hexarchate_rpg | Worldbuilding Questions and Discussion

- Range of signifiers depends on the scryee and the version of the high calendar in effect. You wouldn't see Liozh signifiers during the hexarchate era, even if the practitioner had been trained during the heptarchate. Think of the range of possible signifiers as a deck of cards that originally had seven suits in the heptarchate, and then in the hexarchate they removed the Liozh suit so you can't draw those cards anymore.

- Faction members usually but not always manifest faction-specific signifiers. I have a fragment of a short story on my hard drive somewhere involving Shuos Zehun working with a Shuos assassin who has a massive chip on their shoulder because they have an ashhawk signifier and people keep making fun of them about it. (Kind of dangerous around an assassin if you ask me, but, Shuos.)

Some people have what are called variable signifiers reflecting different aspects of their personality (Shuos Mikodez is one of these), and a percentage of those people can change their signifier at will (Shuos Jedao is one of these). Cheris was pretty consistent signifier-wise in Ninefox Gambit, but honestly given the amount of ?!?! in her head after the end of that book, she could plausibly be running around with a LOT of different signifiers.

- All signifiers are faction-affiliated. The Rose Chalice is an Andan signifier, and it generally means amiableness/docility with a side of "I'm a bit of a doormat" (which explains why Kujen was mucking around with it).

Hope this helps!

(BTW, Mabinogion fan? :D)

thanks!! that's really helpful. :-D

by analogy with "Scrywolf Uncircled" I'm thinking Virmad's old signifier will have been something like "Scrywolf Circling", which I'm intending to be just a really generic Rahal signifier like Ashhawk Brightly Burning for the Kel (if you've got something like that in mind already, I'm happy to go with that instead).

(and tbh I don't actually remember why I started using Lleu as an online handle, but apparently I was doing it as early as September 2010, well before I read the Mabinogion. but, broadly, my field is Celtic studies (although mostly modern and mostly Goidelic), so it's not un-fitting.)

I didn't have anything invented for Rahal signifiers along those lines, so Scrywolf Circling is perfectly fine. :)

woo! :D

How do variable signifiers work? Do they reflect the part of personality that's closest to the surface at the moment, and is it possible to trigger a change in signifier by purposefully putting yourself in a situation or state of mind that reflects that aspect of you?

I've been considering having Ashari have a variable signifier. I don't want them to be able to change it at will, exactly, but I feel like if it's something they do have, they're at least aware enough of it to figure out how to use it to their advantage.

Yes, that's a pretty good way to sum up variable signifiers, and they can be trained in to a certain extent if the personality is flexible enough. In fact, Shuos and Andan are the most likely either to have them to begin with or to be able to train them in, so it would make a lot of sense for Ashari to have one. If you decide to go with one, please drop a comment to your original character application just so the information is all in one place and easy for everyone to refer to. :)

Thank you! I'll be sure to do that.

Before I post their signifiers on the character application, I just wanted to run these by you to see if they made sense.

I'm thinking Ashari can switch, with some effort, between three Andan signifiers (that venndaai helped me come up with): Rose Burning Sweetly, Kniferose Unblooming, and Kniferose Unsheathed.

Rose Burning Sweetly would stand for someone who cares greatly for aesthetics and organization and whose bark was worse than their bite (even though the bark is pretty bad).
Kniferose Unblooming would represent insecurity and getting lost in the details to the point of stagnation.
Kniferose Unsheathed represent someone sharp, who follows through, is always ready to strike, and is just slightly unstable.

All three play into Ashari's personality and their own self perception.

Edited 2017-07-05 08:11 (UTC)

Sure, those look fine.

Worldbuilding Questions and Discussion

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Some ideas for Ashari's signifiers

Re: Some ideas for Ashari's signifiers