iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Thank you for also reinforcing that she leaves a good impression!:)

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I'm ska-red to call it music.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

In the goblin neighborhoods the DLF is viewed as something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Baya kept all his war memorabilia and felt pride in his service. On the other hand, he acknowledges that his neighborhood was essentially plundered for disposable replacements as the war dragged on.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Sorry, I've been traveling! Will resume in 3-5 business days 🤣

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Lmao listen, any teenager knows that the first words you learn in any language are the bad ones 😎

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

I think if Informal Gnomish spellcasting written as Eidosian rap had a musical flavor, it would be like British grime. Like anything by Kano is brilliant, but especially Good Youtes Walk Amongst Evil has that feel, in my mind: open.spotify.com/track/0o8cO4...

open.spotify.com

Good Youtes Walk Amongst Evil

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Love this And I think spellcasting in Informal vs Formal Gnomish also matters. "Thou shalt not pass" vs "I don't think so" has very different, but no less effective, energy.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

We have created a lot of pets for our characters that have special properties (like Waffles the piglet who's been imbued with life magic). We also have gods like Sobek the albino alligator and Cetlahn the ancient 3-eyed bear.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

I do sort of imagine a legend in academic circles about a PhD candidate who successfully figured out a way to destabilize conduits at the quantum level and was never heard from again.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

@licoricemint.bsky.social I think the history and the residual energy in our world has had some interesting side effects on magic use. Like people siphoning off the City Wards for their own uses. It feels like harnessing leftover nuclear energy in a lot of ways. Anything you can think of?

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

This section still makes me tear up for Nat... and I wrote the damn thing.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Who doesn't love a good sultan or two?

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Jeez. I forget that the fucked up things I write sometimes 😆

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

When she uses it to kill a Yuan-Ti in Book 1, she's overwhelmed by its psychic delight and drops it on the corpse, where it gathers all the blood and absorbs it into the metal. When she finally picks it up again it's noticeably heavier and she gets the sensation of happiness/fullness.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Yeah, we have written in a few pocket stories that involve magical items taking on an aspect of a personality, which becomes either a help or a hindrance to their user. Vola's brass knuckles, for example, were made by her transferring the anima of a bloodthirsty gladiatorial cestus to a new form.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Trista might be one of my favorite side characters in the series and @licoricemint.bsky.social has done such an amazing job writing her. We're not at the part in the main canon yet where she gets introduced, but when she does, I'm sure you all will love her as much as I do. ❤️

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

We haven't really talked about this much in our book. What a cool opportunity to explore!

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

The other thing i would add are the wards that surround the city and the city mages, novices, acolytes, and other administrative personnel responsible for maintaining, patching, and generally keeping the shield wall up and running.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Vola and the hunters have managed on their raids to find access to many prewar artifacts, which in arcane terms is stumbling on hidden stashes of TNT. If the city ever found out, there would be an army of tax people descending on them (and also probably the actual army).

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

This creates a natural stratification in Sehoran society where city mages and wealthy practitioners have access to power that most others don't simply because of access to critical materials. If the city mages knew what raw power was contained in some of the scrap metal Vola's found, they'd panic.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

One other thing we don't mention much are the soft controls governments use to control magic and who has access to it. The arcane ingredients used in the rarest recipes that produce the highest quality results are heavily taxed/ regulated. Sehore has high tariffs on all Eidosian metals for example.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I'm sure we'd have a blast writing that!

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Pipefolk will as soon eat you as haggle with you (if they're hungry and you have nothing good to trade). However, once a bargain is made, they will honor it, and frown on anyone who goes back on an agreed trade. As for what they trade, it can be anything: bones, meat, supplies, or shiny things.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Each Pipefolk family (or "curl") is constantly moving but each curl is aware of the others and can draw a map of everyone's territory from memory. They carry sharpened hoes that can spear prey or be used as a defense weapon. This isn't in the book but I imagine each curl is led by an elder mother.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I love sewer culture and it's something we haven't had a chance to dive into much. It's also changing all the time bc the sewers themselves are expanding from the residual magic seeping from the city wards. The Pipefolk are the ones Marty encounters most often: Nomadic, tribal, loyal and violent.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I love this question! I think of the Borrower as someone who helps himself to the things in the margins of our attention, whether that's a paper clip or the memory of where you put your to-do list. He gives, too - he might be the nudge to look in the couch cushions for spare change, etc.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

“I never believed in you. You always seemed too convenient - an excuse for absent-minded people.” “Ah,” the figure snickers. It’s voice is low, crafty, but not sly. Wout gets the distinct impression of a curious toddler for a reason that he suddenly can’t remember. “But she believes."

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

"The figure is wearing a brightly colored patchwork outfit, made of yellow and purple. It has a thousand little pockets, each one brimming with shiny objects. From one, Wout spies a bent paper clip. In another dangles the string of a yo-yo. A jaunty little top hat sits atop his furry head."

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

We also have these primordial "gods" (forces) that have creative energy and it's not clear exactly where they come from which would be interesting to play with.

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

I love it. I also feel like creation myths across cultures often read like someone dropped a bunch of shrooms and then started writing and so I think there's room for some creation myths that are like "tieflings were created when the fire god lit up a joint and ash dropped to the earth" etc. 😆

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Stacey M @rustraven.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

You and I have made a beautiful world and I'm so excited to share it with others! ❤️

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