Revision of the original idea

One more look back…

original poster to confuse people about the project

Again, this is a retrospective look on how the project looked like some 5 years ago.
Citing the original reddit post, where I had already spent some 18 months preparing the drawings and 3D:

Various side-projects of Leccos (incl. weird animation + music, ASCII game derived from Angband, some piles of artwork, both digital and handmade, player races for D'n'D 5E) are coming slowly to life. But the main point remains, why do this?

Truth be told, this project is much longer in making. Every book I read is probably somewhere there. I want to derive a system of systems that overlaps boundaries of what we think when we say worldbuilding in an effort to make not only unique place, but a space that can provide different experience. The complexity will bring new angles to age-old clichés. Or at least that is the aim.

I've made several rules, mostly associated with how the 'sentient cultures' are defined (and get 'born' in an esoteric/evolutionary process). Set them into a weird artificial world with another set of rules for soul migration / reincarnations. It all has several layers, connected to our world and fantasy -- including a link to Tolkien lore, where the said cultures play a game (sort of Angband) that reflects the effects of their in-game adventures into their "real" life in a social hierarchy sense. But that's too far for now.... )))

The NPCs and story-hooks will generate whole storylines in a D’n’D like fashion (very compressed) that involves divination, like Tarot and Yi Jing.

It's a codeless (and in a certain sense gameless) game.

This is not a copy of an existing system, or a methodology. It will be confusing at first. But you can "play" with me, if you seek novelty.

Deep dive on various points on the poster above:

(1)

Fibonacci sequence rules more than we give it credit for. And consider the beauty of any graphs. And furthermore, can we use graphs in communication (maybe translated into 3D objects)? Mathematics can be considered a valid language - even in its simplest forms: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584 4181 6765 10946 17711... Sidestepping, have you ever wondered about Riemann hypothesis? Can we imagine that we already live in the world where someone has proven it privately?

(2)

In this project, stories emerge naturally from the complexity. I don't need another heroic saga, another retelling of the hero of the thousand faces, or even see yet another break of some other proven cycles (Shakespeare, I'm looking at you) to tell me there is a novelty (false one at that). Now I don't need to invent new plots. They will appear from the linking of different and varied systems.

(3)

From this triangle (perception -> mythology -> theurgy -> ...), I'm trying to construct a three dimensional object that moves initially within the time; and if I'm successful, then that object (it's rather a mental thoughtform) moves out of the linearity of time, in another words - it becomes a transcending structure. I think it is possible and I intend to prove it. Why so complicated? Inventor's paradox points towards the answer.

(4)

We are witnessing (and we have always witnessed, but perhaps not in such a great scale) results of whole societies, being taught new systems of belief and general new sense of worth. Changing the patterns of how we use words and what processes run in our private mental space before we say things or act. How do we prove the validity of the new systems?

(5)

Yes. This poster speaks mainly for the Harbours. Other parts (hinted at with the blue text) of this project (called Leccos as a whole) will prove useful in finding the right angle for certain thoughts.

(6)

We are at this point very sophisticated, but at the same time very distracted. How to keep our minds open, but not to loose the proper perspective or integrity? Can the mere knowledge of our biases prove helpful enough?

(7)

If we can experience quite strange things in our dreams or within the realm of psychedelics, how can we actively improve our brains' methodology to attain new heights of novelty in our approach to life's realities? Why do I care?

(8)

A window to the 1st iteration of the World of Harbours - only simple geographic features ruled the realm. Was it alive then? Can you disprove the existence of Yggdrasil? I'm trying to tie everything back to this reality - and sometimes the path will get far more interesting than I've ever anticipated.

(9)

Our level of technology and connections provided me with very powerful tools to create virtual spaces. How fortunate that I can freely create from literally nothing (but the time and effort). With this access (in a global sense - nearly everyone can benefit from online tools etc.) comes some pretty fascinating side effects and negative aspects. What comes into mind when I open this subject?

(10)

Virtual genesis and its evolution had lead me to process four eras of the societies of the World of Harbours. Changing of the interactions between emerging cultures through the time made me discover a whole deeper level of (magical?) realism. Why things happen - in our reality, we might never know - but we love to pretend to understand history more and more. This virtual model allows me to explore every connection and deduce (and thus create) its outcomes. It is a playground that can prove to discover unique attributes of our sense of real history. Or perhaps not.

(11)

It can be viewed as a game. You can enter this world in the simplest form of a social game: a conversation.

(12)

But can we suspend our disbelief even further? Reduce our meta-game thinking to act as if we had never even heard of, nor seen a spider - to succumb to wonder when we see the spider's net for the (auto-suggested) first time?

(13)

Let's invite all that we know about virtuality, avatars, tibetan reincarnation, astral travelling and merge it into a multi-dimensional matrix of macrobes, unseen factions, linked consciousness and oversouls and genie loci. A dreamer's impact on non-existent ethereal realms, that in turn will turn the tide of warring factions of neutral forces inside the sun-beetle. Let's learn about the commonalities of sufism and gnosticism and put these in - to see what comes out. Have we learned anything by investing our time in mythologies and games of the present?

(14)

This is actually a hive above the peninsula. My question is whether we can simulate ourselves (or any civilised humanoid) as a part of an alien life form - be it mantid E.T. individual, acting on behalf of his caste or all the members of ant colony (talking about being thousands of creatures at once). This time might prove us being able to do so.

(15)

Each Harbour has gone through many stages - what society lives within these conglomerations? What is their history and what are their goals and problems? Can we utilize something useful from these thoughts, or is it just a philosophy and theater that will only serve as yet another distraction? Or maybe it's a trap with good intentions - is there a word for that? I'm thinking hoplochrism, but with one more twist to its meaning.

(16a fiction-specific)

First genesis played out for arachi, the 1st administrators of the realm. These arachnoids acted then almost like an artificial intelligence, maintaining the world processes. 1st era main actors were the trunked folk (now known as Eluabu, some might know them as Loxodons, but the term is incorrect), accompanied by Kotharakai, the fierce hound-faced neanderthals (now a very sophisticated tribal nation) and Piir-Bakka, the sentient feathered savages (presumed extinct by the 4th era).

(16b fiction-specific)

Second genesis event introduced giant goritaurs, sort of centaurian creatures, but with ape torso and I guess hippo is suited best for the description of the lower and back parts (some scholars of the 4th era claim that they now live on the threshold of reality, whatever that means). Descendants of the great Lutran tree, the otter folk's origin varies from tales of a fortunate old otter, attaining enlightenment to the natural evolution of tree-dwelling creatures that had learnt how to build more and more complex structures over time, developing communication of abstract ideas from eating moldy polypores over time. Enigmatic blijan are said to be a part of the 2nd genesis - they have reptilian features and their skin can change coloration, an impressive feat of biological evolution and tactics. And finally we have small bat folk, often referred to as Nat-Bakka (proclaming their genetic roots in mysterious Piir-Bakka from the 1st era). These thugs reside on branches above the rivers and have come a long way since their outlaw status of old.

(16c fiction-specific)

The 3rd era had brought vousai beings, the only one that resemble humans of our world (or male dwarves to be more specific). Their biology defies the nature of other creatures of this world - they are not born, but fall from the Overtree inside a leaf or a seed pod. By the 4th era, they had developed an intriguing religious symbol, based upon veneration of otherworldy beauty (we would call it feminine, but there is no such being as a woman). From the depths of the sea caves, a new race of shark folk emerged and had adapted over time to live in marshlands and now resembles crocodiles. Somehow it so happened that they are now master metalsmiths. How did they come up with such an advanced craft? Another addition to the societies of the peninsula are the varied monkey folk: large ourangi with huge hands and mind for technological advancements, and smaller aup'tchaitsi. Both of these cultures cannot bear children; instead, they are provided with youth by the arachi, who had by now mastered the art of bio-engineering. The whole society is determined by this strange technocratic triangle, dependent on arachi's benevolence, that is in turn bought by services and obedience.

(16d fiction-specific)

And the 4th era is heralded by the coming of the aquatic kalameghi (or Tentaro, or Cecaelian) - a race of squid-like humanoids (they are actually not humanoid, as they feature four tentacles instead of normal humanoid legs) that had brought very different element: the magic. But how does it work? And how is it different from the rituals of the elder cultures? Another event (involving mystical lightning storm) had elevated zebras in the prairies to an entirely new species. The aggressive quaggai are now the feral hunters of the prairies and desert regions. Will the coming of the 5th era calm their bloodlust? And another tribal society climbed from the fiery pits under the mountains - the daiodi, swine folk and demon worshippers, wielders of ancient flames and collector of horns and bones. Although we can view these two wild cultures as the classic spin on brutal primitives with their shamans and what-not, there are additional levels to the cliché. Last arrivals are the panterexi, a navy nation that suddenly appeared on the lower sea. They ended up on the only real island near the peninsula. They resemble cat people with all the whiskers and short fur all over their agile bodies. It seems that they are held by a strange curse on that island and are now slowly descending (from their former military society) into a cult-like tribal nation.

(17 fiction-specific)

Classic power struggles are mixed-up with fragmentation of certain tribes and communities with distinct beliefs and rituals. Some arachi, for example, had separated from the hive and form little independent cells that strive to abandon their hive mentality along with the caste system and algorithmic behaviour. Other cultures exert great efforts to explore the higher branches of the Overtree, seeking the fabled Skywaters to transcend the grounded realities or investigating the nature of the Sun or the flying eels.

(18)

The world is obviously inside another world that is perceived completely differently. As above, so below; several times over, but with a sense of continuity that can be bypassed with the correct approach. Study several approaches and you might learn the similarities - what does that mean? Has our sense of 'god' been hijacked?

(19)

In a broader sense, a planet can be thought of as a living entity, an ecosystem, if you will. Or Gaea - with an intelligence that is incomprehensive for our mind (most of the times anyway). These entities act in a very very slow manner, but that is not always the case. The question here is, how can one identify the effects and intentions of such entities. And there are several tiers of those as well. And to make the matter even more troubling, some of these tiers are really only imaginary. There will be lexicons talking about these phenomena.

(20 fiction-specific)

This is an image of the late 2nd era Eluabu, holding the scroll of manifesting (there are total of 8 or 9 of these, each representing a distinct method of manipulating the reality; it's also a joke of sorts, because once you write something down, it tends to reproduce different meaning for different readers - but the thing is, for the scrolls of manifesting, they were not written and are not even read, in other words - they are written by itself and are read by itself, both in a continuous, ever-evolving fashion).

(21)

This is about another project, closely associated with Leccos: it's in fact an Angband variant (an actual computer game, that I work on), but it's present in the World of Harbours as well. And the idea is that on the 5th era, there are far less actors in the realm of the peninsula and most of them are playing this Angband game on devices that connect their game progress (and failures) to a social standing in their respective communities. Some of the ties are beneficial, and actors learn philosophical ideas with some practical overtones, but some cultures are much more extreme in their obsession with this game. In any case, this weird link between layers of Leccos should prove useful in finding the vocabulary (and surprises) for the explorations of the mind's own interdisciplinarity.

(0)

This is a true statement. This project is a conjuncture of all my knowledge and experience both in practical ways and in thought processes. I appreciate any conversations I might have regarding the directions of this vehicle. This is my real thanks.)