Messages

1

Rumours / Re: WHF 9th edition

« on: June 26, 2015, 08:02:12 AM »

Sad, sad news. 

Why sad? Sounds pretty interesting to me - although I can see how it might not be if you have a large legacy collection of minis...

2

Writing, Poems, AARs, and Stories - The Storyteller's Hall / Re: Feedback/criticism/brainstorming help wanted on story element concept

« on: June 10, 2015, 06:41:12 AM »

You wrote a knee height barrel is enough for a tent however it also probably qualifies as a small barrel which you stated is enough for a hamlet.

In my mind a small barrel is waist-height (or dwarf/hobbit size, if you prefer). Smaller ones around a foot in height are enough for a tent or cottage; fist-sized ones will heat a carriage.

3

Writing, Poems, AARs, and Stories - The Storyteller's Hall / Re: Feedback/criticism/brainstorming help wanted on story element concept

« on: June 10, 2015, 06:38:19 AM »

In the winter, on the other hand, the weather could get an awful lot more extreme. The fire becomes then a necessary protection for any sizeable settlement to stop raging blizzards; smaller settlements without the fire retreat into igloo-like burrows or caves with heaps of supplies for the worst 2-3 months, existing only extremely precariously, whereas larger settlements with the fire are able to carry on functioning as normal. This is crucial for their more developed economies, especially in tanning and metalwork, which can then carry on rather than halting entirely in the winter months.

And have people ominously muttering about how "Winter is coming", you mean? 


I like the idea of a summer, albeit a brief one when the trade routes open (although I plan to still have traders operating in the colder months too). Perhaps I need to scale down the maximum size of settlements to a handful of large towns - the geography of the area has a large port in the north which is the only route for many imports intended for lands to the south.

4

Writing, Poems, AARs, and Stories - The Storyteller's Hall / Re: Feedback/criticism/brainstorming help wanted on story element concept

« on: June 09, 2015, 10:05:17 PM »

Thanks, all good points. (I'm reconsidering the name now; it had been nagging at me so I checked, and Gamling is the dude from LotR who comes across Aragorn et al in Rohan.)


Perhaps I should tone down the arctic overtones of the non-Fire protected parts a little, so that survival isn't such a challenge outside of those areas that have it. I had always intended that there would be communities existing normally without the benefit of the Fire, surviving by hunting and fishing, since there would need to be a steady trade in furs for anyone travelling in the region. Maybe if those communities are simply bloody cold rather than Everest-like in their inhospitability, the Fire would not be such an essential factor in survival?


The point about raising crops/animals for food is good too - although there must be parallels in our world, like the Eskimos or Northern Europeans. What do they grow in Siberia, or northern Norway/Finland? I guess basing it all on imports is impractical...

5

Writing, Poems, AARs, and Stories - The Storyteller's Hall / Feedback/criticism/brainstorming help wanted on story element concept

« on: June 09, 2015, 01:29:08 PM »

I'm currently in the planning/worldbuilding stages of a novel that I want to get started on this summer. This is a description of an element in the setting - not a central one, but just part of what makes up the world the characters live in. I want to get some feedback on the concept, whether it is original, and any important factors I might be missing or haven't thought about.

Pelund is a harsh, unforgiving environment blanketed by snow and ice. Snowstorms are frequent, and even when the weather is fine it is still a challenge to survive - you need to keep moving, if you don't want to freeze to death. Hunting is possible, as there are animals that have adapted to the cold, but they generally provide lean pickings to the people who live in this bleak country.

And yet, there are villages, towns, even cities in Pelund, where the inhabitants live and work, experiencing no discomfort or hardship. Gamling's Fire protects them.

A small barrel (embossed with an ornate letter G) is enough for the average hamlet. It is placed in the centre of the community, and the handle on the top of the barrel is turned, pushed in a little, then removed to release the Fire. It spurts upward like a fountain, a hundred feet into the air, before it starts to spread outwards and slowly descend towards the ground. After only a few minutes, a perfect dome has formed above the village, centered on the Gamling barrel, which continues to pump out its orange glow into the sky. Inside the dome, the air is warm and fragrant, the temperature pleasant; a warm summer's day in the middle of a raging snowstorm.

In larger populated areas, several barrels may be used, placed at strategic distances from each other, creating a network of bubbles below which the residents can live. Larger towns or cities use larger barrels, double the height of a man, mounted atop great stone plinths and protected by the city guard.

There are also much smaller versions of the Fire: knee-high barrels just large enough to shelter a camp for a night, and others that are small enough to hold in your hand and can be used to warm the inside of a cottage, or placed inside a wagon used to transport flowers or other goods that would perish on the sub-zero journey north.

My main concern is in either overplaying or underplaying the importance of the continued supply of this material to the country. Obviously controlling the supply is a powerful political tool, and the threat of being "cut off" would be significant, but I'm not sure how to engineer that it not be the most important factor in society...

6

The Welcome Hall - Start Here! / Hi, I'm new...

« on: May 27, 2015, 04:10:06 PM »

Hello, Exilian.    I signed up a few weeks ago after picking up a flyer for Exilicon at Forbidden Planet, but haven't found the time to actually look around the site until now.


I'm a professional UX designer, amateur writer (finished a novel last year, starting a new one this summer), wannabe game designer (board- and iOS) and general all-round stereotypical SFF nerd. Currently playing EVE Online; currently reading China Miéville.