Academy of Nilam

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    • Academy of Nilam

      One thing I'd like to know for Si'Ni's character like she's a native of Nilam, and lives close to the Academy of Nilam but as a Trade Caste Cook can she enter the libraries of the Academy or does she need another way to gain knowledge?

      I was imagining as a high functioning Autistic the only Janah she seems to get along with are the Academy scholars she simply shows genuine curiosity in their work and they tell her stories about far places in Dardunah and ancient lore
    • That's a great question!

      Essentially, the Academy is open to potential scholars of any Caste except the Outcaste, although even those who are Outcaste sometime find work related to the "unclean" tasks that must be seen to at the Academy. As such, they might find that they are given exposure to elements of the Academy that would benefit them beyond being paid in food or dalán. Perhaps, once their duties are done, they would be allowed to sit outside in some area, and hear stories or lessons from those scholars or staff members willing to teach them... It's important to realize that being "Outcaste" doesn't necessarily mean that one cannot be allowed to learn, merely that their "unclean" status indicates that they cannot come in contact with things that either directly touch jánah, or are meant to eventually BE touched by jánah without being first "purified" in some way...

      As far as any other Caste, from Commoner to Merchant to Noble to Holy Caste, it's really more an issue of both affluence and influence... Those families who choose to send their children to the Academy of Nilám might be able to afford only certain degrees of access for their young scholar based on their wealth and the amount of "clout" they command... That would be something that a GM would need to decide on themselves, depending on the degree of which they would want that sort of thing to play a part in their campaign, and to what extent that would drive any "moral dilemmas" they want to keynote in their particular story-lines.

      Hopefully that helps!

      Scottie ^^
    • That sounds like a pretty good idea for the basic level of entry and then as the adventure continued with this character of yours you could have unforeseen events and circumstances arise that would need to be addressed to allow the character to continue to attend. Perhaps the character is able to enter the Academy at the most basic level of access but then must figure out a way to gain access to more restricted material contained within the library in areas which would normally be off limits to her, thus requiring her to either gain more influence or find another way to persuade those who control such things to allow her entry. This could actually inspire very interesting role play moments requiring the use of non combat related skills such as Persuasion, Seduction, Oratory, Convince, Acting, Bribery, Debate, Etiquette, Haggle, Intimidation, Sleight of hand, Forgery, Intrigue, Street wise, Knowledge of Customs, Observation, Language Skills, and countless others which would make for great scenes within the game.
    • I think fanfiction wise at the point of the story she gets abducted by the Humans from Earth 6 she has just begun her basic entry and is pretty content as she has just begun after she returns to Dardunah with the other surviving Janah as she was responsible for the salvation of the other Janah and was able to speak with the 'Barbarians' (Because a 'Barbarian Mage' placed a translation spell on her) Like in the 'Peasants to Heroes' plotline in the basic compendium I think her acts of heroism would be grounds to give her access and especially since she didn't do any of that stuff specifically to get access to the restricted areas
    • I would advise waiting for the World Guide and then deciding what you would like to do. Perhaps with it you will not find the need to have multi-dimensional plot lines once you are able to totally immerse yourself in the rich, multilayered details of each of the numerous nations of the world we have created for the purposes of the player characters.
    • Look the Ninja Turtles fanfic was started long before the Dardunah elements got introduced into the plotline, Si'Ni is actually a relativly minor character she was created to introduce the Earth Characters to Dardunah (If you have watched the 2003 TMNT then the characters know there are multiple universes so TMNT wise this isn't breaking canon) Like the Ninja Turtles and the other Earth Characters are the primary focus of the stories Si'Ni does serve a very important function by introducing Dardunah culture to them and since in my stories 'Mutant Animals' have recently gained civil rights it gives the Turtles and other Mutants ideas for their budding society
    • Feel free to take any inspiration from the game material you feel will help to further your fiction, we appreciate your interest and would love to see what you produce. If you should decide to publish any of your material please give us a mention as inspiration or motivation to help others to discover our product and take pleasure in the fictional elements we have put forward for your enjoyment.
      I hope you will decide to obtain the World Guide because if you have been inspired by the other books the World Guide is the ultimate source for the fictional elements which makes role play a thing we all LOVE!
    • I do hope to when it comes out, but you know I kind of have to ask my folks for that cuz I'm not financially independent.
      And what I was thinking since Shard is still a bit on the obscure side, me putting in the fanfiction of a franchise that is wildly popular like Ninja Turtles will get more people looking into it just to know what I'm talking about
      So the fiction is 'Published' in that it is on Fanfiction . net for all to see but I can't make any money off it it's just there for fun

      And so the whole reason for the creation of Si'Ni's character and making her a high functioning autistic is someone who can be exposed to what would be to Janah 'the horrors' of Earth, stars being out nearly every night and none of the Native Anthros looking perfectly like Janah all being 'abominations' in some way, her disability making her...Not as TV Tropes would put it 'Too Dumb to Fool' tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooDumbToFool Rather her disability means she is insanely pragmatic and doesn't place value in the 'social game' that all those skills you mentioned earlier is a part of Si'Ni escapes her cage with the sole goal of continuing to live and if survival means depending on freaks so be it and Gosh Darnit these freaks seem to be more understanding of her differences than even her own parents so she slowly becomes fond of them as she travels with them
    • In the 2003 TMNT show there is an Event called 'The Battle Nexus' it is like the Kramah Games as it is a Martial Arts Tournament for warriors across the Multiverse this is where the Turtles meet the characters of the Usagi Yojimbo universe in this version I do have planned the Ultimate Damiyo to reveal they have long since known about Dardunah and dearly wish to extend an invitation but unfortunately they do have a bit of 'Prime Directive' they know that no Janah is ready because they can't handle the existence of any sapient creatures unlike themselves without crying 'Demon' Si'Ni coming to befriend outsiders is the first step to Janah being ready to join the Multiverse community
    • One thing I thought about the 'Who' it was decided to let Si'Ni join the Academy, I thought about Rakúlna the Golden Backed Tree Rat Master of the Scrolls might be the character who did so, as such Si'Ni has a lot of respect for him...How she comes to mention him to the Earthlings actually happens in a conversation related to eating disorders I remember reading in the Basic Compendium where Janah can get any eating disorder known to man,
      Before I continue there was this very well written but very intense fanfiction called 'Broken Glass' fanfiction.net/s/3248184/1/Broken-Glass (Trigger warning should go without saying, it was very hard for me to read) where Robin, yes the Boy Wonder himself gets more than one kind of disorder it was the inspiration for me giving Riddler's daughter Pandora an unspecified disorder and that is how the subject is brought up, Si'Ni recalls how she learned about these maladies from Rakúlna because he 'Told me a story about someone he knew' and refuses to divulge anymore about who this Janah was their Jenu, their sex what their relation to the Master of Scrolls was, and any detail specifics on their story, saying 'It's not my place to gossip' the Earthlings commend her for being respectful to her teacher for while she remained tight lipped the TMNT and Jonathan Crane are able to detect from her body language that the Janah is question was probably someone close to Rakúlna, if it was someone he didn't care about why would it be breach of trust to talk about it if it was a random Janah stranger the Master of Scrolls and observed and told the story to his pupil