Some really great brainstorming ideas here guys. Love the discussions and submissions on the magic system. Naturally, being generated by members of a sword community, concentrating on metallurgy, steel sources and types (including magical steels and ways to enchant weapons) will be very important. LOVE the idea of the Badlands having the last known deposits of the "Unobtanium" that the Empire uses to forge its magic weapons. The concept of various warlords (not all of them human) vying for control of the resource is an awesome one..
Also really like the ideas being thrown around regarding the Lich King and the Land of the Dead. Undead labor forces building pyramids and leasing undead servants for the well to do really starts to bring the concept to life (and yeah, zombies making sandwiches is nasty! Lol. Skeletons maybe, but zombies are better used for the arenas 1000 zombie challenge).
Undead slaves is indeed a use of technology - imagine also siege towers made entirely of bone or flying dead skeletal crows like 'surveillance drones' and the sky is the limit..
And Wild Manticores hunting Orc bands in the Badlands is a nice touch too..!
While at this stage we are just brainstorming, many of the ideas we have thrown around are starting to solidify - and to this end I have updated the world map again, this time adding in more territories and giving others names from your stories.. Serviclers 'Notorikon' and 'Temple Nimbus' ideas are exceptional and will almost certainly be included in the Canon. And for now, I am happy to adopt the name he came up with for the Empire, which will now have a working name of the 'Aleutian' Empire..
Notes on Version 1.3The Land of the Dead is smaller, to the east is the Rebel Kingdom of Escia, which is the city state resisting the Empire. Pomedica, Tuath De, and the area around Silverleaf (land not yet named) are all vassal states to the Empire. 'Lhasa' (working title) is allied with the Empire but as a mysterious Oriental land, a cross between China and Tibet (with the potential of an island chain similar to the Japans to the East, not shown on the map) and a sleeping ancient Gold Dragon for Emperor is not subordinate to it and has its own agenda..
Escia and Pomedica are at war, mostly naval battles, while the Empire wars on the land against Escia, who hold their ground and are, as one of our story arcs explores, is actually beating them back..
The Empire and the Land of the Dead, while never having gone to war with each other, have far from cordial relations, though trade is well established and thriving between the two civilizations. Relations between the Elves and the Empire are good if not excellent. But they are recently very concerned with the current heir to the Empire (the mad Emperor storyline) who is 16 years old and - in the tradition of Nero - was very ill and his recovery, cost him his sanity..
Relations between Stormwater - which is the land of Giants and Men - and the Empire are neutral, and the Northmen - while contained - are still a source of constant trouble with their coastal raiding parties continually looking for any weak points in their defenses..
NEW AREASTuathe De, which will be culturally similar to Ireland, is a new territory just north of the capital and is perhaps the most reluctant vassal of the Empire and are rarely called upon by the Empire as they are deliberately unreliable. The lonely plains concept was moved as I did not realize was originally positioned in Lhasa, but has been relocated to the North and is protected by proximity to Imperial Patrols traveling the Great Western Road from the Capital to Silverleaf..
North of the Elves in the land of the Abandoned Forest, the snowy northern territory has been further divided - and is home to either one very mean Dragon or a land of Dragons, which range as far Bastrion, the Badlands and even into the lands of the Northmen. Naturally, the Dragon(s) know better than to trouble the Elves to the West, and likely it is only Elven magic that keeps them in check from expanding all over the lands.. (but maybe every now and again, the Dragon(s) find a way)..
Finally, there is a new territory between Sliverleaf and the Land of the Dead that seems fertile but is currently unihabited. Potentially this territory could be a city state, part of the Empire, truly devoid of human activity (and if so, why) a Northern rebel state to the land of the Dead (or a subjugated city state/minor Kingdom).. This area is 'up for grabs' so lets brainstorm what might be there..
COORDINATIONMy good friend Ramses1079 will be helping to coordinate the world development in the next few days so that we don't have too many people working on the same thing at the same time. But right now, as this is a general brainstorming and announcements thread, multiple ideas coming from different angles is a very GOOD thing. :-)
We will also have a brainstorming session for the name of our world/continent - and once determined - I will create a website 'the Swords of [world name]' and those of you who wish to apply can become editors and flesh out their chosen area as they see fit.
Finally, once we have a better game plan, we will create a new sub forum for discussions on specific topics - so there could be a sub forum for the Land of the Dead for example, and a sub forum for each sword design (which I can post actual updates of the swords as WIP)..
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Some questions that have been raised since my previous post:
1) Bestiary: Monsters will primarily be based on classic AD&D, so Orcs, Goblins, Dragons, Manticores, Kobolds, etc as written in D&D are the staple, but can and should have regional differences. Classic Warlike D&D Hobgoblins with their Mongol/Japanese Armor and Kataneqsue blades would be a big faction in the Badlands.
Original monster ideas are VERY welcome, as long as they are either regionally confined or do not completely override the current story arc. Creating unique plants and game animals would be a nice touch - Ice-whales, sentinel trees and snapdragon flowers and substitutions for everyday animals are fine too. Like the idea of floating jellyfish and giant ants in the mines..
But yeah, a world eating demonspawn from the stars, too overbearing on our current story arc.. Likewise, hunting animated flying water filled bottles is not going to work either - but Centipede and Scorpion riders in the Badlands are a given. ;-)
Also, twists on existing species are welcome. While looking online for some suitable artwork for the dedicated pending website, I stumbled upon several images of Centaurs wearing what look like Romanesque helmets and thought 'now THAT is a good idea for the Imperial Cavalry!'
(this artist has a lot of work that is suitable for our project - you can see more of his work from iStock here:
www.istockphoto.com/au/portfolio/vukkostic?excludenudity=true&mediatype=illustration&page=1&sort=best).
With lizard riders, Scorpion riders, Ostrich riding elves and Centaur Cavalry on the cards -
perhaps this world does not have horses?? Or if they do, maybe they are winged - and true cavalry ride Griffons, Wyverns or even Dragons.. (maybe they need to go to the Abandoned Forest to find and tame their Dragon.. Or maybe not)..
2) World Origins: Should be shrouded in mystery - if it is earth, it is earth in another dimension, not the future or the past.. Typical Fantasy Genesis story would be fine - World was created by the Gods, Gods went to war with each other, then the age of Dragons, then the age of the elves and the dwarves and now the age of man.. Something like this would be fine for now and can be given an unexpected twist later..
3) Magic: D&D style spells and magic use are in effect, but fleshing out the new schools of high magic and necromancy is a great idea and everything suggested valid.
COMPETITION UPDATEHere is a hint - if one of the places you created appears on the map, then you have made the initial shortlist and the chances of one of your designs being picked for the first round high, and the chances of making the 2nd or 3rd round. almost guaranteed..
But - here is the news you have been waiting for - if all goes to schedule then we will be announcing the first round of winners
within the next 3 days! Once we have announced the winners, anyone who has some skill with CAD is encouraged to assist with rendering technical drawings of any of the swords that were hand drawn. Questions will be asked to flesh out final stats, materials to be used and to ok any necessary design changes due to production limitations (there are some swords in the competition that would be VERY expensive to make if made exactly as pictured currently. Prices of the swords will be based on the cost of production - so some will likely be at the $300 mark, and others probably closer to $1,000..
WHERE TO FROM HERE?Continue the brainstorming session. Develop ideas for the magic system. Suggest names for the cities and territories that do not currently have a name assigned. Think up new monsters, or new uses for old monsters (i.e. the ant mining operation).
Also, start thinking of names for the world/continent. I came up with a few (Iostrea, Iushia. Ulea, Azuth or Nebul are some I found on
this fantasy name generator).
Finally, here are some potential 'historical' scenes of the world from the iStock Artists I like. If one of these images gets your creative juices flowing or makes you think of an event in the worlds history you would like to develop, please do so..!
Here are the potential 'photos' of important historical events:
PIC ONE: Imperial Soldiers make a terrifying discovery..
PIC TWO: The Abandoned Forest. Looking for a mount? Or slaying the Dragon? Or something else?
PIC THREE: Follow up scene? Is this the first Emperor?
PIC FOUR: The Coronation of the first Emperor? The establishment of the Empire? Or something else? You decide..
PIC FIVE: The final showdown.. Was this the earliest battle of the world? Or is this the story of its end?
PIC SIX: Is this why the Empire needed magical swords?
PIC SEVEN: One of the deities? The ascension of the first Emperor to Demi-godhood? Or something else?
PIC EIGHT: Where in the world would this place be?
PIC NINE: Was this an old city state before the Empire defeated it? Is it Escia? Or somewhere else?
So that's it from me for the present. Let's keep the momentum going, continue to flesh out the world - and find out which designs are going to be made FIRST.
Exciting stuff..!