As with so many projects which take up shelf-space in my study this one is ongoing; developing ideas for a fantasy role-playing (or
possibly just a story-telling) setting. The world has had a number of working titles over a number of years, but currently passes by the
name OUKHT; which has nothing to do with Terry Pratchett and an orang-utan. There is a logic behind the naming, not just in the case
of the world but in the case of most names. Consitentcy, however, is not the key feature: best of luck in spotting it. The detail that
distinguishes Oukht from many fantasy settings is that the land surface is not flat (such as that occurring in Runequest's Gorantha and
Pratchett's Discworld), nor resting upon the convex surface of a regular spherical planet, such as our own. Rather, in line with Edgar
Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar, Oukht's surface is concave, and the inhabitants rest upon the interior surface of a sphere. From a creator's
point of view this is simply an interesting peculiarity, since I wished to have a situation where upon a clear day there was no horizon to
interrupt the line of sight. As far as the residents are concerned there is no other way of doing things. Apart from rules about visibility needing to be changed in any
game rules system there is little that is different. For example, there are roughly equal day and night periods, despite there being a small central 'sunlet' to provide
heat and light. The logic, reasoning and implications for all these are discussed on the page of technical issues.
The continent so far developed, or theorised, is that of Kaiastea- a land-mass [dimensions needed] which encompasses a variety of landforms and population types, ranging from steaming jungles inhabited by primitive cannibalistic tribles through to city-states resembling those to be found in Europe during our own Renaissance period. As such it provides a base, a canvas so to speak, upon which ideas can be tested and the creative muscles flexed. And it keeps me out of trouble...
The image, above is the Kaiastean Compass, which like our own, reflects the four cardinal directions: Hort, Ushto,Telf & Griht. These represent the equivalents of our terrestrial North, South, East and West, and will be commonly found on images and in documents.
Eventually (God willing!) there should be detail here on a whole continent. But until then...
If any of this is useful and you'd like to see more email me, loosmoos@mousir.org (so I know that people look here!):
This page last updated April 2002. All material unless otherwise stated is ©:1998 Dr. S.N.Mousir-Harrison
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