Day 7 – Seekretya – Recent History

The trouble is that the entire history of Seekretya is kind of recent.  It really got going as science and technology became prominent, so the history was pretty much covered under Scars on an earlier day.  I haven't really developed the political history of the interior of Seekretya yet, and I expect to as individual stories develop.  I will come back and record them here as appropriate.

Spend 15 minutes outlining the major historical events of the last 100 years before your novel begins.

1. Who lives where, and what wars and conflicts have they had?

-See the map (below) for who lives where

-The Dark Empire is made of seven small kingdoms, much like the German states before unification. Wars are very frequent and very limited by rules and the interrelationships of the combatants. There are no clear lines of succession; in fact it is encouraged for sons to compete for the father's holdings. Only one can win in the end. When first established each kingdom battled for supremacy (and the levels went from 1-7). These wars for hierarchy were much more bloody than the wars for succession, and eventually it was decided that all kingdoms would be equal under the Dragon Emperor and they asked the Dragons to be nominal head of the Empire. Now, sons who do not win their family's war of succession hire themselves out as mercenaries.

-The Confederation of Liit have vowed to never fight each other, but to band together against any attacks on the entire Confederation.



2. Who keeps the peace?

- Wizard system launched - When the magical Races started arriving in Seekretya there were only the Dragon Wizards and they did not regulate the actions of non-dragons. When the magical doors shut and were locked it became evident that some system had to be put into place. The Dragon Wizards were made Archwizards, and they commissioned Viswizards who in turn certified Common Wizards. All Wizards swear an oath, one of the main parts of which is to foster and facilitate inter-racial harmony.



3. How do borders stay in place?

-At first there were many wars among the social Races, but once the Wizard system was put into place each Race met and grabbed chunks Seekretya. There turned out to be enough to go around because it was only the Races organized enough to send representatives. Now the wars are mostly skirmishes between social Races and solitary Races, border raids between lands, or individual upstarts intent on Seekretya domination.



4. What happens when power shifts?

-The Wizards form a magical army to end any real threats to the balance, otherwise individual wizards work with the Races to keep the peace, making sure no Race tries to dominate after defending.



5. What major resources are considered necessary to staying in power?

-Magic ultimately, but the Graatrols believe that superior technology, weapons, and organization may take all, but they're not ready yet to take control.



6. Dates when power shifted in your civilization(s) (through coup, death of a monarch, revolution, election, etc.)

-I'll have to get back to you with specific dates, I don't think they are really important here and now.

7. Whether the power shift was smooth (as it might be when a monarch dies and their offspring takes their place)

-I've discussed the take over of the Wizards and the granting of Emperor status to the Dragons by the Graatrols of the Dark Empire.

8. Dates when a natural event reduced or increased the amount of natural resources (food, usually, but also water, timber, and other resources)

-The greatest of these was the creation of Seekretya itself, as described earlier.

9. Dates when an unnatural event (such as a magical or technological event) changed the resources as well.

10. At the high-pressure points, write "battle/conflict"

-Individual battles will be developed as the stories develop.

11. Date your novel begins

-This year.

12. Date your character was born

-I have not yet developed characters yet, I have some names, but characters come later in this process, so I'm really not sure why she talks about this here unless you're expected to go back, which I will.

Day 6.3 - Seekretya - Da Races - FAE FOLK

Fae, or Faeree Folk are the most numerous and perhaps the most dominant Race, with the possible exception of the Trools. It is difficult to say which Race is the most dominant for several reasons, not the least of which is the Faeree tendancy for inconsistent politics and policies; lack of coherient organization within the Race and shifts in power over time.

The Trools are less numerous, but individually more powerful, more single minded in purpose and more uniform in their desires. Fae are whimsical, but powerful; small but energetic; disparate but numerous. Fae and Trool do not always find themselves at odds with each other but certain Ethnogroups are mortal enemies. For instance, Dwarves and Stoontrools have been at war since the inception of Seekretya.

NOTE: I just realized that I have been spelling the name of the social big Race incorrectly. By my spelling convention that long vowels are designated by doubling the letter, the English word, "troll" should be spelled "trool." I've decided to keep the spelling that way, making the pronounciation of that word more like: trawl (with a short o).

Fae live in villages, cities, and roving bands. Fae live in trees, underground, in forests, and on planes. They pride themselves in diversity and purposely change their habits when they perceive that they have been, "figured out."

They are the oldest Race after the Dragons. They may actually be older than humans.

There are only three consistant things throughout the Fae Race, they are between half and one meter high; they are romantic and they are monogamous. Even Dwarvs, who are considered stoic among Faeree, love to sing and are romantic about their spouses and mining.

BLUUFAE
-All Fae are contrary, except the Bluufae. These are the water people. They are always in a good mood and willing to help. They love water and build their towns as bridges over rivers. They sail and row everywhere, and love to swim. They are also the ones who fly airships (blimps) and airboats (hot air balloons).

Airships are blimps with 3 to 5 bags fireproof bags of Dragonskin (sloughed from Dragons when molting) and filled with Dragon's Breath (probably Hydrogen). These are wrapped in a sleeve of silk and a wicker gondola in the shape of a sailing ship is hung underneath. The silk sleeves are often in paisleies. Several pedalers power several large propellers and a large silk rudder is in the stern from the keel of the boat to the end the sleeve. These are used predominantly by military as highground for archers and as passenger liners on the civilian side.

Airboats are usually hot air balloons, but they could be Dragon's Breath balloons too. They are usually one bladder, but they can be two. They too have a boat shaped gondola and usually two propellers powered by one pedaler. The usual way of steering is to use the balloon as a sail and the propeller as a kind of keel. The balloon is raised and lowered to get into the right winds. In still air it can be moved forward by the propellers, buit there is usually not enough power in them to counteract any real winds. They carry small, precious cargo or passengers. They can be used by the military as observation platforms.

Day 6.2.1 More About the Wee

Wee are also known for stealing the babies of other Races, swapping them with their own, leaving their own and making deals for babies (notably first borns).

NOTE: Particularly heinous inter-racial crimes have been greatly curtailed by the system of Viswizards and Common Wizards. Inter-racial cannibalism and baby stealing are two of the chief incidents.

Because of the control of the Wizards the Wee have delightfully expanded their old tradition of confusing contracts. They still try to get away with the old tricks, but unless they are in an actual contract they are breaking the laws and may be punished.

BROWNEES

- Brownees are a very particular group of Wee Folk. They have symbiotic relationships with big people. Brownees don't make their own homes or produce food, they live in the homes of others and keep the homes in exchange for a place to live (usually the attic or cellar) and food. They are very small and specialize in disappearing and making themselves invisible. They are also good at finding things and singing ballads and lullabies.

Brownees are attractive little people who keep themselves, their adopted homes and their own little corners very neat and tidy. They can be excellent cooks, but rarely do it because hovering over the stove is so obvious a chore and the don't like to be seen.

Brownees mate once a year, but once they are mated they always return to the same mate. They alternately travel to each others homes. The Brownee who is traveling will do so with explicit permission from the home owner or not at all. The receiving Brownee will prepare either the attic or cellar (whichever they are not occupying) for the visiting Brownee to occupy for the length of the visit.

When they get together they treat it as a courting ritual, but each day it ends in lovemaking, while all night they both clean and keep the house. The double work frees them up for more alone time. When they are not actually lovemaking they live apart. Visits last from the first full moon after mid-summer to the next full moon. Since the Brownees can be invisible they like the moonlight to travel by and don't fear being sighted.

A mated pair of Brownees rarely live in the same village. When the visiting Brownee leaves he or she must bring a present back to their adopted homeowners. This is usually something very small and/or magical that the two Brownees have made during the visit.

The children spend half their formative years with each parent, traveling with them on their annual visits. Since a pair of Brownees will typically only have up to four children and these five years apart on average, there are sill a reasonable number of Brownees visiting. Children that aren't switching, remain in their homes and provide uninterrupted service.

Day 6.2 - Seekretya - Da Races - Dragons, Trols and Wee Folk

DRAGONS –
Dragons ARE magic. Ley Lines are Dragon Lines. Some Dragons are actually the lines themselves. It was the Dragons who pulled the Ley Lines into Seekretya.

Dragons, in their natural state are very large, dark pterodactyls with longer hind limbs and more manageable heads. They can disguise themselves by transforming into human looking creatures. Dragons are social and solitary. They live in cities and alone in the highest, most inaccessible mountain peaks. Their capital is Obsideeopolis, a glittering crystal city on the edge of the Viioletpeeks, overlooking all of Seekretya. In Obsideeopolis all the Dragons are in human form.

Dragons have their own moral code, virtues and vices, values and drives. They are really very rarely sympathetic toward other races.

TROLS –
Trols are as heavy as Megans, but only average 9' tall, so they are much more bulky. They have shorter legs, but very long arms. Trols can go bald at times. They tend to be darker haired, skin and eyed, but there are some groups that are light.

Trols are never alone, even when they appear to be alone they are within earshot of others and never go anywhere without others knowing where they are and what they are doing. The others that are within earshot all consider themselves to be together.

Because of their size and food requirements, Trols do not form communities larger than villages (there are no Trol cities). Depending on the ethnogroup the villages could be clans, families, communes or what humans would consider normal villages. At a minimum Trols live in three house communities, even if there are only three Trols in the community. This is meant to be defensive and supportive. Trols often wall in their communities, with stone walls, wooden walls, hedges, and cut brush (like kraals). In some cases they will dig moats and in some cases they will dig into mountains. Trol houses are solid and dull. Most Trol ethnogroups pride themselves in clean house with few, well built furniture. They don't adorn their houses.

Trols don't go in for music or dance at all. Their art tends to be sculpture; either mountainous or tiny (Mount Rushmore or figurines). They have jewelry, but it's not for beauty wear. Jewelry is worn for its own beauty and is usually small and tasteful, not gaudy. Evening entertainment is food and story-telling.

Trols are monogamous and pedestrian in their sexual mores. They have a strict code of intergender relationships, courtship and marriage. Trols never divorce, but will remarry quickly when widowed.

Trol ethnogroups are lawful peaceful (gentle giants), lawful violent (militant), or chaotic violent (bandits or mercenaries). Sometimes the differences are in time, not by group.

WEE FOLK –
Are about half as tall at humans to as small as half a meter. They are the solitary little people. They like to perform mischief and enjoy physical humor; they are quick to anger and are easily offended. They focus very highly on magic and are very good at it. They use it more often than any other Race.

They're less solitary than Megans, they get together in small groups often to eat and dance, but they don't trust each other and often with good reason. They are also hoarders, keeping crocks of gold and other stashes. They even try to steal from Dragon's hoards.

Wee never get married. They have romantic trists, but the never last more than a few years. During those years they are mostly apart, but come together for monthly week-long one-night stands. While romantically involved they may pine, write poetry and music. They are very passionate and monogamous during this time.

Eventually one of the parents take the child (or as-often twins) and raise them. It' is more often the mother, but about a quarter of the time it's the father.

FAE FOLK – Next time.

Me – Books Over 500 Pages in General – Cryptonomicon in Particular

I think I've discovered something: I can't finish a book over 500 pages. I couldn't finish Aztec, though I enjoyed it. I can't finish Cryptonomicon either. I know it's LTC John's favorite book in the whole wide world. I was given it for Christmas by "Uncle" Mike a few years ago because he loved it and thought I would enjoy it too.
I just can't stand it anymore. I'm listening to it on CD and it is 34 CDs long, THIRTY FOUR! I've taken to skipping to the WWII parts because they are fairly interesting still, but this morning I had to skip through half a CD that talked about one character's milk and cereal.

Seriously, Neal Stephenson, PITH! Edit yourself once in a while.

Maybe it's just me. Once I get the gist of the story I can't put up with it, "Yeah yeah yeah, I get it, next."

I can read series, Discworld, Foundation, Sherlock Holmes (not books per se, but you know what I mean), Harry Potter, Nero Wolfe, Harry Dresden, Lensman, Sharpe, Hornblower; but I just can't stand those long books.

Funny thing is, I get into all those details when I write. I love to research and get tons of facts. These very 30 Days of World Building are a good example. How long have my 30 days been, three, four months? Very often I loose interest after doing the research and I have piles of it that I just can't part with. I like those kinds of details, but I probably do enough research for a book and end up with a 4,000 word short story. Something about actually putting all of that in a book turns me off around page 600-700.

Maybe folks with books like that should take a cue from movies and wait to put it out on the DVD special features. Something like, "Deleted Scenes from Cryptonomicon." See now, I'd read that.

Day 6 - Seekretya - Da Races

Here is what the exercise has for Day 6:

"1. Spend 10 minutes figuring out what people who evolved in each major area of your world would look like. Then spend another 5 minutes asking "2. what if this group encountered that group?" Would they fight? Trade? Both? Inter-marry and blend their genetic types? Would they remain largely separate, with pure strains of both racial groups co-existing (not necessarily peacefully)? How would that encounter be brought about in the first place?" [I added the numbers]

ANSWERS:

Note: No Race is evil. Races are not paired.

There are 5 races in Seekretya, none of which exactly match the old Wee Folk of traditional tales. There are literary reasons and in-story reasons. Literarily, I don't want so many different races, I don't necessarily like the way they're depicted, and they don’t match the story mood. The main in-story reason is that when they got to Seekretya they had conflicts, wars, treaties and agreements as they jostled into the small, insulated world. They re-built themselves and their relationships.

The lingua franca of Seekretya is English, though there is a shared magic language as well and some groups may retain their original language in private, though that is becoming more rare.

The Races are reproductively separated. There are little people that are social (Fae) and there are little people that are solitary (Wee). There are social (Trol) and solitary (Megan) big people as well. The fifth Race is the human race.

Ok so these are somewhat paired, but it will turn out that ethno-grouping is almost stronger than race-grouping so it won't be an issue. I certainly didn't want to try to approach the question from the idea that there are pairs for everything, and the pairs play off of, fight, or complement each other. There is one Water People for instance and they don't have to be balanced by any other group. There aren't groups for all geographical features or ecological niches.

Any Race can perform magic and there are Wizards in all Races.

Although I don't agree with the idea of races in describing different groups of Homo sapiens, I think it is the right term to use in this story. These are all hominid races of people. They all share the same body type, generally the same abilities, minimum intelligence level and minimum technological development. They all have the same basic attitudes, desires and outlooks. In short, they are not aliens, but different people, more than just culturally different, but still people.

There is one species of sentient magical animals (and I hesitate to have these because I don't like talking animals, so I'll class them as Creatures) they are Dragons. They ARE alien intelligences.

The Races and Creatures are further divided into Ethnogroups. They call themselves clans, tribes, nations, peoples. Some of them have developed political territories with names like empire, kingdom, territory or land. These political areas I'll refer to as Lands. Races or Ethnogroups might coexist in a Land, or a single Race or Ethnogroup might divide themselves into several Lands and constantly struggle for control of their neighbors.

There are Ethnogroups that are generally pro-human and ones that are generally anti-human. This usually holds true throughout the entire Ethnogroup with individual exceptions rather than Land based exceptions, although an anti-human Land may ally themselves with Humans in the interest of dominating a competing Land (but they won't like it).

As far as the heroes are concerned, the anti-human Ethnogroups are generally evil. As Humans they see these people as unnecessarily cruel to Humans, or to have values normally considered as vices by most Human cultures.

MEGANS - Megans reproduce once every 3 or 4 years depending on if they have an omnivourous diet. Those with a more rounded diet go into estrus more often. Gestation is 16 months. Every 11 years everyone goes into estrus at the same time and they have what they call, "The Merging." Very large gatherings are held. There is a great celebration. Tents are set up for carnal visits (they are very private) and trading happens. The Mountain Megan trade sheep and goats, the Forest Megan trade fruits, nuts, berries and other vegetarian food stuffs.

Forest Megans are almost exclusively herbivourous. They are the tallest of all Races, at an average of almost 14'. They are ambivalent of Humans, and prefer to stay clear of them. The more omnivourous of them will eat a Human if the opportunity arrives, but that's very rare (like a man-eating hipo), usually when a Forest Megan is weak, sick or very old. These are generally the "trolls" in stories like "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."

So, going back to 30 Days.

1. Spending 10 minutes on what Megans look like, They are leggy and square shouldered. They are twice as tall as humans, but only about 4 times heavier. They aren't beefy. When they are overweight they get pot bellies. Their hair, skin and eye color are all across the spectrum. They do then to have thick hair on their heads, faces and bodies. The women have only slightly less hairy on their bodies, with their hair only slightly thinner. Their facial hair is much thinner, and not often noticeable. They then to be strong in the way thin, wirey people are. Their clothing is widely varied too. Some groups go almost naked, while others wear so many layers that you would think that they are all overweight.

2. I've already talked about how different groups of Megans interact. They tolerate the presence of most Trol groups, though they have no interaction with them. They think of Wee folk as pests, like insects. They are most likely to eat them or kill them without thinking much about it. Wee folk in their turn delight in tormenting Megans, considering them slow and dimwitted. Fae avoid Megans and vice versa. When they do come in contact both groups would give ground and leave the area. Faery lands and Megan lands do not overlap at all.

Coming Soon: DRAGONS, TROLS, FAES and WEES. Watch this space.

Day 5 – Seekretya – The Map

FINALLY! I got a chance and an idea on how to do the map.

I had an idea in my head, but I really wasn't able to realize it. I tried several methods, but nothing worked except hand drawing it and that didn't even work well. All I had was a tiny sketch. Finally I pulled out a full size piece of paper and a ruler and drew it.

It's still not good, not at all, but at least you can get an idea of the kind of thing I was thinking about.

I was working from these ideas:

A plateau in north central Montana (southern Alberta) about a mile high and 100 miles in diameter.

• 7 Valleys
• 7 Spurs
• 7 Rivers
• Valleys are Alpine leading down into Aspin woods, then into Temperate Rainforests and finally down to the 7 Bay Lake

There are 9 Lands
• Two span two valleys (one is The Confederation of Light in the north and the other is The Dark Empire in the south (capitol is Obsideeopolis))
• The Orange Valley and the Yellow Valley are divided in two by the river (the OV borders the CofL on the west and the YV borders the CofL on the east)
• The Green Valley is divided into three by elevation
• The rivers and the center of the lake are generally considered the be Water People "Land"
• The working titles for the single valley lands are Bludland (in the Red Valley on the west side of Seekretya) and Akwaland (in the Bluu Valley surrounded by the Bluu Mountains and the Green Hiits)

• Working Titles for Ridges
- Red-clifs

- Oranj-hils
- Yeloo-ridj
- Green-hiits

- Bluu-mountens
- Indigoo-peex
- Violet-buut

7 Colors = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

General Color rules
• Big people (Trols and Megans) use Violet and Indigo
• Humans use Green
• Little people (Faes and Wees) use Yellow, Orange and Red
- Exception - the water people who are Racially Fae use Blue almost exclusively
- Accents – Silver, Black, White, Brown

Wizards (use colors too)

• 7 Archwizards
• 49 Viswizards
• 363 Common Wizards
• 399 Wizards Total

Populations

Total 5/mi2 = 40,000 Total
5% (2,000) Human
10% (4,000) Megans
15% (6,000) Wees
30% (12,000) Trols
40% (16,000) Faes

Humans are in 7 towns

• Heeleeos [I don't really know the names to use, maybe Suntown] – 1,000
• Fegareeos [maybe Moontown] – 500
• Afrodiiteeos [maybe Venustown, or Tuestown] – 100
• Areeos [maybe Arestown or Wenstown] – 100
• Zeusos [maybe Jupitertown or Thurstown] – 50
• Kronos [maybe Saturntown or Friitown] – 50
• Hermeeos [maybe Mercureetown or Saturtown] – 50
• Scattered outside of towns or nomadic - 150

Day 4.5 – Seekretya - More About Scars

I've been thinking (and I haven't gotten a chance to do the map yet so I'm stalling as well).

As written the magical items, animals and people were all FORCED into Seekretya. I don't like that and it doesn't really match the MOOD. It is somewhat allegorical of "Indian Reservations" and I don't want that feel at all.

A better way to look at the World Scars is that the Ley lines were affected. This affected the usefulness of magical items and changed the power base. True this was caused by humans, but humans did not corral, transport and imprison the magical races. There were no Nazi death trains, slave ships or Trails of Tears. The magical races followed the magic to Seekretya. They are more akin to humans going to the new world to find new wealth and opportunities.

I think the magical animals both followed the Ley lines and were brought by the magical races. The magical artifacts as well, both followed the magic and were brought by the magical races.

Also, there is no Fate and no prophesies.

Addition to Day 4 – Seekretya World Building Scars

I know I said I wouldn't revisit Day 4 for Seekretya, but I have a few things I need to talk about.
I've been toying with the name of this land (I have to name the land so I can put a handle on what I'm doing, though naming comes much later in this process). It's all based on the spelling convention I intend to use.

In this book all letters will be very civil and behave properly. Each letter will say its name and say it in only one way. When vowels whisper their names (short vowel sounds) it will stand alone, and when it shouts its name (long vowel sounds) it will be doubled. Y says yeh, not ee. C can't be trusted at all, so the only place you will see it is if it's being accompanied by a letter that can be trusted. For example you may see it with the letter H (ch).

Because of this spelling convention Sekretia would be pronounced, SEE-kreh-t-ih-ah. I have a hard time saying it like this so I'm changing it to Seekretya (SEE-kreh-tyah). It doesn't look as right, but it's much easier to pronounce and it this way and it invokes the feel I want, that this is a secret place.

The other thing is this: most writing guides that talk about magic and fantasy say that you need to create a system of rules for your imagined world and stick to it; but I've found some of the biggest sellers never did this.

J. K. Rowling and L. Frank Baum never let rules and consistency bother them. Heck, Baum swapped East and West on his maps, made the Wizard a good guy, a bad guy and then a good guy without explaining any of it (not in the same book but between books). It didn't seem to make sales suffer. Rowling is renouned for plot holes big enough to fly a Ford Anglia through and obvious enough for a muggle to spot. Doctor Who, Star Wars and Indiana Jones all take such liberties with science that they could be called Fantasy, but still they wouldn't be following their own rules, but instead follow the money and never let little things like consistency and logic get in the way of making the story exciting.

I'm not going to go into pointing out all the inconsistancies and plot holes (there are plenty of websites out there for that). What I want to point out though is that the big blockbusters don't follow that rule, so why should I try so hard?

The most popular music isn't always the best, the most expensive "art" often isn't art. Curse you Henry Ford! If you hadn't pointed out that the most available bucks are to be gotten by good-enough with the masses, and not by excellent with the rich, I wouldn't be suffering this crisis of creativity.

I like order and rules, but I sometimes get caught up in creating the system and not the story.

Anyway, it's Seekretya now, going forward. I'll correct a few things I already did if they are connected with things going forward so that searches will work correctly. This has nothing to do with World Building Scars, but Day 4 is one of the things I'm going to go back and change the spelling on.

Day 3 – Seekretya – Going Back to Mood and Setting

I'm not really sure where or when I abandoned the children's fantasy with the 30 Days of Worldbuilding, but I did and I started only doing this exercise for Heavy Magic. That's nice, but now that my Father is gone I've been telling bedtime stories to my two younger daughters and I want to bring Seekretya back up to where I got with Heavy Magic.
I think I got to Day 4 with both. I want to catch it up with Heavy Magic. First, I'll revisit day 3 because I want to adjust it a bit and crop it down to just the Seekretya part. I don't have any changes to Seekretya from Day 4 so I won't post that again.

Write down four words that fit into that feeling: two adjectives, a verb, and a noun. Now return to the page with your list of climates and emotions. Do any of them match up? If they do, you have your climate. If not, try to find closest-match words.

If you spend 10 solid minutes thinking about this and still can't decide, pick two climates that express moods you like. You can make up your mind later, and you can even build your world with both climates containing equally probable sites for your story.

Children's Fantasy Part of Day 3

1. ADJECTIVES: Cuddly, warm, fuzzy, lush, rich, inviting, homey, difficult, attainable
2. VERB: Teach
3. NOUN: Challenge

The climatic responses are:
• Green valley
• River
• Smokey Mountains
• Temperate forest

Today I'd just make a few minor changes. I'd emphasize Teach NOT preach. I'd add Anxious (not fear, but trepidation and eagerness to continue in spite of the uneasiness they feel (the listeners/readers). I'd combine Green Valley and Smokey Mountains and change them to Alpine (valleys, balds, lakes, peaks, cottages etc.). I'd add Great Lakes and Aspen Forest.


Children's Fantasy Part of NEW


4. ADJECTIVES: Lush, rich, inviting, homey, difficult, anxious, attainable
5. VERB: Teach (NOT preach)
6. NOUN: Challenge

The climatic responses are:

• Alpine

• Aspen Forest

• River

• Temperate forest

• Great Lakes

For inspiration on this story I'm thinking L. Frank Baum's Oz series crossed with C. S. Lewis' Narnia, Princess Bride, Indiana Jones and the Sound of Music. They'll be no talking animals though.

I want Multi-level appeal = Guy/Girl, Adult/Child. I want the kind of romance that boys like and the kind of adventure that girls like, I want the kind of story that a grandpa could read to a sick grandson, or a father to his daughters at bedtime.

Maybe it will have to have bedtime parts and parts that you shouldn't read at bedtime because they'd be too exciting and keep you up. I do want it to give you exciting dreams though. A warning before each cliffhanging chapter might be cool.

Day 19 - What If?: Character

BTW - Looking at Boris Vallejo's work I posted earlier I realized that his work does NOT actually fit the mood I'm trying to set. His work has mostly naked women like Frazetta or Corben, but it's too bright and overall too smooth (I do like smooth women, but the whole scene is too smooth).

These bullets are from 30 Days of World Building. She had used the name "Joe" but I'll use my wizard, Thahn.

• Describe Thahn's physical appearance, age, educational background, and speech patterns:

o See Spreadsheet

• What would a stranger notice 5 minutes after meeting Thahn?

o He wearing a Black Wizard's hat, but a Green Wizard's vest and carries a wooden staff (really his magical bow) that also shows that he is a qualified Green Wizard. He is under average height and weight, but has a look in his eye like he means business.

• What would a companion notice after 5 days of travelling with, working with, or being around Thahn?

o He's much more lighthearted by nature, but serious because of the situation of the story. He likes to smile and laugh, and will laugh easily, but the situation will cause the laughter and smiling to fade quickly. He takes a great deal of pride in his work, both Black Magklik and Green Magklik.

• Who are Thahn's parents? Are they still alive?

o When he was still a teen the local lord, Count Grogan conquered the land his Father farmed. Because Thahn was taken to become a Wizard his Father was taken into the army as a reward for providing a Wizard. He died in battle. Thahn's mother was made one of the lord's concubines as a reward. She has worked her way up to first concubine. (This is from the story I wrote originally, I'm not sure if it jives with the current marriage rules I laid out above, but I think it would suit the ultra-evil Grogan).

• What if Thahn met his parents? How would he behave?

o He would quietly weep if he ever found his Father's grave. If he ever met his Mother he would be respectful, but would resent her for using her sex to get ahead.

• Where did Thahn grow up? What if Thahn had grown up somewhere else? What if he didn't like his home?

o Thahn grew up on a farm in the forest. When he was a very young teenager he was taken to the Academy to become a Wizard. He hated having to learn to be a Black Wizard and eventually left with his degree but sought other work.

• What if Thahn wasn't born there?

o This question doesn't make sense, it would have to ask what if he had been born in a specific different place.

• Who is Thahn's biggest hero? What if Thahn met his hero?

o Thahn's hero is the Green Wizard Lohm, who died defending his forest from wonton distruction. Thahn would be very surprised and confused to meet the dead wizard.

• What if Thahn met his nemesis in a neutral public place?

o He wouldn't hesitate to try to kill him. He would try to attack the instant he saw him, not in a sneaky way, but also he doesn't care if his enemy knows or not who killed him, just that he die.

• What if Thahn had a family, kids, etc.? What if Thahn's kids were part of Thahn's problem?

o Thahn thinks he wants a nice farm girl for a wife, but he is actually attracted to the ultra sexy Priestesses if they are the village type. He would marry one and try to go off somewhere to be the protectors of whatever village they end up in. He would closely and lovingly rear his children and would be crushed if they were a cause of problems. He would never be able to kill or hurt them even if they were evil, but he might help the officials who were hunting down his child.

• How does Thahn fit into your speculative element? Does he not believe in it? Is he an expert in it? Is he an outsider?

o Thahn holds a degree in Black Magklik and Green Magklik. This is very rare and he is considered a prodigy in magklik.

• What if Thahn encountered something he didn't believe could happen? How would he react? What would that something be?

o He'd be skeptical, but approach it in a scientific way. That something would be a truly good Priestess.

• What secrets does Thahn have? What if his nemesis knew his secret? What if a love interest knew? What will Thahn do to protect his secrets?

o His secret is his involvement in The Movement. He might kill an official who knew if they were a sufficient threat to the Movement. He would suffer torture and death is he could keep the Movement a secret.

• What does Thahn not know about himself? What if Thahn wasn't who he thinks he is? What if he learned about himself? How would he take the information?

o He can and does love a Priestess. If he didn't have the history he thought he did he'd disown it if it didn't match his current moral values.

• What if Thahn left home? What if he returned? What if Thahn became an outsider or outlaw?

o He did. He can't it's destroyed. He is an outlaw, he doesn't mind if since he's in the company of good people.

Mystery Analysis

I know I've been doing thus 30 Day Worldbuilding, and I do intend to continue, but I've been having a hankerin to do mystery shorts. The trouble with that is I can't seem to be able to focus my efforts. I thought it might help me if I analzed what kind of myteries I like to read.


For this I'm going to look at what I like and what I don't like and why. I'll also look at the style, and look at Pros and Cons.  This may take a couple of posts.

Who I like - Doyle's Holmes (of course)
Style - Old Contemprary (historical but it was contemprarary when written)
POV - 1st person Watson

Who I like - Poe's Dupin
Style - Old Contemporary
POV - 1st person "Watson"

Who I like - Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin
Style - Old Contemporary
POV - 1st person Watson/Sleuth

Who I like - Donald Sobol's Encylopedia Brown
Style - Contemporary Cozy/Puzzle
POV - 3rd person

Who I like - Psych / Shaun Spencer
Style - Contemporary
POV - TV

Who I like - Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams' Danny Dunn Sceintific Detective
Style - Contemporary Cozy/Puzzle
POV - 3rd person

Who I like - Lindsey Davis' Falco
Style - Historical
POV - 3rd person

Who I like - Christie's Poirot
Style - Contemporary Cozy
POV - 1st person Watson

Who I like - Max Allen Collins' Nate Heller
Style - Historical
POV - 1st person Sleuth

Who I like - Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko (Gorky Park)
Style - Contemporary
POV - 3rd Person

William G. La Fleur BG (Ret.) 1942 - 2010

My father died last night.  He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2008, and after over a year of chemothearapy he had come home.  He had been being cared for by his family for six weeks before finally succumbing to the desease, surrounded by family and friends.

He had been a US Marine, retired Captain of the Chicago Police, retired Brigadier General in the Illinois Army National Guard, a Silver Beaver awarded Scoutmaster, Rochelle and Flagg Center Firefighter, son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather.

He is greatly missed.

He donated his body to science.

Visitation will be held on Friday April 9th from 3:00 to 6:45 p.m. at Unger-Horner Funeral Home, 400 N. 6th Street Rochelle, IL with a celebration of Life at 7:00 P.M. and Memorial Mass will be held at St Patrick Church on Saturday April 10, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. Memorials may go to donors choice.

Day 18b - Speculation and Society (Addendum)

LAW and LAW ENFORCEMENT
I pulled this out from within the questions from the previous post because I think it'll be a big topic.

MAGKLIK LAWS IN NOKKATLAD AND LADDAN.
Before there were Wizards the Klelryn Web held all power to use magklik and mag. It was unlawful for non-priestesses to collect or use mag, and all Sourcerers were to be turned into the Web. The Nobility backed this, but it was mostly regulated by the Web itself, much like the Church policed teachings in the Middle Ages.

With the advent of Wizards and wizarding use of mag and magklik the laws had to be changed, but since they were more like canon than laws it just meant a widening of the way in which the Klelryn Web controlled magklikal situations. By dogma only the Klelryn Web can make use of Sourcerers and only the Web is allowed to provide mag in its raw form to Wizards for their use.

There is a Klelryn Inquisition that is responsible for ensuring the control of Sourcerers and mag. All Sourcerers are considered property and chattel of the Web.

In terms of the story, smuggling Sourcerers out of the country is against the law and canon. Although pursuit and prosecution by the secular authorities is possible, the real danger is from the Klelryn Web and its Inquisition.

Magklik items (artifacts) are regulated by the Academies more as a quality regulation of the items and how they are provided. This is similar to guilds making sure the goods of their guilds are quality and sold for a fair price.

The Academies make no claim of ownership to any magklik artifacts unless they are actually property of the members of the Academy.

The Wizards police themselves and leave it to the secular authorities to police the rest of the populace. The Academies, unlike guilds, are less interested in making money or controlling production and are more interested in making sure any artifacts or services are of the highest quality and any new processes or methods are investigated and recorded.

For the most part there are no Wizard laws restricting, controlling, limiting or forbidding any use of mag, magklik or magklik artifacts. Of course it is criminal to use a magklik artifact in the commission of a crime and the secular authorities call upon the Wizards to aid them in pursuing, apprehending and prosecution criminals who use magklik.

In story terms, smuggling Sourcerers is of almost no concern to the Academies. The only real concern would be if it caused the Klelryn to restrict the supply of mag to them. By the time of the story this has not occurred, but is a possibility that has begun to occur to a few Chancellors. There has been no decision on which side the Academies will fall in this or if they will impose restrictions because of it.

At present, since no magklik or magklik artifacts are in question, the Academies have no legal stand on the issue. They are not even taking a stand of the conduct of there members. Wizards have been considered technicians and non-decision makers for so long that the Academies are taking the stand that their Wizards are merely technicians who are doing their jobs and not responsible for how their devices, items or services are being used by their customers, even if they are in active maintenance of those devices while they activities are going on.

DATING and MARRIAGE
Again, dating and social relationship building is a very big topic. In fact I think that reproductive relationships are probably the most powerful driving force in all life.

I discussed before that Klelryn Priestesses are encouraged to participate in sexual activities but are forbidden from marriage. Daughters are committed to the Priestesshood very early in life and it is much like sending a daughter off to a convent. Sexual activity and social interaction while in the Abbeys is very much like it would be in a convent, except that there is instruction in how to use sexual favors and acts in magklik.

Among the Golchin the strict social hierarchy controls who is allowed to socially interact with whom. Up and down one level is fine for social interaction, but inter-level marriage is rare and involves many requirements.

It most often occurs while a man is in military service because service includes a natural progression of capable soldiers and the stagnation of incompetent ones. A soldier can go up in status and class by talent, but cannot slide down. Likewise a soldier with potential may marry above his current station, with the expectation of greater things to come and perhaps even better soldier progeny.

While Golchin can get to higher rank by outdoing someone of higher rank (assassination, duel, etc.), they can not by marrying up

Marriages are conducted by the Klelryn Priestesshood, as they are the equivalent of clergy and they can enchant the couple to produce more children of better quality and bind the couple together. Even the lowest level Priestesses are thought to have this power (whether they do or not).

Divorce among the Golchin is relatively unheard of. In the fairly rare cases of infidelity it is more often that a Priestess is called in to enchant the couple once again and re-bind them.

Social interaction and dating is not regulated at all among the Fidchin. Marriage is conducted by the Academies because they maintain all records of everything. Some Fidchin have Klelryn marriages as well, but this is not common.

Divorce is not common, but holds no stigma. Records must be kept and an adjudicator is assigned by the Academy.
Sex is not treated as a taboo subject by either groups and pre-marital sex is very common. Once a couple is married they are expected to remain faithful to ensure that children are well taken care of and it is very clear who the parents are. For the Golchin this is important for social standing, for the Fidchin this is important because they want to know everything about everything.

BTW - that painting is Boris Vallejo, who also does art that matches the mood of my story, but very much of what he does is not safe for work.

Day 18 - Speculation and Society

From 30 Days of Worldbuilding (I've modified it a bit):

1. Revise your cultural write-up from Day 10 to include your speculative element
ANSWER: I originally wrote it with my magic (magklik) in mind. I reviewed it and that is still true.

2. Answer the questions.
--a. How does the addition of magklik, with all of its powers and limitations, affects your culture and society?
ANSWER: This is a VERY open ended question. I think Days 13 and 16 went into this exhaustively and it should be pretty clear by now.

--b. How are people different in your culture, now that you have magklik?
ANSWER: It is a power that they fight over; it is the technology that drives progress and wealth. Imagine how much electricity changed the world, agriculture, automobiles, railroads, telephones, and computers. That's the kind of change it had over people. The GOE has no magic, but they have Romanesque technology. The introduction of magklik to them was like introducing gunpowder or the printing press to the Romans would have been.

--c. With magklik in the world, does that change how people react to unexpected situations?
ANSWER: Magklik is very predictable and permeates society. People today don't think twice about computers, but some still believe in magic and fairies. Within the framework of magklik people aren't surprised, but outside of it they are still just one step into civilization. Magklik didn't change that.

--d. Do people still bother to pray?
ANSWER: This question was in 30 Days specifically for stories that have a mythological bent. Mine doesn't but I wanted to touch on this. Wizard magklik is technology, Klelryn magklik is religion, but it's regular, organized religion like Catholicism. Catholics take for granted that the bread and wine are miraculously transformed into Flesh and Blood. Devotees of the Klelryn, the followers are no more surprised by the priestesses powers than the followers of faith healers, in fact they expect it. Do they pray? If the Priestess tells them to they do.

--e. How do crimes happen, or do they not happen at all?
ANSWER: Precognition is not a power of magklik. Postcognition may be available and enchanting witnesses to discover forgotten memories are available. These are controlled by the Priestesses. Law and law enforcement is a very interesting topic and deserves more time and space than here.

--f. How does a teen go on a date?

--g. How is society the same? What do you think basic, unchanging human behaviors are? What do you think people will continue to do, with or without magklik?

--h. How do "ordinary" people react to those with or without the ability to use magklik?

3. As a bonus, you can get back to your character sketch and figure out where your protagonist and supporting cast fit into your speculative elements and society.
ANSWER: That's exactly what the story is about, so it doesn't really make sense to do that here.

(more to come)

Day 17 – Moody Review

1. Pull out the list of adjectives you wrote down that set the mood for your novel...Read them out loud.

2. Take out your notes on your speculative element. Read your rules out loud.

3. Try describing how your speculative element works in your novel. How do you feel when you describe it?

4. Look at what you decided to name your speculative element. Say the name out loud and decide if you feel the way you want to feel when you read your novel.

5. Rename and rework your speculative elements and their rules if you need to.

I was thinking of recording myself reading these things and posting the audio link, but that would just be silly. You can read them out loud yourself if you want.

1. ADJECTIVES: Sexy, Dangerous, Magical, Larger than life, Erotic, Powerful, Action-packed

2. Rules, they were just back one post.

3. I won't write the description, but when I describe the parts that the Priestesses use, I think they're a bit naughty (which IS what I'm shooting for) and the Wizard stuff is a bit mundane, but it is supposed to be mysterious simply because Wizards love the details so much that no one not a Wizard can penetrate the jargon. The heroic feeling comes from the Paladin's use of magic, just as it's supposed to.

4. Name? Name? I haven't really (cough cough) named magic yet. I guess I'll have to do that now huh? How about the power, the force of magic is called klik and the use of magic is called magklik.

5. NA yet.

Day 16 - More Speculation

"Well, today is another day to nail down the rules for how your magic… work[s] in your story."

I'm conflicted. On the one hand that's what I've been doing right along and it was even the start of the idea for the story in the first place. On the other hand the details have been escaping me and that's why I came to the 30 Days of World Building in the first place, I was looking for a guide for generating a Magic System.

I haven't really gotten any help with creating a Magic System in these exercises. I can regurgitate what I already have for rules, but I still have a lot of questions.

What is magic? What is the power that the Sourcerers produce? How exactly do the Wizards, Priestesses and Paladins use it?

Let me give you the rest of the exercise for today and then I'll compile all the rules I have so far in this post.

I boiled the exercise down to three bulleted question and two bulleted instructions:

1. What are the limits of your speculative element?
2. What is that cost? If there's no cost, then what's the trade-off?
3. What keeps it from being used all the time, for everything, or is it used that much after all?

1. Write down your rules, specifically focusing on what's impossible…
2. Establish the limits and boundaries of your spec element today.

Things we already know about Magic:

From Day 7 – Recent History:

1. The people of the GOE don't have magic at all and think they can sacrifice Sourcerers to get it. It doesn't work that way.

2. Wizards can make magical devices, given magically "charged" raw material to work with.

3. Magic is known/available only to descendants of the aliens, but it was not known to the aliens when they lived in what is now Emptyland. It also didn't appear as soon as the Mega volcano erupted, but thousands of years later.

4. The most powerful source of magic is the Sourcerers of the Golchin, followed by Sourcerers of the Fidchin, the Paladins of Fjordland and least of all by the Sourcerers of the Desert people.

5. Several groups have been formed to control magic. This started with the Old Priesthood of Magic (OPM), then the Klelryn Priestesses and the Wizards. Each had a slightly different way of using magic.

6. Magic can be and has been used to great effect in war, but it is not all powerful.

7. People without magic can be very powerful, but they must acknowledge and respect the power of magic wielding people, even among Golchin and Fidchin.

8. Once you have set your magic system in place it doesn't seem that you can waver from it (e.g. Wizards only work with inanimate objects and are powerless to affect people directly).

9. Sourcerers are really not in control of their own lives or destiny.

10. Magical devices (not just magical items) had to be invented.

11. Magical devices are more effective in war than the way the Klelryn use magic.

12. Wizardry is regulated by a Wizards' Council. Though I hadn't thought of it at that time, this council would be subject and under the control of the Academies.

13. The Klelryn didn't always lock every Sourcerer away. This development somewhat mirrors the development of insane asylums as the industrial revolution grew.

From Day 8 – Economics and Politics

14. Magic seems to be a byproduct of the alien originated races and so it is absent from the people of the GOE. They never really needed it when they didn't regularly encounter magical people. They substituted community.

15. The greatest resource of Goldland [Goldan] is Magic. Only Golden [Golchin] people produce pure Sourcerers. They have fought over this resource among themselves for hundreds of years, but recently it has become a valuable commodity outside of Goldland [Goldan].

16. Sourcerers born to Forestlanders [Fidchin] are usually less autistic and less powerful magically. They are always abducted by the Klelryn.

From Day 11 – Focus In

17. The Klelryn are divided into Village Priestesses, who have no interest in any more power than to be able to aid and nurture their villages; and the Klelryn Web, or the "nobility" of the Klelryn who fight amongst themselves and with and against the nobility.

From Day 12 – Speculative Element

18. Here was where I wrote about many images of things within my magic system.

19. Wizards do not cast spells, they create magical artifacts that can be manipulated and/or triggered.

20. Klelryn Priestesses do cast spells, with words, song, music, dance, gestures and most potently with sex.

21. Fjordlander magic was explained pretty thoroughly.

Then there is Day 13. Day 13 is almost all about the magic, so go there and read it.

Day 14

This was about education and there we found out that Wizard magic can be learned by anyone bright enough and with a flare for it, just like any advanced degree we have in reality. Priestesses learn their craft in seminaries and abbeys. Sourcerers are born, but they can be coaxed and taught to go into deeper, longer trances if they aren't particularly powerful. The most powerful are the most like people with autism; no one can teach them or coach them to be more or less than they are.

Paladins are born with abilities and have to be taught to use them. They must devote their lives, and must be trained as clerics.

So there you are. What is magic? I'm still not really sure. How exactly is it manipulated by Wizards and Priestesses? It is drawn out and stored until it is used, like energy, but there are still details I haven't decided.

Day 15 – Resources

This is a gimme day. The 30 Days of World Building exercise takes this day to tell you to read some world building books. I have read several and I have gone to several of the websites suggested. So I can sit back and relax today (I've been waiting for this day for a long time).

Day 14 - Education

I've been trying to get back here for days, but other things keep coming up.

As I was exploring this idea a very interesting line of thinking occurred to me.

The Fidchin value knowledge and the sharing of knowledge among the highest of virtues. Accordingly, very early on in their history they established Academies for the collecting, archiving and sharing of information. Each clan had it's own academy and they were clan based rather than subject based. In the poorest clans it was something of an invisible college, but in the larger, more powerful clans it could be a building or several.

Whenever a craftsman or scientist reached the skill or knowledge level of master they were automatically invited to be a member of the academy. They would teach and share their knowledge and skill. They could also retire to the academy and become a professor.

This is where it got interesting, because I wondered about the organization of the Fidchin people if instead of being clan based they were academy based. I thought it would be very interesting if, after a few hundred years the academies became the ruling groups themselves and the clans died away. The academies would have to control things like banking and marriage and law, which seem a bit congruent, but that may be okay since the Fidchin don't care that much about all that.

The Fidchin aren't interested in power or in getting credit for knowledge, but in gaining more and sharing it all around, so the academies tend not to fall into the problems of the school systems of our world.

The academies started out a invisible colleges, grew into something like Plato's Academy, then into something like a national institution for controlling teaching and knowledge with actual teaching branches (much like the French system, and the National Academy of Sciences in the US). Eventually the clans became less important and the academies took over all the roles of government.

Then the Golchin influence started. The Golchin established a king among the Fidchin in 2100EG (500 years before the story began). They also forced hierarchical structure to the Fidchin government. The Fidchin don't really pay much attention to that, but there were Universities established under Golchin influence. The Universities are an attempt to stratify the teaching systems within the lands of the Fidchin. Universities were supposed to outrank High Schools which outranked Elementary Schools.

Currently there are three Universities in the land of the Fidchin, but they aren't any more than the highest level of the teaching branches of the academies in those provinces. They are still answerable to the academies.

In the Golchin lands the stratified schooling system is in place and functioning as the Golchin intended. There are three major universities there. They all have Fidchin professors with boards made up primarily of Golchin.

From early times Fidchin children were all expected to learn to read, write and do arithmetic up to multiplication and division. This would take about 2 to 4 years. They would learn through the academies.

After a time the schooling became more structured and a four year elementary education became mandatory for all Fidchin children, culminating in a test and a determination of where the child would best be placed for apprenticeship. A member of the academy who was a master would supervise the child's professional education from there. This included boys and girls and was based entirely on ability.

This still happens for the most part at the time of the story, but the schooling is longer and even more structured.

The Golchin influence on this process was to make appointment to the universities very prestigious and difficult to obtain. Appointments could be bought through money or political pressure. In Fidchin lands that very rarely occurs and it is more often the ability of the student that controls his/her higher education.

In Golchin lands this it is very true that only the highest born and brightest go to university. Think rich ivy-leaguers.

For the Fidchin, your education is your passport to your future. You become what you make of yourself and it is actually rare that a child will follow in the parents' profession.

For the Golchin education is just another mark of status, and/or a way of becoming better than your neighbor so you can overcome him and eventually outrank him. Children are born to their rank and only through overcoming others can they elevate themselves. School can help you learn better business or better military skills.

The Desert people follow a more traditional mediaeval system of apprenticeship. Children follow in their parents' professions. Rarely might a Desert child be adopted into a Fidchin academy (it would be based mainly on the child's abilities) or maybe be sold/bought into a Golchin household because of their ability or their parents' greed. The most common instances of Desert people attending Fidchin schools is when they are ships' officers. About half of the officers aboard Desert ships (air, sand and water ships) are Fidchin trained. All of the Desert officers of Golchin Royal Fleet ships are Fidchin trained, it's a requirement.

Fjordland people too follow the traditional mediaeval system of apprenticeship. They have too little contact with Wispollil to ever have any of their children attend any of the schools there.

I've Signed Up for Another Tour

Of Rugby I mean. I talked to the president of our local Rugby Club (DII Lake County Men's Rugby Club) yesterday and told him that I could go to practices and most likely all the games this season.

The club was on it's last legs (they are down to 19 committed members before I said I'd go) and there was a chance they would disband.

I figure this is the first full year that I have no Guard, family committments or FRG on weekends, so really in the 25 years I've been playing Rugby (Yes, Jac and I started in Feb of 1985) this will be the first year I don't have something that stops me from going.

Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted of how the season goes.