Wanted: Topics for September
Added 2020-08-08 17:01:01 +0000 UTCThis is the voting post for September's articles.
Select one topic from each of the two lists below, and reply with the respective letter and number of your three chosen topics in the comments below. Voting ends on 11:59 PM PST on August 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 October.
I've added another option to The Creator's Guide to Writing and Worldbuilding as well, to give you more than one option for voting.
Give me 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) A Selection of the Unified Kingdom's Noble Houses: Consisting of entries from Fernandescourt's Great Armourial, this article would offer short histories and profiles of relatively minor baronial houses, much like that of the player character of the Dragoon Saga.
K) 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.
L) Intelligence Assessment - the 4th Duke of Cunaris: An Imperial Intelligence dossier collating basic information about Sir Johannes d'al Findlay, 4th Duke of Cunaris.
M) 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.
N) 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.
P) 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.
Q) The Compleat Knight: A somewhat tongue-in-cheek guide to the behaviours expected of a Knight of the Red.
R) 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.
*S) Ministry of Planning Primer - The Unified Kingdom Pt 4: The final part of the Count of Leannejouwe's description of Tierra and Kian intentions towards it.
*T) Confidential Report - The New Army: An RTI assessment of Prince Khorobirit's "New Army", which first made its appearance in the Campaign of 610.
*U) Grenadier Square Memorandae, Winter, 603: A series of internal communications within Grenadier Square regarding the particularly thorny administrative problem of awarding a certain Dragoon officer the Gryphon of Rendower.
*V) Marching Songs of the King's Army: Lyrics to some of the Tierran Army's favoured marching songs, including The March of the King's Chosen, The Bloody Straight Silver; and Brandy, Whisky, and Wine.
*W) Imperial Intelligence Recruitment Pamphlet: Handed out to selected Takaran students finishing their thirtieth (and final) year of compulsory education, leaflets like these are intended to help convince young Takarans to pursue a life in Imperial Intelligence by outlining potential career paths.
*X) Confidential Report - Third Office: A secret Imperial Intelligence report regarding ongoing clandestine operations in the Unified Kingdom.
An Adventurer's Guide to the Fledgling Realms
1) Devices of Power: A brief primer on the nature of magical weaponry and artifacts in the Fledgling Realms, their origins, and their uses.
*2) The House of Kendrick Giant-Slayer: A breakdown of the ducal house of Kendrickstone, from the Giant-Slayer himself to the current duke.
A Creator's Guide to Writing and Worldbuilding
A1) History in Fiction: History can be a useful source of inspiration when writing fiction, however, like any other kind of source, there are right ways and wrong ways to study, and use historical sources.
*A2) 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?
Comments
So, the last part of the Ministry of Planning Memorandum, Enchanted Items, and using history as a source.
Paul Wang
2020-08-26 11:17:50 +0000 UTC