What the flying ####: AKA: New Beginning a Retrospective by Gentlman Vaultboy.

[Ericus Europaeus (Bug)]

CONTENTS DELETED

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[Philote]

I'm still waiting for Vault to do the section of NB where I appear

I wonder if he will like doing these as much once the style of NB changes and we start doing some plot lines and such.

[Myself]

Plot lines? In New Beginning?

It's hard to believe it happened, really.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 And yet another on the way.

(Let me know when you and GV are done, okay, Phi?  )

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Just to let everyone know, I've finally gotten enough time to read through part 3 in one sitting. So, sometime this week you can expect New beginning continued(again) Retrospective, or Nine Gluttons and a Party.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Mother of goodness, you're just getting to Number 3? I do apologize for the insanity you've still got left to wade through.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

That's how it goes. I read the whole thing first to get an impression, then I divide it into chunks that I reread before I type out what happened in that chunk. Then I read the chunk as I'm writing its Retrospective.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Well, I do appreciate your attention to the endeavor. I don't think I could carry through with such a task.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

NEW BEGINNING RETROSPECTIVE PART 3: NEW BEGINNING CONTINUED(AGAIN)

AKA the one with Phi and Marv in.

This one is defined by two large events that take up the majority of the thread. But lets ignore them for now and focus on the really important things, like how Phi pokes his head in on page one and tentatively asks what's going on. Neo explains New Beginning to him and decides to join in the fun. On Neo's suggestion that he makes a base or something, he pulls a whole galaxy  into the universe.

Oh yeah, he's going to fit in just fine.

Somewhere in this galaxy is the planet Aeon, which is the size of Earths sun. So only with the galaxy I think he handily wins the base one-upmanship without ever being part of it. Everything is bigger on Aeon, including the biomes which are so huge you could " live your entire life in a forest and never hear of the arctic."

You know where else that happens? Earth.

But I get what he means, and the biomes of Aeon are mixed together in new and exciting ways that really don't make any sense. For example, one of the main areas is a mix between desert and jungle. You know, those things that needs little to no rain and a whole lot of rain respectively just to exist. I'm going to chalk the absurdity of it up to authorial intent. Next to this place is a relatively large ocean. Relative to what?

And the people! This insane place has humans that are pretty much the same as on Earth. They share this planet with weird plants and big hungry monsters. There is more than one serpent on Aeon that could swallow the Earth, one of whom Phi killed personally.

Wulf uses this as a springboard to talk about a pair of monsters that will shortly become very important, the Gullet and the Cosm. Gullets are living black holes that patrol around Celedon space eating rocks and space radiation. They have a nasty habit of eating one another accidentally, creating a "contained gravitational vortex that has no effect on any other cosmic body unless they get too close."

So they're living black holes that, when they die, become regular black holes.

A Cosm, meanwhile, is "A living cosmic storm that originates from a mutated collision of life force and cosmic energy," which is technobabble worthy of the worst episodes of Star Trek. Wulf doesn't give a description of how this happens, only that they're the size of rainclouds in atmosphere and can grow to be the size of galaxy after centuries of drifting in space.

Fortunately for everyone both species can survive just on the ambient energy of a single star, which in the case of a large Cosm is like you living forever on a single grain of rice. So there's no way that they're going to become a horribly contrived threat. Instead, lets all brag about our wizards.

Everyone brags about their wizards, and this leads Phi to bring up how the Core System works. Anyone on Aeon can develop a Core, a sort of second soul capable of storing and manipulating the smallest theoretic particle in the universe: Philotes, so small it's made entirely of information. So they can use they specialize second soul to screw around with the base code of the universe. The most common way to do this is via Overdrive, which is like a program your soul learns to run to manipulate Philotes in specific ways. Somehow this also lets them freely manipulate space and time, hop dimensions, heal, and use telepathy even if that's not a specialty of your core. But they don't do more than "provide assistance" if they're not your specialty.

It's not like stopping time is a final boss tier power or anything.

Even though he already has Mars and Earth Myself decides he also wants a planet. He makes one, coincidentally also the size of the sun, that is mostly gas. In this gas floats planetoids composed of only one substance, which are made of blocks like Minecraft. That's how he describes it, not me. He plans to make more of these, but until then the civilization he birthed onto this world has to fight for blocks of the resources they need to survive while fending off monsters.

This sets Wulf to posting the first detailed description of Celedon I've seen in the thread. It's a long one. Like, it really epitomized a "more is better" mentality. Just copy pasting it would make this post super long. So I'm going to quote it.

Celadon's Penultimate wrote

*Dang, sorry it came out regular the first time, but it got all squished into this big block of info the next time I tried to edit it...hope that doesn't discourage you from reading it...

And I hope you're not being sarcastic, but here goes...

The world I created is called Celadon (shut up I know Celadon City from Pokemon does spring to mind, but believe me, it has nothing to do with Pokemon) and it's home to MANY different superhuman species (I mean A LOT, I've been creating them since 2007 and I'm still not done).

It's divided into Gandrei, Illyrion, Sciops, Arboralia, Safaria, Mygea, Habador, Atlantion (the ocean), Frostflame Island, Apprentice Island, Jungle Island, the Vanishing Island, Lethe Island and numerous other places.

Gandrei is the most urbanely developed, and is home to the highest population of humans. The people there are still in that kinda medieval, dungeons-and-dragons-y kinda state, but they are mainly human, and the most "civilized" (castles, houses, a more stable adherence to common languages and religions)

Illyrion is home to numerous cultures that still adhere to the ways of ancient civilizations such as ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, ancient Scandinavia and ancient Rome. Great if you like exploring ancient ruins and such. In the middle of that land is a huge battlefield that the numerous cultures converge on to test their skills (or in the event REAL war should ever erupt).

Sciops is the stormy region, constantly plagued by rain, thunderstorms and other bad weather. In addition, it is home to the largest graveyards, dungeons, swamps, and insidious criminal dealings. Storms occur so often that the cloudiness of the skies makes it hard to distinguish day from night. Home to lots of vampires and other eeeevil creatures.

Arboralia is the fanciful region, full of fairies, pixies, sprites and (duh) ELVES! Best known for its export of magic and magical items, it is home to Vas Arboraria, the Never-ending Forest (which isn't really that big, but due to frequent use of magic within, disorients people's sense of direction so they get lost in it very easily); luckily this is not the only forest you'll find

Safaria is the woodsy, outdoorsy type region. Home to the Amazons, werewolves, werefoxes, werecats, weredogs, thieves, sorcerers, and other powerful beings. It is great if you're into exploring the woods or the like. Just don't get caught by the Amazons, though; they're infamous for catching male travelers at random for their gladiatorial Coliseum Games

Mygea is the desert region. It is of course, mainly sand. It is hot as crap for like half the day, and at night, it's uber-cold. Moreover, in the dunes, you'll find Giant Ants, a giant species of bird called Roc, Sandworms, sandstorms, the mysterious Desert Wanderers, sphinxes (both statues and the living creatures, about the size of lions), and of course, mummies.

Habador is next. The land of mountains and fjords, it is likened most to Viking culture, primarily because it is home mostly to Nordic creatures. Ogres, orcs, trolls, giants, dragons and many other mountain/hill-dwelling beings (including the Cyclopes) make their homes in the mountains. But their most famous residents are the Dwarves which mine gems there.

After that you should know about the ocean Atlantion. It takes up about 75 percent of Celadon, just like with Earth, but it's a bit more lively. Home to mermaids, their counterparts the tritons, water nymphs, and various never-seen-by-earthlings species of fish, it is also home to the monstrous Scylla, the living whirlpool Charybdis and the deadly sirens. Sailors beware.

Then is Frostflame Island. Half of the Island is frigid, icy tundra, and the other half is molten, igneous and volcanic. The two sides are separated only by the Obsidian Wall, a black wall extending the whole divide. The two sides are ruled by titans of immense power. Vulcan, the Lava Lord, rules the region Vulcan. Polaris, the Glacier Guru, rules the region Polaris.

The you should know about Apprentice Island. Not too much to know. Young superhumans and mythological humanoids go here to live to get better at trades and fields of study. It's pretty big with young adults from Gandrei.

Jungle Island is a BIT less extreme. Home to the Hyphemancers, beings with the abilities of spiders, who worship the Spider Queen, it is a very wild place, the only settlements being webs and tree houses made of web. This island is home to a treasure that is fabled to have been amassed by the Spider Queen from all those who attempt to explore her island.

The next island I like is the Vanishing Island. It looks like any other island, but the only way you can see it is with a magic map. You see, everyday it remains "dormant". However, every night, it disappears. And every morning, it appears somewhere new. This island also disappears when it sees people trying to map it. It's home to a mysterious presence...

Next is Lethe Island. Oh, boy, there's a lot to say about it. It's called the Forgotten Island, because people can't really make their homes here. That's because it's home to the Hub, a giant natural protuberance in the island that looks like a volcano, that is the height of a mountain. The Hub is lined with doors, from top to bottom, leading to all other dimensions of reality

Last but not least, you should know about the Enneal Realms. Also called the Dream Realms, you have no need to eat, and, well...let me just get to it.

First is the Enneal Realm of Dreams. It is home to every pleasant dream, fantasy, desire and bit of happiness that one has ever found, will ever find or is ever capable of finding in the mortal realm. The touch of anything within that realm is pleasing, and your sleep is eased in that realm, and you find yourself pleasantly light and airy within it. Dreams are tangible here.

Within the Enneal Realm of Dreams you'll find Vas Elysium, an infinite space which encompasses all positive sentient consciousness. The sky of this realm is pinkish-purple, and the air smells intoxicatingly sweet.

Then...is the Enneal Realm of Horrors. It is home to every nightmare, fear, fright, scare and bit of misery that one has ever found, will ever find and is ever capable of finding in the mortal realm. Home to the boggeyman, his clan of boogeymen, and their servants the boggarts, you find yourself somewhat heavier here than you normally are. Nightmares are tangible here.

Within the Enneal Realm of Horrors, you'll find Vas Erebus, an infinite space which encompasses all negative sentient consciousness. The sky of this realm is blackish-purple, and the air smells slightly like blood.

The Enneal Realms themselves are not infinite, though. They kind of coincide like Frostflame Island, with one side being Dream, and one side being Horror. However, while you're in one side you can't see the other, unless you go through an Enneal Gate. Surrounding both lands is the Chronal Wall, which as the universe expands, marks the passage of time by revolving at about the same rate that the earth revolves around the sun. The Romans somehow figured out this configuration and got the configuration of the Gregorian calendar, the one we use now. The Mayans before them somehow figured this out, but were slightly off in their calculations, figuring somehow that the world would end in 2012.

Well, there. You have Celadon, a planet that is twice the size of Jupiter, and located way out of our solar system, and alongside our own dimension. It's there for the most part. Except Kudonntinkuvwon, the Kromos Islands, and a few other minor places (including the fact that I am Penultimate of this land, hehe). I may edit those facts in later, but they're not incredibly important (except for the fact that I am the Penultimate). Otherwise, my world is quite fascinating, really. And YOU all are the first few to know about it in this much detail. Hehe, you're welcome...

I have to hand it to him, baring the fact that I have no clue how all of that is put together, it actually seems like a pretty fun place to run adventures. Still, I'm left with a few lingering questions. Where's Wulfs house? is one of them. What country is the plague happening in? I assume he put the nerds on Apprentice Island...

Like, no one else refers to actual places when they talk about Celedon, at least not yet. Which is kind of inefficient when referring to a planet. Not even Wulf tells us where anything is, like those huge destruction beasts he mentioned way back in Part 1. They just say that they are doing something "on Celadon" like it's a club or a roller rink or wherever it is people go when they go out to have fun.

In response to this, Phi goes into a little more detail about an area of Aeon. Not the same area as the impossible Desert/Jungle, at least I don't think. A desert area, with an ocean to the north and a great jungle to the south, leading on to a huge mountain. There's been some recent political upheaval in this area, the king being deposed for leading Core Hunts and a new one put in his place. In the ocean live those huge terrifying snakes, the the jungle to the south not only contains monsters a plenty, but also a rival city where the jungle meets the mountain that's at war with the desert. The people of the desert create things out of the sand, which is rubbery in texture, and build down into the ground to escape from the heat. He doesn't specify how, but these people eek out a pretty good living in this desert, and they even have a game. Oh course, the game user only and involves a zero-g sphere and balls that you put powers into, but I figure it's fun even for the mundanes to watch. Technically I can't see anything about Sphere ball that stops a non-core user from playing, but they would probably die or something. He also sends a representative of Aeon to Celedon, a man by the name of Shadow. Gee, I wonder what his core could be?

Mik asks, if it's the size of the sun but with the same gravity as Earth, shouldn't Aeon be about as hard as styrofoam? Phi answers with math. Nobody said there would be math!

I'm only on page 5.

[Zaleramancer]

I'm waiting for when I turn into a giant kaiju and try to eat candyland.

Because that's how, in retrospect, my character deals with emotional distress. Shapeshift into something huge and stomp on things.

[Philote]

These things are beautiful

I can see that I failed my logic checks consistently, so I must have been a good match for NB.

And yes, the Desert/Jungle is the same as the Desert area that follows.

I can try and babble about anything people have questions about if they want.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Yay! A post with positive things to say about me!

[Marvelous Miscreant]

So I went back and started re-reading the third NB thread and remembered how naive I was back then. I need to never reminisce again..

[Celadon's Penultimate]

I think we were all pretty terrible back then (with a few exceptions).

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I was too "Let's all be happy and be friends forever" back then

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Really? How so?

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I was non-confrontational in everything I did and constantly trying to compliment others...at least, that's how it seems to me after reading it again.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Hm...interesting.

Let's see what GV has to say about it all.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I am eager to see his take on it. I'm sure he has some choice words regarding our party in that thread.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 I'm pretty sure he'll have choice words for every party we have. Not to mention, every time we venture off subject, and veer off into the twilight zone.