20 years old, though it seems the website hasn't been updated in a while. http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5111/eng_index.htm Talossa- probably the oldest micronation I'm aware of- and quite elaborate.- Sad, while surfing just found out it no longer exists, though there is still a message board of Talossan "exiles"\ http://my.execpc.com/~talossa/index.html Another site where you can create your own nation: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 15th, 2005
4:18 pm [bloodb4roses]	We died.... again.... Hmm... looks like a slow month... Well, how 'bout this? What's the hardest thing about conlangs/-cultures? What's easiest? What takes the most time but isn't necesarily hard? What do you enjoy most about conlangs/-cultures? Where (or when) does most of your inspiration come from? What do you do if you get an idea and have no way of recording it? Anything else you'd like to add is great, too. ^,-,^ Current Mood: hungry (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 11th, 2005
4:00 pm [bloodb4roses]	The fall Does your culture have a reason why the world isn't perfect, or why people get sick and must suffer? Is it part of your race's mythos? I'm thinking of making it so that several of the races in my world were tainted because of what a few members of one race did, but not all races suffer this fate. And I don't want to use Adam and Eve as a base for this myth. I hope that if a few other people give me some insperation, I can figure out something of my own without it being too cliché. Thanks ahead of time. Current Mood: empty Current Music: J-POP! (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 9th, 2005
5:17 pm [bodhran_man]	Orthography Here's something I feel like throwing out there.... Who among us has attempted to come up with a bona-fide writing system for a conlang and come out with something that they are actually satisfied with? I ask this because I have not been so successful, and am curious to know if there are methods that people use. My only criterion, really, is that the writing system be phonetic and not ideographic, not only because it seems as if most advanced cultures eventually moved away from an ideographic system, but because I am just plain lazy and don't feel like coming up with a complete system for that kind of structure. I am actually thinking about getting motivated, but if anyone has any suggestions, throw them my way. Current Music: Gaelic Storm - Summer's Gone (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 7th, 2005
5:55 pm [bloodb4roses]	Question on marriage Does your culture have marriage? If yes, what rituals must be observed before the marriage is official? Must one announce their intentions before they may get married to another? How long must they wait after this? What preparations happen durring this time? Can marriage be disolved? Is marriage for procreation or companionship? What is the definition of marriage in your culture (ie, must a marriage be be between two people of opposite genders?)? If no, is there a similar/equivalent arrangement? How is it different? Current Mood: energetic (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 25th, 2005
6:16 pm [lhynard]	Question on Modesty Wow! This community seems to have taken a nap since April. I'm new to it and figured I'd pose a question to liven things up. What are your concultures' modesty "rules"? I ask because one of my favorite cultures I've made is one in which no one ever shows any skin except for the small portion around their eyes. I have it that they lived on an inhospitable world such that they had to be veiled and protected from the sun and sand and that that extensive covering eventually developed into the modest way to dress -- even long after the planet became hospitable again. Current Mood: bored Current Music: silence (6 Comments |Comment on this)