Nameing Paradise

Shangri-La, Cockaigne, El Darado, The Emerald City, Utopia, whatever.

Each ritual in the game has about sixty different ways to phrase, interpret, or pull off; each school has multiple nicknames, and some have varied histories.

The concept of ‘open to interpretation’ is the core of the OU; one man’s cult is another man’s religion.

If you had to give it an name, I’d vote for ‘Midian’, from Clive Barker’s book ‘Cabal’; the mythic city where the monsters live.

Or, for raw fun, use the name from the book ‘Great and Secret Show’; Quiddity: the dream sea, where you find yourself at three times in your life — birth, the day you rest next to the one you love most, and death.

Perhaps the city from the book ‘Everville’; ‘Everville’. A city made from dreams, mined from dreams, shot straight from a dream in the .. Quiddity.

That’s three names for mythic utopias, and it’s from the same author, and almost the same story arc. The OU wouldn’t be too different, I figure.

Summerland, Tir Nan Og, Eden, Paradise are just some I can think of.

Maybe future utopias could also be thought of – that big city in The Sandmen is a kind of utopia, but not my kind at least.

Sir Cabhán.

Lovecraft called it “Celephais”, a particularly lyrical and pretty name, IMO. Read the novellette “The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath” for details. Basically, it is a place of unparalleled beauty and serenity reachable only through dreams by experienced and adept dreamers. So wonderful, the Elder Gods tend to bar access to mere humans. If nothing else, read the story, for it’s almost as wonderful as the city it describes. There is also a short story entitled “Celephais” by Lovecraft, but if you only read one story by the “distinguished gentleman from Providence”, read Unknown Kadath.

-Mystillate.

I had an idea for an RPG that never got written based on this very idea; might make a nifty UA campaign:

All the “extinct” ancient civilizations never died. They just teleported big numbers of their populations to a habitable planet in the Sirius star system, where they continue to live, war, and plot the conquest of Earth.

The first big ones were Atlantis and Lemuria, located on continents of the same name. Atlantis has Angkor Wat, Lemuria has Camelot, Arcadia, Montsalvat, and Karnak. Later, the islands of Xanadu, Shangri-La, Shambhala, and Cathay were colonized. There’s the continent of Tenotchitlan, with the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Other islands include Roanoke, Irem the City of Pillars, Shinar, Pompeii, and R’lyeh. Finally, the North Polar Icelands have Ultima Thule.

I had a whole map prepared and everything, if anyone’s interested.

Who will follow my Leader listen unto my words Who will help form the army of Shangri-La the Gatekeeper hath sent me on his behalf follow us unto the land of Shangri-La into the land of Infinity.