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Posts authored by Dylan Edwards

The creator of this here comic

Pocalo Infrastructure: Elevators

Pocalo Infrastructure: Elevators published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - elevatorsThe tiered structure of Pocalo makes travel from one province to the next a challenge, unless you can hop on an elevator. Large elevators, like the one pictured here, are designed to carry a great deal of freight and several passengers (it seats around 150 people, so about the same as a medium-sized commercial airplane) among multiple provinces.

This particular elevator services four levels, and does much of the heavy lifting (ha ha) for getting agricultural foodstuffs distributed to the northern regions of the provinces. Merchants also use this elevator to move their wares around, perhaps selling medicines in one province, picking up some local foods, and moving on to sell those in a different province.

There are much smaller elevators dotted throughout the provinces, generally just ferrying between two levels. Most of these are concentrated in the upper provinces; the lower provinces (i.e., those at ground level and below) have relatively few elevators. This has more to do with population density than anything else; large swaths of the lowest two provinces are flooded, rendering them mostly uninhabitable.

While elevators have connected the provinces for around 300 years, this type of large freight elevator is relatively new technology (maybe 100 years old), and has accelerated cultural exchange and homogenization. While the people of each province still have their own distinct accents, clothing styles, foods, and so forth, basic necessities are widely distributed wherever you go.

Pocalo Culture: The Satirists

Pocalo Culture: The Satirists published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - The SatiristsAnyone can engage in political satire in Pocalo, but *THE* Satirists are special elected officials whose commentary is seen as especially insightful and funny. Their essays are published in a periodical called So Say the Satirists, which is made freely available to all residents of Pocalo.

Each province votes in an Official Satirist to a seven-year term. The Official Satirist will then spend the next seven years living in each of the seven provinces, one province per year.

They are also expected to sit in on high council meetings. The high council consists of three elected representatives from each province, and they meet approximately once a month (more often if necessary) to discuss matters affecting the country.

The Satirists from each of the provinces sit in on these meetings, though they are not allowed to speak or vote. They are there as observers. Once the meeting is over, they will release their commentary to the public. Representatives who act foolishly or belligerently, or who propose unjust laws, can expect to be mocked in a widely-distributed free pamphlet.

The level of social regard for Official Satirists in Pocalo is similar to that of the ancient Irish poets. In other words, cross them at your peril, lest you fall prey to premeditated satire.

Pocalo Culture: Peliyn

Pocalo Culture: Peliyn published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - peliynPocali culture doesn’t assign any specific societal roles or presentations or clothing to you based on whatever body parts you happen to have been born with, or whatever body parts you happen to have right at this moment. People dress how they want, perform the work that best suits them, and adopt whatever mannerisms feel comfortable to them.

As such, there’s no Pocali word for “transgender.” Everyone uses neutral pronouns, and there are no opposite sides to “cross” over to. But there are still people who experience body dysphoria, given that this is a condition separate from gender identity.

Pocali medical science offers a few avenues of relief for folks with body dysphoria, the most common being hormone treatments. People who seek these treatments are known as peliyn, which literally translates to “one who changes the body.”

The Peliyn Medical Society is a group of doctors, pharmacists, and scientists who are knowledgeable about the effectiveness and limitations of currently available treatments, and who take an interest in researching new options.

Pocalo Culture: Naming Conventions

Pocalo Culture: Naming Conventions published on

The humans of Pocalo typically have a personal name bestowed by their parents, and a second name acquired later in life that describes their primary skillset. Most names follow this pattern: [UNIQUE PERSONAL NAME] wis [PRIMARY SKILL], where “wis” is a contraction for “who is good at.”

Back in the mists of time, life in the Valley was very difficult, and ANYTHING you could do to help people survive for another day was considered a good thing. What you looked like, what configuration of body parts you had, who your parents were … none of this was more important than what skill you excelled at that would keep people alive.

“Hey, we need a doctor right away.” “No problem, just go talk to Derga wis Medicine.”

Arvandi Names

Valley of the Silk Sky - naming conventions

Razi isn’t originally from Pocalo. Xe’s Arvandi, and the Arvandi have a totally different naming convention. An Arvandi child’s second name is a portmanteau of xer parents’ names. For example, Razi’s second name is Zakar. Xer parents’ second names were Zaya and Kari, so when they had Razi they created a new name by combining syllables from their own second names. (If a family is polyamorous, the child might have a three or four syllable name. In other words, the name doesn’t necessarily reflect genetic material but rather acknowledged parents.)

The records office worker in the second panel is stumbling because xe’s expecting a “wis [PRIMARY SKILL]” construction and instead is seeing a word that doesn’t seem to suggest a particular skillset. Probably the person who entered the name wrong in the first place was having similar trouble, and didn’t know what a Zakar was any moreso than a Kazar.

Daraz Names

The Daraz have extremely sensitive senses of smell, so their language has thousands of words for different smells, indeed different individual esters, and further metaphorical meanings for those various words. Daraz names almost always reference scents, and are formally constructed as “Smells Like [SCENT].” Halvanylila = “Smells Like the Fourth Ester of Lilac.”

Valley of the Silk Sky - Daraz names

Chadsen is deploying a rather complicated pun here. “Bors” actually means “pepper,” but it’s very close in sound to “Borz,” which means badger.

The term for skunk is bűzös borz, literally “smelly badger.” Smells Like Badger = Smelly Badger = Skunk.

Flora and Fauna: Shriekers

Flora and Fauna: Shriekers published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - shriekersShriekers are one of the largest predators in the Valley. They are typically found where forests meet open space, and typically prey on herd animals of various sorts.

They are pack hunters whose main strategy involves sneakily encircling the herd they’re hunting. Shriekers at the rear let out a horrifically loud, piercing scream that either a) roots you in place in absolute terror, whereupon they grab you, or b) sends you fleeing in panic, directly towards the rest of the pack, who then grab you. All the shriekers close in around the prey to prevent escape. The shriekers at the rear can take care of any stragglers.

When their preferred prey migrates away during the winter months, shriekers go into hibernation. Like most hibernating animals, they will wake up periodically during the cycle, whether to engage in routine maintenance or because they’ve been disturbed by interlopers.

Ecology and Economy

Shriekers are keystone predators, making them essential for environmental balance in the Valley. Get rid of shriekers, and all of a sudden the herd animal population explodes, eats a bunch of plants that were keeping other plants in check, and the unchecked plants completely take over and kill off that one rare medicinal flower.

Since the Valley’s economy is so heavily dependent on materials gleaned from unique microclimates, the people want to avoid making any drastic changes to the ecosystem. As such, despite their fearsome nature, it is illegal to kill shriekers except in self-defense.

How Not to Get Eaten

“Why not just use repellents to avoid the shriekers?” you ask. Unfortunately, repellents don’t work especially well on shriekers. Since so much of their hunting strategy involves running prey into traps, individual shriekers may be too far out of range to ward off with a repellent. Because they move so quickly, they’ve already bitten you in half before they notice the unpleasant smell.

The best strategy is simply to move (quietly) during their hibernation season, or to monitor a pack and wait until they’re distracted by a hunt to sneak by.

If they decide to go after you, find some low, dense shrubbery to hide in, and then stay as still and as quiet as possible. You may have to sit there awhile, but eventually the shriekers will lose track of you and wander off.

Flora and Fauna: Merev Gombi

Flora and Fauna: Merev Gombi published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - merev gombiThe names humans have for many of the flora and fauna of the Valley come from Rovari, the Daraz language (Daraz are native to the Valley, humans are not). This particular creature is called merev gombi in Rovari, which literally means “hard sphere.” Humans usually just call this animal “merev.”

Merev are the beast of burden of choice for this region. Opportunistic grazers, they’ll eat just about anything placed in front of them, making them extremely easy to maintain. They’re slow but sturdy, and nearly indestructible. When spooked, they don’t run: they pill. If you get into a spot of bother, you know your cart will be more or less where you left it.

The merev’s hide is too tough for many predators to pierce, and its center of gravity too low for them to knock it over. So most predators simply don’t bother with them. YOU might get eaten, but your pack animal won’t.

The merev is not an insect; it is yet another of the many monotreme species in the Valley.

Flora and Fauna: Melaine Mushroom

Flora and Fauna: Melaine Mushroom published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - melaine mushroom

Melaine is a carnivorous fungus that typically feeds on insects or small animals like birds and rodents (the size of the prey depends on the size of the mushroom). Prey are lured in by the sweet-smelling ball bait at the end of a hair trigger. The treacherous ball is extremely sticky, and the struggles of the stuck prey trigger the hair to yoink them forcefully into a bowl of viscous digestive juices. The larger the melaine the more potent the goo, and the larger melaine specimens can eat away at human flesh.

For humans, it’s a “better safe than sorry” situation. If you see (or smell) a patch of melaine, give it a wide berth, lest you accidentally step in one and get splashed with a caustic substance.

Since the digestive goo is viscous and sticky, getting it off once it’s on you is a challenge to say the least. As with poison ivy oils, sometimes efforts to remove the substance just spread it over you even more. You will, at the very least, wind up with some lovely chemical burns, if not open sores.

The Daraz Harcos have significantly thicker and less sensitive skin than humans, so they aren’t as likely to be harmed by the melaine’s digestive juices. They have discovered that a small mushroom isn’t potent enough to do significant damage to the skin, but instead acts as a disinfectant for wounds, and the sticky nature of the goo helps stop bleeding by sealing the cut. Instead of avoiding melaine at all costs, the Harcos seek it out as an important tool in field medicine.

Flora and Fauna: Cloud Spiders

Flora and Fauna: Cloud Spiders published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - cloud spiders Millenia ago, the people of the Valley domesticated an animal known as a cloud spider*. Spider silk is exceptionally lightweight and has extremely high tensile strength, and the humans have been able to tease many uses out of an animal that yields a large quantity of silk.

As humans have done with dogs, cows, etc., the people of the Valley have domesticated the cloud spider and bred multiple variations to suit specific needs. Mostly this is focused on producing different kinds of silk for different purposes, including varieties of silk that can be compacted, hardened, and moulded into all sorts of shapes. The resulting material is extremely durable, lightweight, and flexible. So in place of wood or metal, both of which are relatively scarce, most of their daily-use objects are made of silk.

So yes, the entire structure that houses the country of Pocalo and all its provinces is ONE GIANT SPIDER WEB that has been built up over the course of many thousands of years using construction-grade spider silk. Hence, if you are in any province but the very topmost, when you look up, your view of the sky consists mostly of silk. Hence the name “Valley of the Silk Sky.”

*Don’t worry, arachnophobes, it’s not actually technically a spider! It’s a MONOTREME. There are actual bugs in the Valley, but most of the larger incarnations like the cloud spider are really egg-laying mammals.

Flora and Fauna: Carnivorous Plants

Flora and Fauna: Carnivorous Plants published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - carnivorous plants

The Valley in which the Provinces of Pocalo sit is ringed by a range of high red mountains. The poor nutrient content of the red soil, coupled with the erosion issues on the cloud spider web structure (and low sunlight in many areas), make it difficult for many species of plants to take root.

As a result, several of the more successful plants in the region are ones that had evolved to draw their sustenance from the delicious flesh of insects, and other things (cough, ahem) larger than insects. Birds, perhaps. A rat or two. Maybe, I don’t know, a human sometimes? Who’s counting, really?

Sticky tendrils, grasping appendages, alluring lights, digestive juices: the flora of the Valley have a wide range of adaptations for ensnaring and devouring hapless fauna.

Several of the plants, like the melaine mushroom, have useful medicinal applications, provided one can harvest them without being eaten.

Flora and Fauna: Blue Beetle

Flora and Fauna: Blue Beetle published on

Valley of the Silk Sky - blue beetleAh, the humble blue beetle, such a common sight in the Valley it gets the most obvious possible name. It’s also one of the main sources of animal protein for the citizens of Pocalo. So delicious, so nutritious.

Humans typically cook these insects prior to eating, as the texture of raw bug is not especially appetizing (similar in consistency to raw poultry). At the same time, “appetizing” is a luxurious concern for one who hasn’t had anything to eat in awhile, and humans can eat the beetle flesh raw if need be.

Daraz, meanwhile, aren’t accustomed to cooking food first (they can’t have fires in their underground cities or they’d all die of asphyxiation). But, whether raw or cooked, Daraz don’t typically care much for the taste of blue beetle and only tend to eat it out of necessity. The Rovari name for this particular insect translates roughly as “edible, I guess.”

Humans don’t just use the blue beetle for food. The shells are collected and ground into powder, which is then made into fabric dye. This particular dye is called “blue beetle blue,” JUST in case you were confused about the color or the source. Any dyed fabric is fancier than un-dyed fabric, but blue beetle blue still doesn’t rise much above “better than nothing.”

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