Welcome to the first Veiled Age Lore Jam. This coincides with the release of the Veiled Age World Guide, which details a Creative Commons fantasy setting.
Lore Jam?
Kind of like a game jam, goal of a lore jam is to collectively add depth and detail to this setting by submitting lore entries or story scenes around a specific theme.
Our first theme is Oryth artifacts. To participate, simply reply to this thread with the full text of your entry, anytime between now and July 31.
I will then pick some entries to canonize in the next version of the World Guide. If there’s continued interest, we’ll do it again with another theme. In this way, we can build an ever-expanding fantasy setting that will always be free for other writers to use.
About Oryth Artifacts
Oryth artifacts are objects recovered from the ancient ruins of a hyper-advanced reptile civilization called the Oryth. For more info on the Oryth, see page 31 and page 52 of the Veiled Age World Guide.
Ancient Yet Futuristic Treasures. Oryth artifacts are clarketech, meaning they are pieces of technology so advanced that their internal mechanisms are beyond the comprehension of the planet’s medieval-level civilizations. An artifact could have practically any function, but it must have enough limitations or rarity to avoid breaking the medieval technology level of the overall world setting.
Distinct Appearance. An Oryth artifact could be as small as a coin or as big as a mountain, but is nonetheless recognizable visually. It is usually made of an off-white stone resembling alabaster and/or a metal resembling tarnished silver. Its shape usually features rotational symmetry or equiangular polygons. Think spirals, triangles, and elegant geometries.
Your Post
The first line should be the title of the artifact, with a # at the beginning to indicate a header, like this:
# Cold Sleep Chamber
Then, write 300-3000 words, in one of these two formats:
- An in-world document discussing the artifact, as if from a scholar researching it.
- A scene involving the artifact, showing its significance to those in possession of it. It might be a family heirloom, a centerpiece of a town, a weapon, a holy relic on display in a temple, or just a curious toy in a merchant’s wagon.
Either way, try to convey a pre-industrial perspective. If a medieval merchant came across a cryo-stasis pod, what would he call it? What would he use it for?