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Cimmerian Timeline Part 43

Mister Ed Classics, Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: Cimmerian Timeline Part 42

Mars’ Oasis has a very brief history within my campaign. It is a monarchy founded by Romans who traveled around the dark side of the flat world. After the city’s founding the people of Mars’ Oasis fought the other desert inhabitants for space, notably the blue dragons, the undead of the Lich Shade, and formian ant people. This section covers the founding of the city. I drew on the already existing myths surrounding Romulus.

716BCE: A whirlwind absorbed Romulus, taking him to Olympus by the side of his father, Mars. The Roman Senate ruled in Romulus’s place until a successor was chosen.

715BCE: The Roman Senate selected Numa Pompilius as Romulus’s successor. Numa enacted a series of reforms to make Rome a more pious and peaceful city. His first act was to discharge the 300 Celeres cavalry that served under war-loving Romulus. The Celeres left Rome in anger, heading northward out of Italy.

714BCE: Proculus Julius, the tribunus celerum and leader of the Celeres, took the cavalry group over the Alps and westward through Gaul. As they traveled they raided settlements for supplies.

713BCE: The Celeres arrived in Erytheria. Proculus Julius sought advice from the Hesperides on what their company should do next. The nymphs prophesied that the Roman cavalry should continue heading west to gain glory.

712BCE: Proculus Julius led the Celeres aboard six ships and sailed into the Atlantic. A ship was lost in the ocean storms before the group reached Atlantis. The Celeres dined with Oceanus and Tethys. Unfortunately the Titan couple’s hospitality was violated when the Celeres slept with the Oceanid daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. The Romans fled to their ships with their Oceanid lovers. The men and nymphs sailed westward towards the edge of the world.

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Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 23

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 22

Most surprising part of this update is that I didn’t need to edit it much! The focus of this update is how people begin to try to circumvent the Great Blockade. Engrenildo goes east. The Profiteers build a new port that bypasses the mouth of the Maw. The Hykmans do the same thing in the Lower Maw. And a little bit of politicking in the Upper Maw signals the return of the Black Prince!

712 NA: The Maw was shocked by the new tariff imposed by the merfolk. Reasonable as the tax was, people will always balk at a tax that was never present before. Many merchants accepted the tax and continued to trade with the dwarves. A few others, with help from private investors or governments, refused. Plans were enacted to bypass the blockade. One particular man named Engrenildo had crazy dreams filling his head of the world being round. Few believed his ridiculous story, but enough did that he outfitted a small flotilla of ships.

The Metal Dwarves accepted the blockade. They would survive with the reduced amount of trade. However, they could not accept taxes on supplies and passengers sent to Proaxium. A dwarven transport ship filled with supplies, books, and scholars for Proaxium, met with a Mersian captain at the blockade and explained the dwarven situation. If taxes were lifted solely on ships traveling to Proaxium with supplies for the island, then all is well and good. If they were not, then the dwarves would appeal to the human cities for help, the cities which were already pissed off about the blockade and just needed an excuse to end it.

713 NA: The merfolk refused the Metal Dwarf delegation. The blockade would only be lifted if Proaxium was given over to the merfolk people. The Metal Dwarves paid the tariff and passed into the Maw. The dwarves sent boats out to the Sisters, Balkus, and the Hykman League asking for assistance in breaking the blockade. The pleas for assistance were denied. No human city was foolish enough to risk naval war with the merfolk.

Engrenildo secured funding for his expedition. He left in the middle of summer.

The Frugal Profiteers attempted to circumvent the blockade by organizing the humans to the west of the Red Peaks. A new port city was built on the western coast, Tylaniria. Fearing a grez attack, the Profiteers enticed many different clerics to set up temples in the city. An army of priests was formed should the grez move against the city. The Profiteers planned to build a road across the Red Peaks, but the warfare between Syluk and Cynelle prevented construction.

The Hykman League decided to circumvent the blockade by utilizing the already existing Freedom Road. With human funding, the elves began construction on a Western Freedom Road.

714 NA: King Hrotomak of the Syluki Dwarves finally marshaled enough strength to siege Cynelle. He marched on the city with his forces, but received an unexpected welcome. We have enough, and more!” the Princes of Cynelle told the conquerors and showed them the splendors of the world. Surprised, but pleased, King Hrotomak accepted the surrender. None knew why Cynelle gave up so easily save for members of the Brotherhood of the Living Immolation.

715 NA: King Hrotomak forced Tylaniria to swear fealty to Syluk as well. He declared himself King of the Western Red Peaks. The Princes of Cynelle raised Syluki captains up into magnificent wealth and they showered King Hrotomak with resplendent gifts. Notable amongst these was the gift of Hrah-Sulesh, whose blood was that of the Holy City of Najar, who gave to King Hrotomak a suit of dark adamantine plate inlaid with glistening rubies that shown like a thousand, fiery eyes – terrifying, radiant, and volcanic…

716 NA: The elves completed the Western Freedom Road in record time with human funds and architectural ingenuity. Magical traps were placed upon it to keep the hobgoblins out just as on the Eastern Freedom Road.

717 NA: The elves cleared a site for the new League city on the edge of the Lower Maw. The elves named the city Prestounasi and the Hykmans assisted with its construction. The Hykmans began construction on a new city at the eastern edge of the Homestone Bridge as well.

718 NA: The hobgoblins were infuriated that their precious woods were cut in half. The Southern Hobgoblins could not reach their brethren in the mountains, the Northern Hobgoblins. They attempted to breach both Freedom Roads and Crodolan, but the magical traps turned them back. The hobgoblin shamans sat and thought. An answer would come in time.

-GoCorral

Next: Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 24

Cecilia

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cecilia

Cecilia is a fishing town and is the home to over 40,000 residents. Cecilia acts as Xoria’s main trading port with Persia and the other cities of the Magical Lands. It is the most diverse place in all of the Magical Lands due to the many different cultures that come to Cecilia to trade, but also due to the strong tourist attraction due to the city’s seaside nature.

Cecilia is named after the daughter of Zeus and one of his mortal liaisons, Hymniara. The original Cecilia followed both Artemis and Zeus as her patron gods and became a heroine to rival Theseus in her accomplishments. She rid the Caspian Sea of the gigantic monsters that made it impossible to fish or row a boat across it. She founded the first fishing town of the Caspian Sea and named the village after herself. Cecilia led the village and protected it from the smaller sea monsters which emerged from the depths until she died.

Merfolk, sahuagin, and other humanoid races of the water honor Cecilia because she killed the great sea serpents that kept the aquatic races’ populations small. The town of Cecilia has become a sacred place for the underwater races and because the town is considered hallowed ground it has become the official place to conduct peace talks between the different races of the Caspian Sea when such things are necessary. Almost all the religious rites of the aquatic people are performed on or near the beach of Cecilia. The races of the water allow landwalkers to view their ceremonies, but have imposed the rule that all tourists respect them and follow proper rules of etiquette to watch the rituals without repercussions. A small pamphlet that details such rules is sold by the city to those who wish to view the elaborate water rituals.

As one might guess from Cecilia’s waterside location the main businesses of the town are fishing and trading. The town has the largest civilian fleet on the Caspian Sea and it needs protection both from the weather and from the beasts that live in the ocean. Spellcasters capable of weather control are in high demand in Cecilia. The demand is so great that the clergy of Aeolus set up their main temple there. To deal with the underwater threats such as sahauguin, nagas, dragon turtles, merrow, and other beasts of the sea a chapter of the Mercenary’s Guild from Phoenix opened in Cecilia. At the start of the Second Alliance War the Xorian government took control of the guild and conscripted or enslaved all of its members.

The diet of the townspeople consists mostly of fish, sea urchins, and seaweed, but also includes staple crops and fruits grown inland to the west by independent farmers. Persian spices and other delicacies are served daily on the tables of the rich and served more often than one would expect on those of the common folk. The classic dish of Cecilia that every visitor tries is the meat of a plesiosaur served with cayenne pepper from Persia. The interesting combination is something the locals have grown fond of and tourists are wary to eat twice.

The government of Cecilia is headed by Commodore Taydasa. Taydasa is the son of the previous lady in charge of Cecilia, Shinagana. Taydasa replaced his mother when Jevaninada II’s reign began. He is in control of the city’s docks, administration, and the navy, but Taydasa prefers his administrative duites over his naval ones. He will have his subordinates compensate for any duties he cannot perform while distracted by his other jobs.

-GoCorral

Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 2

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 1

I realized I didn’t like what I’d done in Part 1 much.

One of my goals with the revision was to give the timeline a consistent voice and right now the voice changes too much.

Sometimes there’s flowery prose and other times there’s informational text. Sometimes there’s even dialogue!

I’ve decided to edit it down to just informational text. That way it’ll be easier to find and recognize what we want to know later on when we use the new timeline as an information source.

So here’s the redo of the first section of the Timeline.

4121 BE: The merfolk came into existence with Drolfo Sitnalta, god of the sea, as their patron deity.

4037 BE: Drolfo told his followers to build a city between the islands of the Maw. The merfolk named the city Drolfo’s Cove in honor of their god.

3983 BE: On the island, Rontu-Aru, the great Egg Mother, Izquitl, created Cui-Xoloc, the tallest mountain in the world, to rest upon. The sheer faced mountain rose miles high, dividing the southern island-continent in two. An enormous waterfall sprung off the north side of the mountain, joining the river leading to the ocean.

3837 BE: Izquitl called up Hrududu, a vast rainforest covering the eastern half of Rontu-Aru. The Egg Mother started singing the first song of the world. The many birds of Hrududu listened and when she stopped her song the birds had taken on tall forms and gained intelligence not present in their lesser cousins. The avians took flight.

3734 BE: Into the world came humankind, timid and savage, knowing not from whence they came but living ever in decadent fear of the great fiery abyssal Najar Volcano, their own window into the beating heart of the world. The only thing greater than the humans fear of the Volcano was their fear of the outside world. Their fear manipulated the physical world and protecting mountains grew up around the Humans.

3654 BE: After the last cycle of the world ended the dwarves had buried themselves deep within the earth. Now they crawled up out of the dirt and rocks in the mountains in the west. The dwarves got out their picks and shovels to create a new home in the new world. They would venture out of the mountains once the world “ripened.” The writing in their Holy Books  preserved between each generation would tell the dwarves when the world ripened.

-Mister Ed

Next: Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 3

Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 1

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of the problems that comes up in D&D is whether races are capitalized.

English is clear on that topic. African is capitalized because its a continental descriptor, but black is not because physical descriptors are less important.

Hobgoblin is a race in D&D, but is it a “nationality” or a physical descriptor?

The issue becomes more confused when languages are considered.

In D&D a race’s native language is often just referred to by that race’s name. Elves speak Elven. Hobgoblins speak Goblin.

The simplest way out for me was to just capitalize all races all the time, so I will be attempting to do that as I go forward with the work on Gurutama. This includes Human, Dwarf, Elf, and anything else that would not normally be capitalized in English.

EDIT: I’ve since revised the style choices described above. Please refer to my new post: Style Change

4121 BE: The merfolk came into existence and their god was Drolfo Sitnalta, god of the sea.

4037 BE: Drolfo told his followers to build a city between the islands of the Maw. The merfolk named the city Drolfo’s Cove in honor of their god.

3983 BE: On the island, Rontu-Aru, the great egg mother, Izquitl, needed a perch, so she created Cui-Xoloc, the tallest mountain in the world, to rest upon. Cui-Xoloc rose sheer faced, miles into the sky, dividing the southern island-continent in two. An enormous waterfall sprung off the north side of the mountain, joining the river leading to the ocean.

3837 BE: Izquitl needed beauty and love and blood, so she called up Hrududu, a vast rainforest covering the eastern half of Rontu-Aru. Izquitl needed more, so she started to sing the first song of the world. The many birds of Hrududu listened and when she stopped her song the birds had taken on tall forms and gained intelligence not present in their lesser cousins. The avians took flight.

3734 BE: Into the world came humankind, timid and savage, knowing not from whence they came but living ever in decadent fear of the great fiery abyssal volcano, their own window into the beating heart of the world. The mountains grew up around the humans for their fear of the outside world was even greater than the terror within the inferno.

3654 BE: The dwarves knew that the world came and went in cycles just like the seasons. They knew how to survive the cataclysms and be reborn afterwards. They had buried themselves deep, deep within the earth. The dwarves crawled up out of the dirt and rocks in the mountains in the west. They looked at the new world around them and said, “Oi! Whot’s all this then? The old one was better!”

The dwarven chieftain calmed his people, “Calm thyselves! Have we not read that it takes time for a new world to ripen? We shalt go back into the ground until this Earth is ready for our holy presence.”

“Aye! The chieftain is wise! Into the ground again!”

The dwarves got out their picks and shovels to create a new home in the new world. They would venture out of the mountains once the world “ripened.” For what purpose would they venture out? Only the writing in the Books they preserved between each generation could tell.

A few minor edits, but not much to do for this first part. I’ve considered taking out the parts about physical features of the world, but there’s nothing major here. Besides, what’s the difference between myth and legend for history this old?

-Mister Ed

Next: Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 2

Hornblower

Mister Ed Social Stuff, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I was a kid my dad and I traveled around in the car together a lot. We’d go to soccer practice or he’d drop me off at a friend’s house.

My family was lucky enough to own a second house about two hours away from our first home. My dad and I would go to the second home on weekends with our dogs and hang out.

On the drive to the second home we’d listen to books on tape in the car. The topics varied a bit. We’d listen to recordings of live storytellers, Greek classical history, mystery novels and a few other things. Our favorite thing to listen to was the Hornblower series by CS Forester.

The Hornblower series is set of adventure novels about a British naval officer named Hornblower who served during the Napoleonic wars. Hornblower’s fictional life is loosely based off of Lord Trafalgar, an English naval hero of the Napoleonic wars.

Hornblower starts off as only a midshipman, but by the end of the series he is a Lord with title and governance over a variety of places.

The Hornblower books are told from a limited third person point of view. The focal character is often not Hornblower, but Lieutenant Bush. Bush is initially Hornblower’s superior officer, but as Hornblower progresses through the ranks he eventually surpasses Bush. Hornblower and Bush become best friends during the series and chance places them together or they always request joint assignments.

In one of the latter Hornblower books, Bush goes off an a separate mission and supposedly dies. My dad and I thought for sure he was only thought to be dead, but as the book progressed it became clear that Bush was gone for good. He never reappeared in the subsequent books either.

As a present for my dad I’ve started writing a few Hornblower chapters for my own book. In my book, Bush survives the explosion that killed him, but went into hiding. He comes out of hiding for Hornblower’s help in a new endeavour.  Since it’s in vogue right now, I decided the new endeavour would be that Napoleon has risen from the dead as a vampire. Bush and Hornblower will team up to take him down!

I’ll most likely be posting a few of the chapters here as they are finished.

-Mister Ed