So noisms has been working on this project about a giant tree as a megadungeon. I love the idea, but I pretty much love everything that person's mind produces (Yoon-Suin is by far the gaming supplement I reference the most, both between sessions and at the table, no matter which rules I'm using). The idea appeals to me in part because, like my obsession with floating islands (thanks, Roger Dean) and aerial whales (ditto Sam Kieth), crawling around on a giant tree has long held a strong internal, dream-level, resonance for me. I'm pretty sure it goes back to the first time I booted up Secret of Mana on a snes back when I was something like twelve years old and that opening sequence played.
Anyway, in the lag between now and the day that other project might potentially be done, I decided to pull this old piece of writing up from the depths of my records. My date notations when I wrote this originally were painfully precious, and the best I can figure at this point is that I typed these bits in early June, 2014.
I had over the past year been experimenting with some procedural writing stuff, having just found out about oulipo. My method was thus:
-get a deck of cards
-assign each Ace through King sequence to a theme, vague or specific
-draw a card or three until I had a prompt adequate enough to suggest how the "story" progressed
-write a haiku based on the cards drawn
-repeat steps 3 & 4 until I was bored with writing
At the time I was really digging the Sigil-esqe take on a planar city as described in Dark Heart of the Dreamer (though nowadays I'd fit it into Infinigrad or the City of Infinite Ruin or maybe they've all become the same place in my subconscious), and one of the city districts I kept thinking about was a giant tree. My place-holder name for it was Treeside. In my mind it was composed of pretty much the crowds and social groups you'd get from rolling on the Yellow City tables in Yoon-Suin, fwtw. This obviously (?) shows in the prompt list I'd formed, as does the influence of Dungeon World style DM principles:
A- a wealthy mercenary, donor to a library
2- the chief librarian, suspicious of mercenary
3- reveal greater diversity
4-vaguely modernized we're all people here
5- show signs of an approaching threat
6- off er an opportunity, with or without a cost
7- scroll/book market
8- random (1-school, 2-citizen, 3-govt, 4-outsider)
9- rumor/sign of courtesan yogini
10- a loathed patron of the ABH ....(wtf the ABH is, I forget)
J- companion/geisha with ambition
Q- the Apricot-Blossom House
K- the Mandarins of Hobbes
Hobbes and some fluff about it:
....looks like I was leaning heavily into the Thousand Kingdoms tables to come up with that context, and apparently the Guest tables from A Red & Pleasant Land.
Anyway, here's the 'text' proper, awkwardly transcribed, with a bit of cleanup:
"This old Mother Tree/ who supports and nourishes/ our water is yours
today we build here/ amidst your leaf-spreading limbs/ and our Great Work starts
The fruit of study/ these seeds of learn-ed wisdom/ we share on this day/ beneath your kind shade"/ the people all cheer/ beating drums and chiming bells/ like every day
then the market's work:/ knowledge and secrets for tea/ favors for strange drugs
translating the mind/ for the ambling multitudes/ along the branches
sages expounding/ while the audience whispers/ and munch on tea snacks
pilgrims pass on through/ their seeking for things other/ than tea and ideas
only the busser/ clearing teaware and crumbs/ hears the sage's heart
the other hearers:/ courtesans, soldiers, the old/ and the very young
catch only his words/ their hearts now more occupied/ by petty dramas
ever more complex/ the growth of the feral mind/ how it rules our hearts!
languages we know/ limiting how we can speak/ share, think, plan, or dream
the chant of the guard/ steady rhythm and thudding sounds/ approaches nearer
their proclamation:/ to be vigilant always/ protect you from harm
love the Empire/ for its laws are your shelter/ from uncertainty
"Hobbes" some whisper now/ quiet so only friends hear/ on their breath
'protect the circle'/ and 'the mandarins ascend'/ recited within
but the rule of law/ maintained always by some form/ of oppression
it marches onward/ no voices raised in protest/ just anger and plots.
the sage rambles on/ about Our Immensity/ still, only one hears
scraping spent leaves/ wood and ceramic rhythms/ and her mind opens
just one pausing breath/ all place and limits forgotten/ amidst thronging din.
the market knows not/ when this sole immensity/ notices itself
sacred truth revealed/ quiet and unobtrusive/ as clearing tables.
"there are libraries/ and there is The Library/ make the distinction
some would take offence/ were you to interchange them/ lashing out at you
here strides one such now/ see his posture betrays him/ his pride plain to all
association/ to the Library for him/ is the most crucial
all other standpoints/ he measures against those rooms/ and study therein
let him pass on by/ stop him not in his going/ just stay here instead
trade breath with the tree"/ the sage spreads his arms out wide/ all-encompassing.
but eyes do wander/ and some look after that one man/ the sage pointed to
dressed well in fine cloth/ of political colors/ and golden earrings
few see as the sage/ instead they observe purpose/ handsome face and sword
Corbin's gaze lingers/ longer than all the others/ considering choice
'how to change myself/ to be more like that learn-ed man?/ I need their respect'
those expectations/ bloom and vine across his mind/ kudzu killing trees
now long forgotten/ the sage words become echoes/ he stands and departs
as the lad goes off/ she collects the meal leavings/ fused to simple work
her mind staying put/ no judgement for any form/ surpassing teachers
she too sees all words/ the sage speaks are mere echoes/ everything is
the cacophony/ of forms arising never/ inhibits the Truth
............and that's all I managed before my attention flitted to another project. A trifle really, I realize now having transcribed it, but whatever. Here it is, let loose on the tiny sliver of the world that passes by this blog.
If you're suuuuuuuuper interested, here's the raw text in all its unedited glory:
Anyway, in the lag between now and the day that other project might potentially be done, I decided to pull this old piece of writing up from the depths of my records. My date notations when I wrote this originally were painfully precious, and the best I can figure at this point is that I typed these bits in early June, 2014.
I had over the past year been experimenting with some procedural writing stuff, having just found out about oulipo. My method was thus:
-get a deck of cards
-assign each Ace through King sequence to a theme, vague or specific
-draw a card or three until I had a prompt adequate enough to suggest how the "story" progressed
-write a haiku based on the cards drawn
-repeat steps 3 & 4 until I was bored with writing
At the time I was really digging the Sigil-esqe take on a planar city as described in Dark Heart of the Dreamer (though nowadays I'd fit it into Infinigrad or the City of Infinite Ruin or maybe they've all become the same place in my subconscious), and one of the city districts I kept thinking about was a giant tree. My place-holder name for it was Treeside. In my mind it was composed of pretty much the crowds and social groups you'd get from rolling on the Yellow City tables in Yoon-Suin, fwtw. This obviously (?) shows in the prompt list I'd formed, as does the influence of Dungeon World style DM principles:
A- a wealthy mercenary, donor to a library
2- the chief librarian, suspicious of mercenary
3- reveal greater diversity
4-
5- show signs of an approaching threat
6- off er an opportunity, with or without a cost
7- scroll/book market
8- random (1-school, 2-citizen, 3-govt, 4-outsider)
9- rumor/sign of courtesan yogini
10- a loathed patron of the ABH ....(wtf the ABH is, I forget)
J- companion/geisha with ambition
Q- the Apricot-Blossom House
K- the Mandarins of Hobbes
Hobbes and some fluff about it:
....looks like I was leaning heavily into the Thousand Kingdoms tables to come up with that context, and apparently the Guest tables from A Red & Pleasant Land.
Anyway, here's the 'text' proper, awkwardly transcribed, with a bit of cleanup:
"This old Mother Tree/ who supports and nourishes/ our water is yours
today we build here/ amidst your leaf-spreading limbs/ and our Great Work starts
The fruit of study/ these seeds of learn-ed wisdom/ we share on this day/ beneath your kind shade"/ the people all cheer/ beating drums and chiming bells/ like every day
then the market's work:/ knowledge and secrets for tea/ favors for strange drugs
translating the mind/ for the ambling multitudes/ along the branches
sages expounding/ while the audience whispers/ and munch on tea snacks
pilgrims pass on through/ their seeking for things other/ than tea and ideas
only the busser/ clearing teaware and crumbs/ hears the sage's heart
the other hearers:/ courtesans, soldiers, the old/ and the very young
catch only his words/ their hearts now more occupied/ by petty dramas
ever more complex/ the growth of the feral mind/ how it rules our hearts!
languages we know/ limiting how we can speak/ share, think, plan, or dream
the chant of the guard/ steady rhythm and thudding sounds/ approaches nearer
their proclamation:/ to be vigilant always/ protect you from harm
love the Empire/ for its laws are your shelter/ from uncertainty
"Hobbes" some whisper now/ quiet so only friends hear/ on their breath
'protect the circle'/ and 'the mandarins ascend'/ recited within
but the rule of law/ maintained always by some form/ of oppression
it marches onward/ no voices raised in protest/ just anger and plots.
the sage rambles on/ about Our Immensity/ still, only one hears
scraping spent leaves/ wood and ceramic rhythms/ and her mind opens
just one pausing breath/ all place and limits forgotten/ amidst thronging din.
the market knows not/ when this sole immensity/ notices itself
sacred truth revealed/ quiet and unobtrusive/ as clearing tables.
"there are libraries/ and there is The Library/ make the distinction
some would take offence/ were you to interchange them/ lashing out at you
here strides one such now/ see his posture betrays him/ his pride plain to all
association/ to the Library for him/ is the most crucial
all other standpoints/ he measures against those rooms/ and study therein
let him pass on by/ stop him not in his going/ just stay here instead
trade breath with the tree"/ the sage spreads his arms out wide/ all-encompassing.
but eyes do wander/ and some look after that one man/ the sage pointed to
dressed well in fine cloth/ of political colors/ and golden earrings
few see as the sage/ instead they observe purpose/ handsome face and sword
Corbin's gaze lingers/ longer than all the others/ considering choice
'how to change myself/ to be more like that learn-ed man?/ I need their respect'
those expectations/ bloom and vine across his mind/ kudzu killing trees
now long forgotten/ the sage words become echoes/ he stands and departs
as the lad goes off/ she collects the meal leavings/ fused to simple work
her mind staying put/ no judgement for any form/ surpassing teachers
she too sees all words/ the sage speaks are mere echoes/ everything is
the cacophony/ of forms arising never/ inhibits the Truth
............and that's all I managed before my attention flitted to another project. A trifle really, I realize now having transcribed it, but whatever. Here it is, let loose on the tiny sliver of the world that passes by this blog.
If you're suuuuuuuuper interested, here's the raw text in all its unedited glory:
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