Paul Wang
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Wanted: Topics for May
🕑 Added 2021-04-08 17:00:05 +0000 UTCThis is the voting post for May's articles.
Please choose one topic from each of the two 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 April 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 June.
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) An Explanation to the Callindrian Envoy: A description of the ranks of the Tierran Peerage and the general strata of Tierran society and how they relate to each other, addressed to an unfortunate Callindrian diplomat.
*Q) Addendum - Mechanical Developments in the Northern War: A series of notes by the Kian Ministry of Planning regarding technological developments resulting from the War in Antar.
*R) 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.
*S) Voices of Discontent: A collection of excerpts, pamphlets, and transcripts collected in the aftermath of the Aetorian riots of 616.
*T) Memorandum - The "Wulframite" Party: An Imperial Intelligence document assessing the Duke of Wulfram and his political allies.
*U) Excerpt -Officers and NCOs of the Royal Dragoons: A collection of notes from Grenadier Square's files regarding the officers and NCOs of the Royal Dragoon Regiment.
*V) Excerpts from the Journals of Stanislaus, Prince of Octobirit: Translated, interpreted, studied, mistranslated, deconstructed and reconstructed against twenty times over, the journals of Saint Stanislaus of Octobirit are one of the few first-hand accounts of the fall of Old Calligia and the end of universal human banecasting from the Calligian continent.
*W) The Wolf Lord: Even as the Tierran army left Antar, memories of their presence remained, including the form of this children's tale, used by serf parents to frighten their children.
*X) Vapour and Steel - A Vision of the Future: Written by a Varadhi fantasist of some repute, Vapour and Steel was a pamphlet which proposed the possibility of a brave new society of mechanisation and industry, all possible with existing technologies.
An Adventurer's Guide to the Fledgling Realms
*1) Sex Work in the Fledgling Realms: How does the oldest profession function in the Fledgling Realms?
*2) 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.
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: So you've decided to create a fictional society for your setting. How do you organise it?
Comments
Finally! đ Persistence wins out.
Paul Wang
Takara's view on the Wulframites, Sex Work in the Fledgling Realms, and Ordering a Society.
D, 1, A1
