Paul Wang
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Wanted: Topics for June
🕑 Added 2021-05-09 17:01:01 +0000 UTCThis is the voting post for June's articles.
Please choose one topic from each of the three lists below, and reply with the respective letter and number of your two chosen topics in the comments below. Voting ends on 11:59 PM PST on May 21st.
Topics marked with the asterisk (*) have been chosen by backers at the $10-a-month tier. They will be available for voting this month only, unless they are suggested again for July.
Please reply with your choices in the comments below.
A Soldier's Guide to the Infinite Sea
A) Trade and Commerce: A description of the major trade routes in the Infinite Sea, as well as an overview of which power imports and exports what, and how this shapes their foreign policy.
B) Garing, Gutierrez, and Truscott - A History: A brief history of GG&T, from its humble beginnings during the Petty Kingdoms era, through its establishment as a major armsmaking firm during the Wars of Unification, to its current status as the Unified Kingdom's largest gunmaker.
C) Antagia's Rebellion: An overview of the last years of the Octovian Empire, the rising of the houses of Antagia and Khorobirit, and the final fall of the Heirs of Saint Stanislaus.
D) The Saintly Martyrs: An overview of the worship of the Saints in the Northern Kingdoms, including biographies of selected Sainted Martyrs, iconography, and cosmology.
E) The Curtain of Storms - A Primer: Very little is known about the Curtain of Storms, mostly because there have been no successful attempts to explore it. This pamphlet, printed by the Halford Foundation, ties together shards of fact with webs of speculation, but that is more than what most can offer.
F) Old Calligia - What We Know: The Kian poet J'eanne Lieux once said that "The only thing we know about Old Calligia are the lies". While not entirely true, very little of the long-gone northern realm has survived. This essay from the University of San'heu attempts to put together the pieces.
G) Warfare Then and Now: A relatively broad overview of the history of war and warfare in the Infinite Sea, taken from a part of a Callindrian children's book.
H) Edmund Garing, In His Own Words: An autobiographical account of the junior partner of GG&T, edited by the Countess of Welles for her report on the War in Antar.
I) Instructions to Traders and Travellers (Pt 3): The third part of a series of pamphlets issued by the Takaran Ministry of Barbarian Affairs, this one covering some of the minor powers in the Infinite Sea, including Azulae, Callindria, and Rathkurin.
J) Clerks and Commoners: Selections from a children's book written for the scions of the Tierran nobility, meant as their first real education in the classes and dynamics of the Baneless classes.
K) Tierra - Her Peoples and History: A "brief" overview of Tierra's ethnic groups, and how they have influenced Tierran history since the days of first settlement.
L) A Report on Tutors and Tutelage: Commissioned by the Royal University of Aetoria, this report investigates the education baneblooded children receive before they are admitted to the University itself.
M) A Call to Arms to the Faithful of the Tree: A religious tract summarising the worship of the Tree of Life, and calling for a renewed age of religious devotion in an age of Takaran secularism.
N) The Compleat Knight: A somewhat tongue-in-cheek guide to the behaviours expected of a Knight of the Red.
O) The Senior Service: A rather self-serving pamphlet extolling the virtues of the Royal Tierran Navy in the context of the army's new prominence following the Dozen Years' War.
*P) On the Use of the Bane as an Implement of Healing: An overview of the mechanics of banehealing, and how it's used by the Orders of the Blue.
*Q) A Memorandum on the Forces of the Great Enemy: Compiled under the auspices of the Sapphire Seal of the Kian Ministry of Intelligence, this internal report shows how the Kian see the Takaran Richshyr.
*R) Excerpts from the Private Letters of Louis d'al Englessea, Earl of Castermaine: A series of letters from the Earl of Castermaine, regarding the ongoing attempts to saint a certain Grenadier Officer.
An Adventurer's Guide to the Fledgling Realms
*1) Hey, Remember That Time We Killed a Dragon?: A transcript of the Baroness of Sonnemerci's rather... disorganised verbal retelling of a particular episode on her past adventures with Leofric, Duke of Kendrickstone.
*2) A Report to the Duke of Torinhall: A message from an agent of the Duke of Torinhall, regarding the operations of one William of Hallowford.
*3) Assassins of the Fledgling Realms: Not all adventurers operate in the open. For those inclined to stealth and the murkier sort of mercenary work, there is always the option of murder for hire.
A Creator's Guide to Writing and Worldbuilding
A1) Using Genre Conventions: Every genre comes with its own traditions and conventions. Some of them can be helpful, others... less so. How do you tell the former from the latter?
A2) Ordering a Society, Pt 2: Now that we've established the sociological fundamentals which underpin a society, it's time to figure out how those basics translate into the shape of a society itself.
*A3) Worldbuilding and Characterisation: How does a character's culture change their behaviour? How does their class change their vocabulary? How does a setting's features shape its characters?
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Paul Wang
Castermaine, Assassins, and Ordering a Society Pt 2.
R, 3, A1
