Little is known about the origins of the stories that are featured in the First Book of the Republic of Thoronia. What is known is that the book was compiled in 1973 by Sir Athanasius Altair, a monk in Eastern Uzkani. From what we have seen and read up until this point it is understood and accepted that the monk believed that these texts were a collection by the Prophet Roland.
Even less is known of Roland’s life, other than the fact that he devoted all of it to the preaching and studying the Republic. He was the driving factor behind the Good King Thor’s popularity in the early 10th century. From this, we the modern reader and believer in the King’s abundant glory and wisdom, can critique and assess the books of Thoronia with a critical eye, not for hatred of the Republic or the King, but rather to further understand the texts and what they mean in a modern context.
For the purpose of this study, we’ll be breaking the book into more manageable sections. Here, we’ll take a look at the “In the Beginning” section. I am well aware that there is text that comes before this, but it is the belief of this particular critic that these were meant mostly as filler, and were actually written by Athanasius as a means to insert himself into the stories. That being said, these beginnings are still a vital part of the history, and should be studied by those who believe in the Good King and his wisdom. We, however, won’t.
One would think that to begin with “In the Beginning” is to begin with the creation of the universe. It is clear that Roland could never have been there, and it is likely that the Good King spoke to him when he was transcribing the universe’s origins. However, none of that happens “In the Beginning” it all happens before. You’ll notice that “In the Beginning” is not actually a beginning at all, it is, for lack of better words, a trivial and useless meandering across subjects that are clearly beyond the grasp of the Prophet Roland. For instance, the line, “He placed these people next to animals that were like them.” The Prophet Roland believes that the Good King Thor set up the lands of Thoronia by a means of comparison, so that the animals on any given continent would be similar to the humans. The two then, would feed and learn from each other. This is clear in some ways, however, the assumption that the animals were actually present on the planet first is contradicting a statement earlier in the book , “Dear sir, I am King Thor, the one who has created you. I have created a galaxy and universe and dinosaurs and dolphins along with you.” The key word here is “along.” This denotes and assumes that we, the human race were created at the same time as the other animals and were in fact, not placed on the continents in a manner that corresponded with the animals whom were already there.
I would like to offer a new reading to the The First Book of the Republic of Thoronia. It is my belief that the monk, Athanasius, actually has inserted himself up until this point, and perhaps beyond. I have read the original scrolls, and is clear that many, if not all are forgeries based upon how Athanasius had chosen to understand the universe. From the Introduction up until Capitols, the text feels deeply rooted in the slang of the ’70s. It attempts to use humor and banter to push its motives. The business with the tote is still highly suspect, as no other mentions of the tote can be found in any of the other history books, with the exception of the traditional song, “March of the Tote.”
However, these revelations do not negatively affect the words and teachings. On the contrary, the monk was likely a good candidate to continue the teachings of the Good King Thor. Yet I worry that perhaps we, the audience of believers, may lose sight of the Republic’s goals if we accept all these things at face value. We must look closely to better understand not only ourselves, but those around us. Next time we’ll be looking at Capitols. Until then, for the Good King Thor, we move.
So, we here in Thoronia are busy busy with school projects, one of these projects was to combine a new medium to an old audibiographical text. Never to be outdone I created this bizarre… thing… volume isn’t great as it was never mastered, nor really even recorded properly, but, well, there you go. “The Hall of the Old Ladies Recorder” as “performed” by a highly caffeinated King Thor.
Yes folks it’s true. Contrary to what our initial game concepts might have lead you to believe, Mojiferous and I’s Amoeba based puzzler is well on its way to greatness. To kick off the two month long countdown we’ve decided to release the soundtrack early on, so, without further ado… here it is (zip format, individual MP3s below)! Check out Mojiferous’ explanation of the game below the track listing. And as always, feel free to check out the Republic of Thoronia’s other works here.
1. “Welcome to My Body”
2. “Unrest in Dys-century”
3. “Proteus Maximus”
4. “White Blood Cell Hot Body”
5. “The Truth is Inside”
6. “Amoeba I’ll Do It Tomorrow”
7. “Mitosis Are Sore”
8. “Phagocytosis Soda Charm”
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COPIED FROM the Mojiferforum:
Title: Currently, something involving the word Ameba, Amoeba, Hot Sick, etc. etc. (suggestions, anyone?)
Genre: A real-time puzzler… Sort of an ugly man-beast-child of Frogger, Dig Dug, Super Mario Brothers, Portal, and dysentery.
Game Description: You are a parasite (at this stage in development an amoeba), happily going about your business of parasitism inside some unfortunate fellow’s body. You float through the blood stream, looking for nutrients, avoiding phages and antibiotics, and trying to (literally) divide and conquer. The game will be divided into “levels” and “worlds”- each level is a portion of a system or organ within the person’s body you are living within- so for example, the first “world” will likely be the lungs or stomach, with minor “levels” as you advance through the stomach wall and towards whatever organ you’re after next. Each level ends with a “target cell”, much like the flag at the end of a Super Mario level, full of nutrients to allow you to continue your journey, with end-of-world levels home to a much more nutrient rich cell that will give your amoeba enough energy to divide, increasing the number of “lives” you have and opening the door for possible mutation. Mutation is currently planned to be non-directional (meaning neither definitively positive nor negative) and allows for added abilities, special skills, or [possibly] unforeseen consequences.
How it will work: Like Dig Dug married to Super Mario at Frogger’s house… The player will start at one end of the level, with the “target cell” at the opposite end- in between there will be a maze of blood vessels, cells, bone, muscle, etc. etc. The player can move freely through the blood vessels, but they will be the main conduits for immune-response cells (of various kinds), antibiotics, and other such amoeba-eating nasties (everything will move through the blood vessels according to a “pulse”, and in early levels the player may not have strong enough propulsion to overcome this pulse and may be stuck riding the current. Also, as the “patient” gets sicker, the pulse will increase, making the game’s “immune response” faster as levels increase… this is the Frogger part of the game, timing your escape from the white blood cells.) Surrounding the blood vessels will be cells that the player is able to lyse, or burst- much like Dig Dug, tunneling through the body’s organs to get at the “target cell”. Occasionally these normal cells will also hold immune-system nasties or bonus proteins, making them impassible or attractive. Scattered about will also be areas that are impassible (such as bones or muscle tissue), that the player will have to plan around. Big gameplay concept: The amoeba may only destroy a limited number of cells in its quest for the “target cell”, so the player will have to plan their route to the target- will it be through the dangers of the blood stream, or can you make it through the maze of cells and tissue? if only you had enough cell-bursting power…
Graphics: The graphics will be modeled after Gray’s Anatomy (the book, not the TV show), with a woodcut/etched look. Mostly black and white, but with color overlays for blood vessels, target cells, etc. Some important items or places will be labeled in a similar fashion to the book.
Controls: WASD and spacebar
Development Tools:
REALBasic
Illustrator
Inkscape
Gimp
Audacity
Team:
Joe Flores (Mojiferous) – code, design
Thorin Klosowski (King Thor) – design, script, music, sound
Liaht Rosenstein – technical consultation, editor
Additional notes: We’re hoping to have some sort of soundtrack for the game, and recorded dialog (that will sound muddied, as if you were listening to it inside the body) whether that happens, we’ll see…
Development Plan (as of 01/09/09):
1) build a graphics engine for the game with accompanying level editor, post them here, distribute to team (1 week?)
2) design levels, while sound, music, and other assets come together (early Feb?)
3) assemble levels and start building physics and logic for the game (late Feb?)
4) something close to a working game (hopefully by the end of the contest!)
