416
edits
Elin:Kizuami of Trickery/Backer Comments: Difference between revisions
Small changes in response to updates, also added additional section.
Sakumashiki (talk | contribs) m (→Personality: Replaced official Kizuami artwork with new colors.) |
The Observer (talk | contribs) (Small changes in response to updates, also added additional section.) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
Here are notes on Kizuami from a Kickstarter backer who wished for | Here are notes on Kizuami from a Kickstarter backer who wished for [[Elin:Kizuami of Trickery|Kizuami of Trickery]]. | ||
===Introduction=== | ===Introduction=== | ||
| Line 111: | Line 111: | ||
Maybe just a few sweets every now and then? | Maybe just a few sweets every now and then? | ||
As of a February patch, Horome now accepts items in the "cookie" category as offerings, so it sounds like this wish has become true. | |||
====About Yufu==== | ====About Yufu==== | ||
Since early access release, some setting details about Yufu have been released. He was the oldest of the siblings, and indeed his body and soul are split between Nefu and Mifu villages, which serve as guardian villages. | |||
We learned something about the tragedy during the sixth age of Ylva that caused this to happen. | |||
While there is still more to be revealed, I'm very excited for it to see what sort of response the full story will have from the playerbase once noa implements it. | |||
===Conclusion=== | |||
I think that's it for an introduction. Kizuami and the elements of his faith draw strong opinions both good and bad, which I'm happy with. From the perspective of a god of mischief, the question is not "what is the strongest?", "what is the most efficient?", or "what is most morally right?", but rather "what is the most interesting thing that can happen?" It's that philosophy that leads to Kogitsunemaru being the only god artifact to have a serious drawback. | |||
Of course, I would like to express my gratitude to noa and everyone at Lafrontier for releasing such a wonderful game, and for the opportunity to participate in creating the setting. | |||
== Additional Backer Comments (26/5) == | |||
Hello again. Since in between writing the previous article and this date, I've been chatting with some of the other backers whose wishes have considerable impact on the setting. | |||
=== | At the same time, noa has released several red books and other materials which expand upon the setting material, and I've received some questions on what his philosophy is and what belief in him entails. | ||
I think that's it | |||
It's interesting, because even with the Pillars, while there's a lot of implied information about how their believers are supposed to behave, there never has been any explicit information on what the tenets of their religions are. | |||
Some are easy to infer, like Lulwy valuing freedom, but others are more obscure. The Palmia Times and various characters in-game also have examples of the faithful acting in various ways, but whether it's something they do on their own or is required of them by their religion isn't clear. | |||
I can guess at why this is done: so as to not constrain the player too much in roleplaying while also allowing the player to choose the desired gameplay advantages. | |||
But in discussions with other backers, it did come up as to what exactly belief in Kizuami entails, and I've thought about it for a while. | |||
=== Basic Tenets === | |||
Recently, two lines were added to Kinu's unique dialogue: | |||
"We are both our blessings and curses. By changing our perspectives, we turn our weaknesses into strengths." | |||
"There is no life without death, no heaven without hell, no meeting without parting, no joy without sorrow." | |||
I think these two quotes exemplify what faith in Kizuami is all about. | |||
=== Blessings and Curses === | |||
In the red book "A Fox Amongst Humans", Kizuami made a living through kintsugi while in human society. For those who aren't familiar with it, kintsugi is the Japanese practice of mending broken porcelain and other items with gold. | |||
The idea of the practice is to bring out the fact that the item has been loved and used often, and by highlighting the its damage in a beautiful manner, its unique history with its owner can be remembered. | |||
He did not heal the cripples he employed, but instead taught them to overcome their impediments and learn a trade so that they would not be burdens on others. | |||
Everyone has parts about themselves that they may consider deficient, and I get the impression that conventional teaching from the Pillars would be to remove these flaws: to correct bad habits, heal the sick, comfort the sorrowful. | |||
But from Kizuami's point of view, you can't remove a part of yourself without being diminished, even if you consider it evil and deficient. Wouldn't it be better to change the situation so that one's flaws become strengths instead? You can't change the reality of your misfortune just by desiring it, but you can change your perspective on the situation, and your actions in response to it. | |||
In that way, it's possible to turn the situation around: the flaws are not removed, but by setting them in a new light and situation, they become strengths to be admired. | |||
One good example of this is Kogitsunemaru's prohibition on player damage actually making snail players immune to salt. Even six months after Elin's early access release, players are still finding interesting and unexpected interactions with Kizuami's unique mechanics and ways to make use of them, and I'm amused to no end. | |||
=== No Life Without Death === | |||
Throughout fantasy settings, it's a common theme that gods and even long-lived races cannot accept the shorter lifespans of other peoples. Sometimes, they deliberately distance themselves and refuse to form close relationships; in other works, they desperately try various means to prolong the lives of those they love. | |||
Kizuami, whom I always envisioned as having close relationships with humans like the fox he is, has a very simple answer to that: simply accept the way of the world for what it is and move on. | |||
"You shouldn't be so desperate to buy more time that you neglect to spend what you do have together." | |||
To accept death as part of life, to understand that the sorrow of parting is the price to pay for the joy of meeting -- it's a way for a god like him to quietly put away the mortal lovers and friends he's had as good memories. | |||
One of the big impressions that led me to this theme was reading the "Gedou" series by [https://x.com/poisoner_batta Batta]; in that multi-doujin series, a fox is unable to accept the aging and death of her human husband. Because of her increasingly obsessive acts, she ends up unintentionally destroying his entire family line. | |||
That's the sort of situation which this aspect of Kizuami's religion is supposed to prevent: death and sorrow are not things to be prevented, but to pass through and come out the other end with peace at letting go of someone you love deeply. | |||
When viewed from this perspective, it makes perfect sense that Kizuami's elements are holy and nether, and it gives a lot more weight to his act of imprisoning Yufu's soul beyond life, death and reincarnation. | |||
Kumiromi is another god whose theme heavily draws from the cycle of death and rebirth, but I think he deals more with the aspect of it related to the natural world, rather than that of emotional and spiritual forces. | |||
Death and parting are not things that gods handle well in general; one has to only look at Itzpalt and Odina's story, or Kumiromi and Ehekatl's relationship, to understand how deeply traumatic it must have been for everyone involved. I think it's only with this philosophy, this acceptance of death as a worthy price to be paid for life that a god can safely have deep, meaningful interactions with mortals that involve the entire palette of human emotions. | |||
Without sorrow, how would one appreciate joy? | |||
And sorrow is not everlasting; the cherry blossoms of Mifu Village are as short-lived as they are beautiful, yet they will return the next year. | |||
=== Conclusion === | |||
Thank you for reading through this additional section. I hope that the above has managed to shed some light on the context of the red books released thus far, as well as the lines spoken by Kinu and people of Mifu Village. It's not my intention to restrict any players, but to provide a more complete understanding of the setting material for those who are interested and may wish to use it in their own gameplay or derivative works. | |||
[[Category:EN]] | [[Category:EN]] | ||