Praise for the work of author Richard C. White

“A very good spin on the tried and true ‘good-guys-for-hire’ formula. All in all, an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone.”

—Word of the Nerd, on Troubleshooters, Incorporated:
Night Stalkings

“An accurately dialogued epic set in a place and time of fantasy. If you like pirates or elves or fantasy adventure or pure swashbuckling, then pick it up.”

—Comic Genesis, on The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special

“Richard C. White certainly knows his subject, having spent fifteen years in military intelligence as a cryptanalyst and linguist, and with Echoes of Coventry—his first foray into the Starfleet Corps of Engineers—he establishes that he knows how to write as well.”

—Trek Today, on Star Trek: SCE: Echoes of Coventry

“Richard C. White knows how to write a story! Well paced and flowing nicely…this is a sign of an awesome writer.”

—Goodreads, on The Demon’s Head:
For a Few Gold Pieces More, Book 1

“The perfect choice for anyone who loves surprises…. I finished it hoping that Mr. White gives readers another opportunity to get to know these characters better in the future.”

—Long and Short Reviews, on Shades of Blue:
For a Few Gold Pieces More, Book 3

StarWarp Concepts titles by Richard C. White

The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special

Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building

the Worlds of Your Imagination

Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings

Also by Richard C. White

Novels and Novellas

Charles Boeckman Presents Johnny Nickle

The Full Moon Affair

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil

Star Trek: S.C.E.: Echoes of Coventry

Strikeforce Falcon, Book 1: Flashpoint

Fantasy Adventure Series

For a Few Gold Pieces More

Anthology Contributions

Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership

Monsters!

Space

Spellbound

Star Trek: Corps of Engineers: What’s Past

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Sky’s the Limit

The Ultimate Hulk

TERRA

INCOGNITO

A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination

Richard C. White

www.starwarpconcepts.com

New York, NY

Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination

copyright © 2015 Richard C. White

“Terra Incognito” articles © 2012 Richard C. White; first published in Penumbra magazine

A Nightwolf Graphics Production

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, by recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system—except for review purposes—without the express written permission of the publisher.

StarWarp Concepts

P.O. Box 4667

Sunnyside, NY 11104

Visit our website: www.starwarpconcepts.com

Visit Richard C. White on the Web at:

www.richardcwhite.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015950246

ISBN: 978-0-9884429-7-9 (trade paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-9884429-8-6 (e-book)

First Print Edition: October 2015

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover painting by Shane Braithwaite

http://sbraithwaite.deviantart.com

Edited by Steven Roman

Designed by Aaron Rosenberg

Printed in the USA

To Leslie Anders, PhD and Peter Viscusi, PhD

I think the greatest lesson I learned in college came from my favorite two professors in the Central Missouri History department. Along with putting up with me for multiple classes, they taught me the central tenet about history through their philosophy about tests: Dates, places, and names aren’t important—anyone can look those up in an encyclopedia. Tell me why I should care. What makes this event or this person special? Show me you understand history.

That advice applies to a whole lot of stuff, if you think about it.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Celina Summers who gave me the opportunity to write the original “Terra Incognito” column for Penumbra Magazine.

Thanks to Lori Basiewicz, my fellow columnist in Penumbra, who celebrated the joy of completing another column and the felt the pain of “what the heck do I write about this month?” with me.

Thanks to Tracy Hickman for graciously granting me the interview that appears in this book. You were more than generous with your time and it’s been a pleasure visiting with you both on Skype and at conventions over the years.

Thanks to Steve Roman, who helped me edit these columns into the book you’re now holding.

Thanks to Shane Braithwaite for the fantastic cover.

And finally, thanks to my wife, Joni, and my daughter, Katie, for putting up with me disappearing into my writing cave all these years. You guys are the best and I love you lots.

Contents

Introduction

1. The Land

2. Names, Part One

3. Names, Part Two

4. Governments

5. Resources

6. People

7. Religion

8. Cosmology

9. Regni

10. Economy

11. Military, Part One

12. Military, Part Two

13. Pirates

14. Journey’s End

Interview with Tracy Hickman

About the Author

Notes

Bibliography

Introduction

THE YOUNG MAN WANDERED THROUGH THE city, waiting to meet his contact. He walked down the dark alley until he reached the third door and knocked. A shadowy form opened the door and motioned for him to come inside. He found a chair near the table and sat down. A few minutes later, his contact entered and sat down across from him.

“You’ll need to take this package to Anytown. Once you’re there, our people will contact you. You’ll have to avoid the king’s guards. They’ll be posted at every entrance to the town. How you get into town is up to you. I really don’t care how you do it as long as this package gets delivered.”

“I take it this package is important.”

“Let’s just say, it’s safer for you not to know. Just make the delivery. Pete tells me you’re the best scout in his old unit. I’m hoping he wasn’t exaggerating.”

I hope you were as bored reading that as I was writing it. It’s not a bad setup for a story, but it lacks the kind of details that can move a story from good enough to great. So where do the details come from?

This book is going to delve into the skill of world building, specifically creating settings for speculative fiction, no matter what subgenre you enjoy writing. However, some of the research tips we go into will also be applicable if you’re doing historical fiction or even modern fiction.

I will be referencing different works from authors or websites I have come to rely on for reference material, and will add a list of suggested readings as we go along to build your own world-building library.

If you type “world building” into a search engine, you’re going to get hundreds of entries, plus dozens of related searches. Breaking the idea down into its simplest terms, world building is creating a realistic world for your characters to live in and interact with. As the creator, you will establish the people they meet, and both the natural and—in the case of fantasy—the unnatural laws that shape their lives. Is it a world of powerful magicks, where wizards and witches dominate those without a magic spark? Is it a world of low tech, possibly a postapocalyptic scenario where people are trying to put a semblance of their former lives together? Is it a space opera, where the hero flits from planet to planet in his star fighter? All of these scenarios and more are possible, but it’s up to the author to design something your readers can relate to, no matter how strange and unique the world is.

Whether your world is an ultra-futuristic society on a planet many light-years from Earth, a retelling of the Arthurian legend, or an alternate current-day New York City, the reader needs to be able to believe that the world you are creating could exist. The average reader is willing to suspend their belief in reality as long as your world is consistent. However, once the writer does something to make the reader go, “That’s not right . . . ,” you’ve lost them for the rest of the book.

The best way to avoid inconsistency is to think about your world before you start writing your book.

My preferred technique for building worlds is to start from the macro and work toward the micro, and throughout this book I will be showing examples of this technique. The goal of this book is not only to help writers focus on creating interesting worlds or perhaps taking their current worlds and adding some spice they might not have considered, but also to lift a bit of the veil for the readers. Think of this book as the equivalent of bonus DVD featurettes, showing how those cool special effects were created, or maybe viewing the storyboards for a movie and comparing the originals against the edited version.

Do not panic over the amount of detail I may go into. I do not expect or recommend that you include everything we develop while designing this new world. In fact, I would caution against spending so much time developing your world that you forget to write the book, which is an occupational hazard. Details are like fine spices—use what you need when you need them. World building ensures the spice rack is full instead of having to drop everything and “rush to the store” to get something and lose the momentum of your writing.

Chapter 1 will be dedicated to designing the lands where the continuing adventures of our young hero in the introductory sample will take place. Once we have the lands mapped out, you’ll see where natural resources could be located, which will lead to where the countries would naturally develop. Once we have some boundaries, we can determine what kinds of trade might occur between these countries, what kinds of governments would best fit the story we’re working on, and what kinds of jobs might be available for the people your characters will interact with. Additionally, we can develop a theology (if you choose to use such), the calendar (which will obviously be influenced by your cosmology choices), and other nuances to make this land believable, no matter how fantastic your setting is. Because it’s always better to show instead of tell, we’re going to establish the parameters for a new world and create it here in this book.

We’ll use the scene at the beginning of this introduction and flesh it out using the world-building techniques introduced in each chapter. The ultimate goal is for any writer to be able to take these techniques and turn the generic into the unique.

There is a huge debate among writing groups on the best method for creating a story. Some prefer to work everything out ahead of time (plotters), while others prefer to just let the story flow where it will and find plotting inhibits their writing (pantsers—as in, flying by the seat of their pants). Personally, I’ve written stories with both methods, and I understand why pantsers might feel this doesn’t fit into their writing style. The majority of my published writing was done on licensed products, so everything had to be approved at each step of the process. Based on my experience, I tend to fall into the “plotter” category. Still even with licensed products, I had to add details about characters and places that the source material did not delve into. The earlier in the process I fleshed out the world, the easier it was to get the licensing personnel to agree to my suggestions.

I have found the more I know about the world I’m working in, the easier it is to add small details to spice up a story and make it more real to my readers. In order to make my worlds believable, I draw on a great number of different subjects: history, geography, geology, folklore, sociology, genealogy, political science, and finance. I don’t claim to be an expert in any of these fields, but any author should be well read and know how to research. By well read, I mean an author should be familiar with more than the genre they intend to write in, whether that’s science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, or whatever your favorite is. An author’s library should contain plenty of nonfiction books, too.

For example, I have an interest in pirate stories. My personal library has over twenty books alone on the age of piracy in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. I’ve also read several books about the spice trade in the East Indies to understand how natural resources and trade created and destroyed empires. I intend to add books about the California and Klondike gold rushes to my to-be-read pile in the near future.

Reference books are helpful, but I also recommend reading some of the classics. In The Prisoner of Zenda, for example, Anthony Hope created the country of Ruritania out of whole cloth. Even though Ruritania never actually existed, if you’ve ever read the book—and if you haven’t, that’s something you should rectify as soon as possible—you know that Hope created a perfectly believable description of a small country or principality in Europe at the time, as well as the government and the various factions within it. We know what Ruritania’s main export is, we know there are multiple palaces and hunting lodges owned by the ruling family, and we’re introduced to the dashing, yet villainous Count Rupert of Hentzau—a country that could easily have been one of the hundreds of small German states that were remnants of the Holy Roman Empire. This is an outstanding example of world building. A writer could easily base a fantasy in the same lands of Ruritania with a few minor changes, because Hope’s world is that vivid.

Why am I emphasizing research like this? Because if I want to draw a map about my world, I need to understand the whys associated with it. Boundaries of kingdoms are established for a reason, whether it’s a river, a mountain range, or the edge of a desert. Unlike some of the Great Plains states and part of the U.S./Canada border, most political entities do not have straight lines for borders. Cities don’t appear out of nowhere. There was a reason why it was established where it was and why it survived or turned into a ghost town. People also don’t interact randomly with others. They tend to live in certain areas in a city or a country based on a number of factors.

For a real-life example, let’s examine the life and death of two typical Midwest American towns: Hallsville and Stephens. If you look at the map of Missouri, only Hallsville can be found today, but at the turn of the twentieth century, both Hallsville and Stephens were vying to be the main town in northern Boone County. Why did one survive while the other was turned into soybean fields behind my childhood home? In 1903, the Wabash Railroad decided to place the railroad station in Hallsville instead of Stephens. Within four years, all the businesses in Stephens had moved into Hallsville, and then the residents eventually followed. So one business decision—where to place a train station—meant one town survived and the other folded after being in existence for nearly forty years.

If the author understands what makes their world tick before they start writing, I think it not only develops the story, but it shapes their characters’ attitudes and their beliefs. It’s easier to build the character’s backstory if you have some basic understanding of the world. It’s also a matter of practicality. The writer who knows their characters and knows the world they interact with is able to concentrate on writing instead of having to make up the world and stay consistent on the fly. Sometimes, that few hours of preparation can save a whole lot of time and effort down the road. And again, world building does not have to be as intense as creating your own version of Middle-earth. Taking something familiar and adding your own twist to it can be a lot of fun, but it takes a bit of preparation to do. If the writer is doing a story set in a specific time period—perhaps doing a fantasy version of the Three Musketeers—it helps to know as much about that period as you can. If you’re doing Renaissance Italy, who were the major artists your character might interact with? If you’re doing an alternate version of the Battle of Hastings, what types of armor and weapons were available in that era?

So, to wrap up this introduction: We going to be working on the strategies associated with creating fantastic, but believable settings. Whether your story is a space opera that covers a number of unique worlds and multiple alien cultures, a tale of time travelers who encounter dinosaurs and cavemen (hopefully not in the same time period), or an adventure of wily thieves who are busy lifting the crown jewels from a modern palace somewhere in Europe, the more the writer sweats the small details before they start writing, the less time they spend looking stuff up while they are writing.

1

The Land

THE YOUNG MAN STOOD ON THE deck as the ship sailed down the deep channel toward the port city. The mountains ran right up to the edge of the sea here, unlike the long beaches he was more accustomed to in the Southlands. Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity on the deck as a bell was run on the quarterdeck.

“Sail off the bow. Looks like pirates.”

The young man knew the smaller islands to the north were home to several pirate bands. They took advantage of the shallow coves and deep rivers to rush out and strike merchant ships before they could reach the safety of the port. However, he’d never heard of any striking this far down the channel. These were either very confident pirates or very desperate. Neither type would be pleasant to face.

He loosened the rapier on his hip from its scabbard. It was possible the people who’d been dogging his trail had seen through his ruse and knew he was carrying the package to the capital. If that were the case, these were no ordinary pirates and there would be no quarter given. He leaned against the ship’s rail and settled in to see whose ship would win this race.

Our hero seems to have gotten himself into a bit of a jam. Now, though, instead of being in a generic room in a generic . . . somewhere, at least we have a feeling that he is in a real place where real things are happening around him. Unfortunately for our hero, perhaps they’re a bit too real. Hopefully through some application of our world-building techniques, we’ll be able to extricate him from his predicament soon.

Please note, given that little passage, we’ve already begun our world building. Just from those few lines, you should already be able to visualize a rocky coast, with a narrow passageway of water; you know that there are broad, sandy beaches to the south and that there are small rocky islands nearby, perfect for harboring pirates. Also, I hope you notice that I did not add in every detail I might have about the fact that the mountains are predominantly granite rather than volcanic or limestone, and I didn’t have to mention how many pirate islands were to the north.

I’m going to take this opportunity to repeat my admonition from the introduction: Just because you create an incredibly intricate world, you do not have to put everything you know into the book. If a piece of information does not drive the story forward then it has no purpose being there. World building is not to show off how smart you are; it’s to bring the reader deeper into your story. A few choice accessories mean the difference between being glamorous and trashy.

So, our hero needs a place to live. I think for the purpose of this story, he will likely live on a large island similar to Greenland or Borneo, or perhaps an island continent like Australia. It’ll be near enough to a larger continent to allow trade between the two lands. We’ll add in a few nearby islands for additional kingdoms or unexplored territory to visit as the story unfolds.

I think the northern part of the island should be a southern temperate area, while the southern part may have more of a tropical feel. The winds are going to be predominantly easterlies, meaning storms will move east to west unless there’s a cyclonic system moving through the region. It also means the rain shadow will be on the western slopes of the mountain ranges, as opposed to the typical situation in the United States and Europe.

Are you starting to visualize this place in your mind? You should be building a mental map and already placing your deserts and forests and such. So, taking a blank piece of paper, I’m going to draw the outline of my lands. Before we get to that step, however, keep these three things in mind:

1) What you’re going to be seeing here are maps I’ve drawn in pencil, then inked once the landscape was complete. First drafts should definitely be done in pencil. In fact, you may decide not to ink your map if you plan to make changes to it as you go along.

2) Unless you’re a graphic artist and/or a cartographer, the odds are good the publisher will get someone to draw your maps—if they want to include them. The maps you’ll be working on right now are specifically for your use, although I suspect your publisher will appreciate the reference material, should they assign an artist.

3) My sample maps are hand drawn, and that’s perfectly acceptable for our use in world building. There are software packages out there for doing incredibly detailed maps, but for now, pencil and paper are more than sufficient.

As you can see, creating a world is a lot like carving a statue. Start with a block of marble and carve away everything that’s not the subject. See? I started with a blob in the middle of the paper. Once I had that down, I referred back to the story snippet I’d written. That told me I needed to add a few islands to the north of the big island. I put them in a generally straight line moving to the northwest because that’s the way the mountain chain is going to run—think the Aleutian Islands.

The mountain range connects the islands to the peninsula, since the islands are merely the tops of the mountains that continue pushing to the northwest underneath the ocean. I added a couple of peninsulas running toward those islands with a narrow channel going deep into the interior of the island—again, based on the description from the snippet.

I decided to add a large, smooth section of coastline in the southern section of the map. I also put in a gulf there to provide the “beaches” that were mentioned in the snippet. And even though there will probably be storms that roll in off the Eastern Ocean, I suspect it will be more like a Florida beach, with lots of sand, versus a more rocky beach that gets the brunt of the storms that roll in off the Atlantic, like in the northeastern United States. I added “The Sisters”—the almost twin islands—in the middle of the gulf. Not quite sure what I’m going to do with them right now, but they’re definitely a point of interest I could use later. Are they both owned by the same government? Are they antagonistic toward each other?

You see how having a quick sketch with nothing other than a few lines can bring story ideas out? That’s the joy of world building. I hadn’t even considered those islands before I started working on this section of the chapter, and I’m already working up some spare scenes for later.

In the original version of this map, the west coast had a long channel running about halfway through it. However, I decided my world needed a little more mystery to it, so I created the Inner Sea (not the final name for it—we’ll cover names in the next two chapters). The story behind it is, long ago, before the current gods walked this world, a great battle was fought on the island. At the climax of the battle, incredible magicks were released, destroying both armies and carving out the Inner Sea. Only the island is left from that terrible battle, and it is said to be a haunted land. Many go there to hunt for old, powerful magicks. Most do not return.

Voilà, another potential plot bunny!

I also added a few more islands for flavor, a nearby continent waiting to be explored by our intrepid heroes (should we need it), and tons of crooked shoreline perfect for port cities, pirate coves, and clandestine meetings in the fog. Finally, because I’m a cartographer at heart, I added a compass rose and a mileage scale to the map.

Given the basic measurements, the island is: approximately 800 miles from north to south; 550 miles from east to west; has a 250 x 200 mile shallow sea in the middle of it; and is approximately 200 miles from the next nearest continent. That gives us roughly 440,000 square miles to play with, give or take a few since this isn’t a perfect rectangle, which makes our island nearly twice the size of New Guinea or close to the size of the country of Colombia. I think that’s probably big enough for this story. So, we’re more of a huge island instead of an island continent, but let’s not quibble.

Now that we have this wonderful tabula rasa, what are we going to do with it? Right! Terrain.

There are mountains on this island because of the placement of the northern islands. We said there’d be a mountain chain leading to them. So, I’ve added two sets of mountains running roughly parallel to each other—one running down the eastern coast of the island and the other curling from the northwest to the southwest around the Inner Sea.

Given the shape of the island, I’ve decided to add some smaller mountain ranges to go along with the two main ones. There’s a low range that goes along the western peninsula and a secondary mountain range that was raised when the Inner Sea was created. Also, there’s a small valley in the middle where the two main ranges get mixed together in the narrows of the island.

Based on the shape of the island and the placement of the mountains, a very narrow strip of land exists along the eastern shore, which is probably not heavily populated. The southern section is probably the breadbasket for the island, protected by the coastal mountains, but not so protected that rain can’t get over them. The central section is very mountainous, with the one fertile valley in the middle. Given the tight quarters of the central highlands and the rugged terrain, there is probably a lot of mining in this area. The northern coast is rugged and somewhat mountainous. I foresee a lot of fishing villages and trading ports located here. Both would be valued targets for the pirates established on the northern islands.

The western coast is a bit trickier. The long peninsula could be a number of things, so let’s leave that for now. The west central coast is dominated by the Inner Sea, and I’ve established a volcano on the main island. It gives us some more potential threats if our characters have to go there for any reason, and could be the source of any rumors we want to spread for local flavor. The southwestern coast could be another farming area, although it may be affected by the dark magicks seeping over the barren mountains to the north. If it isn’t used for farming, it might turn into a heavily wooded area. Again, this is a determination for later, but it’s good to consider a few possible options now.

Now the general shape of the land is established and we’ve shown the major terrain features. There are other terrain features that could be added (hills, cliffs, valleys, etc.), but for our purposes mountains should be more than sufficient. If I got into that kind of detail, you wouldn’t be able to read the final product when it’s reproduced.

You’ll note there are some areas where I’ve left space between the mountains. These are the passes and gaps that will funnel pioneers and traders and establish the trails that cities and countries will eventually turn into roads. Some of the more important passes are:

1) The southwest mountains between the southern coast and the southwest coast. I envision this to be where the south gets most of its lumber and the southwest gets most of its food. Control of this pass could be very important, and it might even be run by an independent city-state that parlays its strategic position to maintain its independence from two larger kingdoms.

2) The junction of the northwest mountains and the western mountains on the peninsula. I see this as a major trade area between the northern shore, the valley that goes back from the Inner Sea toward the northeast, and any cities along the Inner Sea. It seems like a natural route for the villages and trade ports to the north to get their goods into the interior, so it’s going to be of interest to both armies and bandits.

3) The interior mountains on the eastern shore of the Inner Sea. Here is a small pass that leads back into the central valley. We’ll explore that in a little bit.

Now, we start getting to the fun part. I’m going to add the rivers to our land now. Let’s start with the southern section. Given the area we have to work with, I’m going to establish the major river on the island. It’ll go from where the two mountain ranges meet in the central highlands and basically follow the western mountains as they curve to the southwest.

What that tells me is there are some highlands between the mountains and the gulf we created. So, even though we have not annotated them on the map, we know they have to be there, since water follows terrain and moves from higher elevations to lower ones. This doesn’t have a lot of loops in it, so it’s not quite as slow and ponderous as the Mississippi is, but it’s still a significant obstacle to east-west movement if we don’t establish some bridges or ferries later. I’ve added a couple of smaller mountain streams that connect with the river, which flows into one of our deeper bays. This would probably be a good place for a port city. It might even wind up being a major city for one of the southern countries.

Additionally, I’ve included a couple of rivers to the southeast but for the most part, it’s pretty open in the southern lands. This opens up the possibility that there are smaller rivers that just didn’t rate getting put on the map; that the southern lands might rely more on irrigation canals; or perhaps that there’s simply sufficient rainfall to keep the crops well fed. Remember, we did say the mountains in the southeast did not affect the rain too badly and it is in a more semitropical area. There may even be monsoons that affect this part of the land. We’ll file that away for another chapter.

The eastern section is pretty easy. There are two very short mountain streams that run straight into the eastern ocean. Others can be added later if they become important, but given how smooth the east coast is compared to the rest of the island and how close the mountains are to the coast, there shouldn’t be any major rivers here. Also remember, very short rivers like we’re showing coming out of the mountains tend to be very fast and very cold. Keep that in mind when characters attempt to ford them.

The north coast is a tad trickier. Obviously, we’re going to have a river leading to that large channel. Given the shape of the coastline, we can expect that there are at least streams running into most of those indentations. I’ve added some of the more major ones. River mouths tend to have ports, so that can be useful in establishing where some of the major trading cities may be located.

The west coast has only a few rivers due to the establishment of the Inner Sea. One semi-major river runs through the southwestern lands, and a couple of smaller rivers run parallel to it.

The rest of the rivers in the center of the island run into the Inner Sea. While most of these are small, there are two of note. One in the northeastern corner of the sea runs almost all the way to the northeastern tip of the island. As you can imagine, the country that controls this river valley controls the land trade between the northern and southern portions of the island—unless traders want to try sailing past the pirate islands and then negotiate the rugged northwest coast, or deal with the barren eastern coast where they’re exposed to storms roaring in from the Eastern Ocean.

Of course, you could always sail across the Inner Sea. I’m sure the rumors of the strange sea monsters in those tainted waters are a myth. Right?

The other river makes its way past the coastal mountains, into the central valley through the pass mentioned above. It would be an important river for moving ore from the mines to the cities either north or south. Ore is best shipped via water rather than hauling it through those treacherous mountains. Now, you’re trading bandits for pirates, but would pirates really want to attack every ship they may encountered? Do they risk losing crewmen over a huge load of copper or iron ore? That’s not quite the publicity coup that seizing several tons of gold or silver would be for the enterprising pirate captain. They’ll need a good intelligence system to know which ships are worth plundering and which should be ignored. This also means the miners are going to have their own counterintelligence people dedicated to identifying the pirate snitches and ensuring the true manifests are only distributed to those who have a need to know.

Hmm, did I hear another plot bunny start nibbling there?

So, now we have a large mountainous island for our heroes to wander around on. We’ve identified what the predominant climate zones are going to be and have begun kicking around some ideas on where our prairies, forests, deserts, and high mountain passes are likely to be. We’ve created a series of mountain ranges and identified where the most likely places for the passes are, so that will help us identify where trade routes are likely to be established. We’ve also created several major bodies of water and drawn in the major rivers, which will also affect trade routes and locations of cities once we get further into our world building.

And how long did this take? Approximately two hours total. That includes carefully inking the map and scanning it and doing some minor edits on the computer. If I was doing this simply for myself, probably no more than thirty minutes tops to get to this point. Your first maps may take a bit longer to develop.

While contemporary maps give you the most detail, I like to compare my work against the more historical ones. It never fails to amaze me how accurate the old mapmakers were (and how far off they were occasionally, too). They didn’t have the advantage of satellite imagery or Global Positioning data to create maps accurate to the meter. Their tools were a steady hand, a practiced eye, and very precise written descriptions of where the bends and turns were in a coastline as viewed from a passing ship. Imagine yourself sitting in an office in Madrid or London in the 1500s, painstakingly drawing your maps from the logs of ships’ captains or the diary of a returning conquistador who observed mountains and rivers never seen by a European before their trip across the newly discovered lands to the west.

Now create a land for yourself. It can be an island like we’ve done here, or perhaps just a large peninsula of a larger continent like Southeast Asia or the Balkans. Imagine what kind of terrain would create the shapes you come up with and place your own rivers.

In the next chapter, we’re going to settle some cities and build some countries in our new world.

2

Names, Part One

THE BATTERED SHIP LIMPED INTO THE harbor, the smell of smoke and blood hanging over it like a bad memory. As the harbormaster’s skiff approached, he noted the lack of activity ahead. Only a few men were aloft reefing the sails, most of which were still unfurled and flapping in the weak breeze. A young man waited at the gunwales, lowering the rope ladder down for him to come aboard.

Climbing onto the deck of the ship, the signs of fighting and makeshift repairs were obvious. The young man extended his hand. “Sorry about the mess. We had some visitors who just wouldn’t take no for an answer. The captain sends his regards. He has asked for some boats to take our wounded ashore; I’m afraid most of ours were damaged in the fight. If you would care to see him, he’s in his quarters below.”

“No, I don’t think I’ll need to disturb him at the moment.” The harbormaster gazed around, amazed that the few men working on the ship had managed to keep this hulk afloat. “Glad to see you made it in. Who did you run into?”

“Two ships belonging to the Sea Wolves attacked just as we entered Cantabri Bay.”

“Good gods, man. Not many can say they’ve escaped from the Brotherhood of the Sword, much less fought off two of their ships.”

“The fates were kind. Still, I need to depart this ship immediately. I must reach Elysia as soon as possible.” The young man unrolled a worn map. “What’s the best route to get there?”

The harbormaster eyed the young man, realizing he was supercargo, not a crew member. “Elysia, eh? Well, there are two possibilities. The easiest would be to get a charter up the Turia River. Once there, you could probably find a merchant caravan heading south through Brendar’s Pass.”

“Won’t that take me near Khoi?”

“Not just near it, you’re going to have to caravan across it. That’ll take you to the Sable River and then it’s just a matter of following the river right into Elysia. However, that’s not the fastest route, but if I guess right, you’d rather not have the Khoians inspect your cargo too closely.”

“It’s that obvious?”

“I’ve been harbormaster for twenty years. You’re not a professional smuggler, so, given what you’ve been through, I’m inclined to help. Now, if you want to go faster, I’d find Timur the Hunter at the Blue Fox Tavern. He could take you east into Enzelle and then across the eastern Herons. That way you’d only spend a day or so in Khoi and then it’s up to the Cluster and into Elysia.”

“But . . . ?”

“But, it’s not the safest way. Asari has no treaties with the Artabi tribes in the eastern Herons. Plus, if you get captured in Khoi without permission . . . well, you’ll wish the pirates had finished you back there.”

The young man paused only for a moment. “So, Timur the Hunter, you say?”

In the previous chapter, we developed the land in which our adventure is going to take place—the islands, mountains, and rivers. However, as nature abhors a vacuum, so does a cartographer abhor a blank map. It’s time to begin assigning names to our virgin territories.

A bit of background first, before we dive in. I didn’t want to just make up names for this map. Many fantasy stories are written with nigh unpronounceable names with tons of consonants and apostrophes. I’m not a huge fan of this for two reasons. The first is that an unpronounceable name makes it difficult for your reader to relate to the character you’re introducing to them. J. R. R.
Tolkien’s elvish names are still easy on the ears, and even the dwarven names evoke solid characters. If your readers have to stop and sound out the name of your character over and over again, not only does it get tiring, it will keep kicking them out of the story, and you do not want that to happen. In real life, if a name is too long or too odd, people are going to shorten it anyway, so why not do that up front. Which is easier for you to say: King Tut or King Tutankhamun, or Tutankhaten, or Tutanhamon, or however it’s really spelled?

Second, if you don’t think about your readers, think about yourself. If you’re writing a 100,000-word novel, which hero’s name do you want to be writing page after page—Randwulf of Tarytown, or I’stanl’hiter of Xytnra’thiq’at? Or worse, what if this is an important side-plot character and you haven’t written his name in sixty pages—are you going to remember how to spell what town he’s from? Hopefully you’ll have created a style sheet of some sort to keep track of such things, but still, simpler is better.

So, where to get names? Well, for this exercise, I decided that the island was small enough to have a fairly homogenous population. We’ll assume that the island was originally colonized by people from the western continent and while there may be some regional differences, they all basically speak the same language and therefore their towns, lands and seas should basically have the same basis. Now, some of them I’m writing in plain English just because I don’t want to find a dictionary to translate everything. I may also rewrite a few of them because I like the resulting sounds better. Let’s chalk those up to artistic license.

I decided to go to the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection¹ and grabbed some maps of the old Roman Empire: Germania (Ancient Germany), Britannia (Ancient British Isles), Hispania, Italia (Ancient Italy), and Roman Britain circa AD 400.

I also decided to use Wikipedia for this initial run. Wikipedia should never be considered an authoritative source, since its entries can be written and edited by laypeople—as well as the occasional prankster—but the specific articles I read provided me with related links to accredited sources that spurred ideas or provided guidance to look up historical names that might not appear on the Perry-Castañeda maps.

Now that we’ve got some sources, let’s set up some ground rules. I highly recommend that you write on your maps as little as possible unless you’re using multiple copies, otherwise it will likely get very cluttered with all the naming and other things we’re going to add to them. For this exercise, I’m going to be doing multiple maps in order to make them as clear for you as possible; in the next chapter, I’ll be adding a legend of numbers and letters. These will equate to a separate paper or file where I have all my names written down. Whatever works best for you is what you should do, but don’t make your map so complicated you can’t tell whether a name you’ve assigned belongs to a town, a river, a sea, or a forest.

Land

This section should be the simplest. We’re going to identify all the major bodies of land. Keeping with our theme of inside out, we’ll start with the biggest and work our way to the smallest. After a quick glance at the maps I mentioned above, I’m going to call our main island Aviones.

Aviones was the name of a Germanic tribe near the Baltic Sea, and I like the sound and imagery the name presents. It makes me think of the word “avian,” and that makes me wonder if the original settlers of my island saw huge flocks of birds when they first arrived. Or, perhaps there are winged humanoids that haunt the mountain ranges of the island’s interior? Perhaps they were involved in the war that resulted in the creation of the Inner Sea. Do they still hold a grudge against the current inhabitants? Is that the plot bunny I hear sniffling around? Also, Wikipedia tells me the name Aviones means “island people.” Now, there’s some serendipity for you.

From that same article, I discover the Aviones were aligned with another tribe called the Reudigni. If we’re presuming the Aviones came from the western continent, we can assign it the name Reudigni.

Now, we have the island and continent named. Piece of cake, right?

That article tells me there was another group called the Eudoses. Clicking on that link, we find out that Eudoses was another name for the Jutes, a powerful German tribe that was also called the Eucii or the Euthiones. I like that last name, so I decide to name the islands where the pirates are located the Euthian Islands. Now for the actual islands, I’m going to take a break and use some descriptive English. From north to south on the map are 1) North Island; 2) Cemetery Island; 3) Devil’s Landing; 4) Cat Island; and 5) Orcades Island.

Cemetery Island evokes some images, doesn’t it? Since it’s the smallest of the islands, did it get its name from the mausoleums and burial plots of the great pirate captains and lords of the past? Does the island teem with hidden treasure, or does it merely wait with curses and undead guardians for those unwary enough to come ashore? Instead, let’s imagine it’s the place where pirates who break the code of their brethren, or victims who cannot raise their ransom, are marooned to die with only a dagger to speed their demise—if they’re desperate enough to take that way out.

(Will someone tell the plot bunny to chew its carrots more quietly?)

Since we’ve named the first group of islands, let’s go ahead and finish up here. Moving counterclockwise from north to south, let’s name the western island Sand Isle. I see this as being a very low island with probably just a few trees and maybe a pool of water, but not much else. The central island with the volcano can be called the Land of a Thousand Fires—this implies there are many vents in the volcano and the glowing openings can be seen across the water at night. The island to the far southwest is Metaris Island. I said in the last chapter that the two islands in the south were called The Sisters, and I think we’ll go with that. Let’s say they’re both volcanic islands, but only the northern one is still active. The southern island is very fertile and covered with flowers and trees, so it is called Flora Island. while the northern is still covered in large patches of black pumice stone, especially its beaches, so we’ll call it Ebon Isle.

So, some map study, some reading, and some careful thought and voilà, we have named all of our major bodies of land.

Seas

We’re going to move out just a bit this time and name the major bodies of water surrounding our island before we move inland to name rivers and such. We’ll continue using the maps we named above to get inspiration for this exercise. Consistency now will help your readers stay focused on the story later, trust me.

The ocean to the north and east of Aviones I think I’ll call the Codenus Ocean. In the Perry-Castañeda maps, this was the ancient Romans’ name for the Baltic Sea, and since the Aviones lived near the Baltic, it seems appropriate. The body of water separating Aviones from Reudigni is the Temerind Sea, Temerinda being an ancient name for the Sea of Azov.

The Inner Sea finally has its own name: the Axeinos Sea, which was one of the ancient names for the Black Sea. Somehow, given the sea’s rather inhospitable nature, it seemed a pretty easy call. Connecting the Axeinos Sea to the Temerind is the Itameri Strait. (Okay, I admit, Itämeri is the name of the Baltic Sea in Finnish, but I just liked the sound of it and again, artistic license takes precedence over “rules.”)

To the south, the body of water surrounding The Sisters is the Gulf of Setovia. That’s a variation on the name of a Germanic tribe called the Sitones, but I like the sound, so we’ll go with it. Between Aviones and Metaris Island is the Alborom Strait and Ravious Bay empties out into it. For the area around the Euthian Islands, I was leaning toward the Erythraean Sea, which was the ancient name for the Red Sea (red goes so well with pirates, don’t you think?), but I thought Erythraean Sea and Euthian Islands might be too close, so I’m going to truncate Erythraean and call this area the Thaean Sea. The two large bays on Aviones’s north coast will be named Ancylus Bay (western) and Cantabri Bay (eastern).

As you’ll note from the map, it’s already starting to get crowded with all the writing. However, I’m going to leave this as is as an example of how a map can get away from you quickly if you’re not careful.

Mountains

Next on our list are the names of the various mountain ranges. We won’t bother naming any individual mountains yet, but if there are some good names that we come across, I highly recommend writing them down in a list called “To Be Used Later.” Better to make a list as you go than to have to plow through map after map trying to remember where you saw “the perfect name.”

The large mountain range that runs along the eastern coast of the island I’m going to name the Telair Mountains. Again, think Appalachians, if you’re familiar with them. These are old mountains and pretty worn down. As we noted in our opening, the mountains in the center of the island are jumbled together as several mountain ranges come together, therefore this area is known as the Cluster.

The mountains going to the southwest are the Blue Mountains. Is it because they seem to turn blue in the twilight as the sun dips behind them? Or perhaps there is a unique blue flower that’s only found there with medicinal purposes. Or have they just always been called that and no one remembers why? It’s your story; you tell us.

The mountains that run from the Axeinos Sea toward the northeast corner of the map are the Heron Mountains. Extending to the north of the Herons are two rugged ranges of inhospitable terrain. The Brigand Mountains are the eastern range and the Careni Mountains are the western range.

Two groups of rugged mountains, inhabited by what the rest of the island would call barbarians, surround the Axeinos Sea, one to the north and one to the south. The northern range that runs out along the northwestern peninsula is the Black Fangs. The southern arc, separating the Blue Mountains from the Cluster, is the Illicitanus Mountains. Now doesn’t that last one just sound like it’s made for smugglers and other nefarious people? Yet, that is a real name, taken from the Hispania map (Sinus Illicitanus, which was the bay outside the town of Ilicis).

So, this brings us to the end of the first half of our map-naming session. Next, we’ll name the rivers and then begin naming the countries that occupy Aviones with some background information on them. Will our intrepid, and still unnamed, hero survive his trip across the Heron Mountains, or will his bones turn up in a ravine some years from now? Will the mountain barbarians or the dark outriders of Khoi find him, or can Timur the Hunter guide him safely to his destination?

3

Names, Part Two

TIMUR PAUSED FOR A MOMENT AND pointed to a small cloud of dust down in the valley. “Khoi riders.”

The young man gazed in the direction Timur was pointing. “I can’t see them but I’ll take your word for it. Are they going to pursue us?” He stopped and adjusted his backpack. If they were going to have to run, he wanted to be as unencumbered as possible, given the load he was carrying.

“No. We crossed out of Khoi territory some time ago, when we forded that stream you fell into. We’re in Carpenteria now. We’re reasonably safe—as long as we don’t draw attention to ourselves.”

The youth could feel the package pressing against his chest beneath his tunic and glanced up into the sky. “How much more daylight do we have for traveling?”

“Not much. We should continue down this trail and make camp soon. I think a cold camp would be best.”

He gave his guide a puzzled look. “I thought you said we were out of Khoi?”

“We are. However, there are more things to worry about out here than just the Khoians. We’re near Taviian territory.” Timur glanced at the woods on either side with a disapproving look. “We should move soon.”

“I heard the Tavii were friendly.”

Timur laughed. “The Tavii are friendly. Doesn’t mean they’re above helping themselves to some gear and gold. They’re no different from a lowlander, son, they’re just more honest about it. Now, let’s get going. I don’t want to set up the camp in the dark. We should reach Elysia in another four days, if we’re lucky.”

“Lucky?”

Timur pointed toward one of the nearby hills. “See that smoke? There’s a Tavii hunting party up there. If we can see the smoke, it’s because they want us to. Seems our trip just got a little more interesting.”

In chapter 2 we named the bodies of land and water, and the mountains. Continuing with this exercise, we’re going to name the rivers and begin to place countries on the map.

Rivers

Looking at the map, we have created thirty rivers. As the mapmaker, it will be up to us to name all of them, but for our purposes, that would be a bit of overkill. So, let’s settle on naming the major rivers that are most likely to affect our hero as he travels across this land. We’re still using the four maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: Germania (Ancient Germany), Britannia (Ancient British Isles), Hispania, Italia (Ancient Italy), and Roman Britain circa AD 400 for source material. However, we’ll rework names as necessary since it’s our story. We’re using these maps for ideas, not to create a historically accurate map, after all. The first river to be named is the one we named in the previous chapter.

The Turia River was identified as the source of Cantabri Bay. The Turia comes from the Hispania map. Just to the northeast of the Turia, let’s call that river the Sena. The north coast has a number of short rivers. Given the terrain, we could expect them to be rather short, violent rivers, with rapids, waterfalls, and very cold water coming off the nearby mountains.

These rivers would definitely be impediments to traveling east to west, but for the villages and towns that are established nearby, those rivers could be great sources of energy for lumber mills or grain mills. The inhabitants probably spend a lot of time out on the Temerind or Thaean seas fishing and sailing trading ships to get the goods they can’t grow or create themselves. This is also another reason why the pirates probably inhabit the northern islands—since the terrain forces people to use the sea, the Thaean Sea became the perfect hunting ground for them.

Note: When working on your maps, please remember water flows downhill. (You’d be surprised how many people seem to forget this when developing fantasy maps.) Also, rivers turn due to higher elevations, so just because there’s no mountain there, there is something that forces the river to change course.¹

The major river running through the nation of Khoi (that our intrepid hero seems to want to avoid) is the Wolf River. This major river allows Khoi to control the valleys between the Heron Mountains and the Cluster. This valley probably contains the best farming region in the northern half of the island, but we can also see where parts of this long valley could be used for timber or mining. Khoi may have the most diverse economy even if it is not the largest country. Also, given the location, Khoi may rely on high tariffs on goods crossing its territory.

As we mentioned in our framing story in chapter 2, we’ve identified the river running west out of the Cluster and bounded by the nation of Elysia as the Sable River, which makes sense since it flows into the Axeinos (Black) Sea. The Elysian valley is probably similar to the high Swiss valleys—some farming, some dairy, but mostly the nation of Elysia relies on mining and the smelting of ores for their trade.

The largest river on Aviones would be the Catti River, named for an ancient Scottish tribe, the Cattae or the Germanic tribe, the Catti—take your choice. The Catti is not only the largest river, but given the shape of Aviones, it is probably one of the major trade routes for the southern half of the island. Between the Catti River and the Gulf of Setovia, whatever kingdom controls those bodies of water is probably a very powerful kingdom. Set between the two mountain ranges, the Catti River Valley is probably a very fertile area, not unlike the Mississippi/Missouri River regions in the Midwestern United States.

The major river flowing west into the Temerind Sea is the Kalia River. Given the terrain, this could be a major farming area or possibly a large timber-producing area. However, since we’re still looking at the southern end of the island, it would make more sense for it to be farmlands. So, these two river valleys probably are the main breadbaskets for the rest of the island. However, since the southwest coast doesn’t have any major bays, it’s probably a lesser naval power. Any major naval power could easily blockade the river port cities, so whatever country rules this region is more likely to focus on their armies and probably cavalry to guard their coastline. Given the terrain and this country’s reliance on fast overland movement, we could reasonably assume this area might be source for some of the island’s best horse breeds.

Along with the thirty rivers (twenty-four still waiting to be named), there are probably a number of minor rivers, creeks, and other bodies of water. Also, it wouldn’t be surprising to find a large lake in Elysia. Again, your map should be as thorough as you need to make it. While I prefer to work out the majority of my maps before I get too far into my writing, I always leave some room on the map or staple a blank piece of paper to the map for notes to be added later. If the story requires our hero sailing out onto a large lake to go diving for some treasure, then we can always make a mark on the map and then go to our fresh sheet of paper and make a note. This isn’t mandatory, but it beats having to dig back through about sixty pages if I decide to come back to this lake later in the story and can’t remember what I named it.

Let’s recap what we’ve accomplished so far. We’ve identified several maps to use as resources. We’ve named the major bodies of land and water, and the major mountains and rivers. That pretty much takes care of the natural features that need to be identified.

Before we’ve placed a country’s boundaries, by doing a reading of the terrain we’ve begun placing natural resources and identifying economies from our map. The Cluster is the focus of the major mining on the island. The north coast contains much of the timber and fishing, while the southern half of the island is primarily agricultural. The regions around the Axeinos Sea and the east coast facing the Codenus Sea are pretty wild and sparsely inhabited. However, sparsely does not mean uninhabited, so even these regions will belong to someone.

Countries

Now that we’ve created this region, it’s time to place people here. For our first pass at placing countries on the island, we’re going to do a quick down-and-dirty listing. Again, depending on the story, we may or may not ever visit all of these countries, so there’s no need to go into great detail at this point in the world building.

Now, if you know that the queen of X was originally a princess of country Y and she may be being blackmailed by the ambassador of country B, who is threatening to march into her father’s kingdom unless she can persuade the king of X to sign a favorable trade agreement, that’s a bit different. Then again, what if the king’s mistress is really a spy from country A and is trying to sabotage the ambassador’s mission? Yeah, it can get that complicated in a hurry. Then we really need to develop countries A, B, X, and Y more than the others.

(Wait one minute, please, while I lock that darn plot bunny back in his hutch. Ah, there we are. Now where were we?)

Map Key

Countries:

I. The Brotherhood of the Sword, II. Vararis, III. Asari, IV. Enzelle, V. The Wilds, VI. Carpenteria, VII. The Broken Lands, VIII. Arendal, IX. Vulpeni, X. Nesis,
XI. Elysia, XII. Khoi

Arendal Warmarchs:

a. Eastmarch, b. Northern March, c. Westmarch, d. Seawatch

Tribes:

1. Sorabi, 2. Artabi, 3. Tavii, 4. Blanii, 5. Aspinthi,
6. Camunni, 7. Lepontii, 8. Sicani, 9. Ericusi, 10. Sythiani

Looking at the map now, we have taken our island and coded it with the occupied regions, some regions in Roman numerals and some in Arabic numerals. The Roman numeral regions are countries of some type. The areas designated by Arabic numerals are regions where barbarian tribes rule. We’ll list the countries first, giving their names and a quick note about each:

I. The Brotherhood of the Sword: Home to a loose confederation of pirates who are loyal to no one but their shipmates, the inhabitants of the Brotherhood band together for protection against other navies.

II. Vararis: Mostly hunters and fishers inhabit this northwestern coast of Aviones.

III. Asari: A major trading nation, it controls Cantabri Bay.

IV. Enzelle: A rival with neighboring Asari, this country is known for rare woods that grow only on the northern coast of Aviones.

V. The Wilds: Claimed by Enzelle, Carpentria, and Khoi, it’s a wild, lawless region mostly known as a bandit sanctuary.

VI. Carpentria: A collection of small villages and towns, it’s fairly self-sufficient with its mining and timber industries, but possesses only small ports.

VII. The Broken Lands: A scattering of independent villages and keeps, this country has no real government. A lack of abundant resources keeps the region poor, but also discourages raiders.

VIII. Arendal: The largest country on Aviones, it controls the Catti River Valley and the Gulf of Setovia. Four minor kingdoms have been established along its borders to protect the heartland.

VIIIa. Eastmarch: Primarily consisting of farmlands, ranches, and the occasional guard post, horse nomads still live here, giving faint notice to Arendal’s claims to the region.

VIIIb. Northern March: Located in the upper Catti River Valley, it’s under heavy military occupation to protect Arendal from the mountain tribes, as well as from any possible incursions from the northern kingdoms.

VIIIc. Westmarch: The smallest of the military regions, it’s considered the easiest duty, for which soldiers man the customs stations between Arendal and Vulpeni.

VIIId. Seawatch: Consists of The Sisters. The Arendi navy is based on Flora Island, and Ebon Isle is the home of the Arendi military academy.

IX. Vulpeni: The eastern portion is covered in heavy evergreen forests, and is dotted with large horse farms along the central and southern coasts.

X. Nesis: The southern island, known for its wizards’ college. It guards its isolation with an aggressive navy.

XI. Elysia: Comprised of heavily populated mountain valleys, it’s known for its mercenary forces and mining. Its Great Armory turns out the most famous weapons in Aviones.

XII. Khoi: Not much is known about Khoi, other than that its inhabitants are reclusive, and traders stray from the designated paths at their own peril. Rumors of evil cults have not been confirmed.

Now that we have our organized countries identified and have established a quick idea of what each one might be like, let’s turn our attention to the remaining areas under the influence of the barbarian tribes.

The term barbarian is a fairly fluid concept. Some definitions mean “a person in a savage, primitive state; uncivilized person” or “a person without culture, refinement, or education; philistine.” For purposes of Aviones, we’re going to default to the Classic Greek or Roman definition, which means anyone not living within their borders. By using this definition, we make no prejudicial comments about their degree of sophistication or culture, but simply identify people who live outside the recognized countries of Aviones.

We’ll list the barbarians in the same manner we did the countries above:

1. Sorabi: There’s not much difference between the Sorabi and the inhabitants of Vararis, except they refuse to acknowledge any distant rulers.

2. Artabi: These mountain tribes between Asari and Enzelle mostly survive by raiding, extorting bribes from travelers, and being willing to live where no one else wants to.

3. Tavii: These tribes inhabit the Cluster, and have good relations with the inhabitants of Elysia.

4. Blanii: Fierce raiders, they originally lived in the Northern March before being forced into the Telair Mountains. These days, they constantly fight with Arendal.

5. Aspinthi: A reclusive minor tribe rumored to have powerful shamanistic magic, it controls the southern tip of Aviones.

6. Camunni: Remnants of an ancient kingdom, these survivors of whatever created the Axeinos Sea are rumored to sacrifice outsiders to appease the demons of the Land of a Thousand Eyes.

7. Lepontii: An ancient civilization, these powerful magicians mainly dwell in cities carved into the sides of the volcano, and prey on the other barbarian tribes along the shore of the Axeinos Sea.

8. Sicani: A blending of the Camunni and Vararian wanderers, almost able to organize the tribes into a central government, they control several mines of incredible wealth.

9. Ericusi: They inhabit Sand Island and the tip of Aviones, the last port of call before crossing the Tamerind Sea for the continent of Reudigni. Ericusi are often hired as navigators for crossing the storm-wracked sea.

10. Sythiani: Horse nomads mostly located in Eastmarch, but they travel all over Arendal. Although they recognize Arendal’s power, they refuse to acknowledge Arendalian suzerainty. Many Sythiani hire out as mercenary cavalry.

The next chapter will address various forms of government and applying these types of political bodies to our cultures noted above. So, we have identified the borders of the countries and barbarian tribes and now we’re getting a feeling for what kind of stories the various regions might lend themselves in the future.

Is there a rivalry between the Sythiani and the inhabitants of Vulpeni? Do they trade to improve both groups’ stock of horses or do they raid each other, and what kind of strain would this put on Vulpeni and Arendalian relations?

Are the Lepontii the original inhabitants of the central region, and if so, do they have anything to do with the rumors of evil cults in Khoi?

Are the Blanii conspiring with any other kingdoms—or perhaps a force not yet identified—to reclaim their ancestral lands?

Are the Artabi surviving because they’re stronger than the armies of Asari and Enzelle, or do those countries find it convenient to have a buffer state between them?

Why are Enzelle, Carpenteria, and Khoi all fighting over the Wilds, and is this overt or covert competition?

All of these possible stories and so many more, and we’re just getting started world building. The plot bunnies are obviously multiplying at a high rate of speed in their hutch. Which ones are we going to take out and use with our new world, and which will wait for other chances to come out and play? That choice, my dear reader, is completely up to you.

4

Governments

FROM THE WAY TIMUR HAD TURNED his head to watch him, the young man realized he must have done something wrong. He maneuvered his horse up near the hunter and waited for the reprimand he was certain was coming.

“You don’t have much experience outside cities, do you?”

The young man bristled. “I certainly do. I was a scout in my kingdom’s army before I was assigned this mission. I’m perfectly capable to taking care of myself.”

“Maybe where you’re from, but a mission like this is not like a military campaign. You must learn that not every land you’re going to enter around here is like your kingdom at home. In fact, the politics around here can get very messy . . . and deadly.”

The young man glanced around, with a confused look on his face. “But we left the borders of Asari days ago and except for our little jaunt across Khoi, we’ve been in the wilderness. Outside of a few hunting parties, I haven’t seen anything.”

“Oh-ho. Well, maybe where you’re from borders mean the difference between governed lands, but here on Aviones, always assume someone claims the ground you’re walking on. For instance, remember the Tavii? Those hunters we saw a few days ago? I’m certain Chief Volungu would find it very interesting that you denied he ruled these lands. He’d probably lump you in with the Artabi raiders who also claim this region.”

Timur shook his head. “Also, I’d watch holding your ‘kingdom’ up as an example of what makes a civilized country. Elysia, where we’re headed, is a republic. They’re none too fond of kings and the whole divine-right thing. No, I’d say, keep your politics to yourself. In fact, I’d recommend not drawing attention to yourself at all. I mean, I think you’re pretty trustworthy, but I’ve been traveling with you for a while. But around here, especially in tribal countries, the words ‘stranger’ and ‘enemy’ are pretty damn closely related.”

They climbed a ridgeline and spotted a small encampment below. The young man gulped and pointed ahead. “So, what do we do now?”

“Now? Now, we go down and do a little trading and get some fresh food. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of dried meat and fruit. Oh, by the way, that Chief Volungu I mentioned? That’s his camp down there. He’s one of the three high chiefs of the Tavii, so do be on your best behavior.”

We’ve created our lands, placed our rivers, created mountains, and identified and named the countries occupying the island continent of Aviones. It’s a good start, but we are going to need to start adding more details. Names on a map do not tell you any more about a country than a person’s name in the phone book tells you about them. Okay—well, if I was at a border crossing and the sign said, “Welcome to Badluckvania,” that might be a hint I’d want to turn around and go home. As a writer, you generally don’t want to make it that obvious for your readers.

One method of learning about a country is in understanding what type of government it has. Assigning types of governments to your lands shouldn’t be done in a haphazard manner. We’re going to need to be methodical, same as when we start identifying the resources found on Aviones. Remember, countries and cities do not just spring from Zeus’s head fully formed. There’s a reason why they form, and it’s usually centered on available resources. The same goes for governments—there’s a reason why a country develops a specific style of government (or has it imposed on them . . . More on that later).

Since we are standing in for Zeus and can determine what kind of government will be put in what country, let’s go ahead and be inventive. By spending some time planning now, this provides the creator of these lands with two advantages: logically placing these governments avoids flaws in our story’s plot down the road; and it’s a great plot bunny factory. Did this island break off from another land nearby? Does it have a similar style of government, or did it take radically different form? If so, why?

Was Aviones originally colonized by settlers from Reudigni (the nearby continent), or did they arrive from a continent yet unmapped by us? If the island was colonized from Reudigni, which areas were colonized first? Are there older kingdoms that fell into ruin centuries ago a modern cartographer might not know about? Is there a hidden land that lies unseen in a deep forest or in a hidden mountain valley? Did the newer kingdoms rise from them, or was there an interregnum after the fall? Are there organizations actively opposing the current governments? Is your hero supporting these rebels, or actively opposing the rebels? Perhaps your hero just wants to avoid being caught in the middle—if so, why?

“Why?” is always the question you, the author, should be asking yourself and answering for your readers.

Before we begin assigning governments, it might be a good idea to agree on a few standardized terms. For the sake of not turning this into a two-hundred-page treatise in political science, we’ll try to keep the discussion at what I like to call the fifty-thousand-foot view. So, on with the list:

1) Anarchy: The absence of government. This can occur following the collapse of a central government. Otherwise this may refer to an area where the government is so weak these areas refuse to recognize the central regime. Many frontier areas may be claimed by a government or two, but the inhabitants basically ignore the distant proclamations.

2) Commonwealth: A voluntary association governed by common laws for the public good. It can be the joining of two coequal countries (Poland/Lithuania), a joining of former colonies (the Commonwealth of Nations), or a joining of people for common purposes (the Commonwealth of Virginia).

3) Communism: A group of people banded together to promote the well-being of the whole. Communes were common in Europe and the United States pre-1990. Many communes in Medieval Italy and Germany developed into city-states over time. Not to be confused with the twentieth-century dictatorships/oligarchies that called themselves communist.

4) Confederation: A grouping of equals. What makes this different from a commonwealth is the members of a confederation (or federation) are all considered equals with the same “legal” standings. All members agree to certain subordination to a central government in some matters, but act as separate governments in all other things.

5) Democracy: Rule by the citizenry—think ancient Athens. The citizenry would gather and vote on the issues as required. Participation can be universal, or it can be limited to specific groups (only males living within the borders, only people born in the country, etc.).

6) Dictatorship: An autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by one person, unrestricted by laws, customs, or other social or political factors. Dictatorships can be hereditary, but this is not common. A dictatorship can be either civilian or military.

7) Junta: A group of people, civilian or military, who act in an extralegal manner to assume the place of the previous government. Normally, they claim to be acting to save the country and agree to temporarily run the country for a limited time for “the state of the emergency.”

8) League: A grouping of like-minded governments, not necessarily joined by geography. Typically comprised of smaller governments and city-states for economic or defensive purposes. The Hanseatic League in Northern Europe was a grouping of mercantile cities, for example. Many leagues are hegemonic, meaning while all are “equal,” one or more will be dominant—think “first among equals.”

9) Magistery: Rule by wizards (individual or council).

10) March: A military region typically run by a general or a high ranking noble on the behalf of another government. Normally exists as a buffer between two countries. Occasionally develops into its own country.

11) Matriarchy: Rule by women.

12) Meritocracy: Rule by the most worthy. This can be decided by surviving a quest, passing a test (physical or mental), or winning a competition (physical or mental).

13) Monarchy: Rule by one individual. What separates a monarchy from a dictatorship is that the monarch is recognized as the legal ruler of the land, while a dictator generally rules in the absence of laws. Monarchies are usually hereditary and come in several styles:

a. Absolute: The ruler’s word is law. He or she is only bound by their desires and their ability to enforce their will on the people.

b. Feudal: The king rules, but the kingdom is subdivided into smaller pieces with their own rulers. The king’s word is law as long as he maintains control over the other nobles. Many kings survive by pitting their nobles against one another so they can’t marshal their forces against the king.

c. Constitutional: The king’s power is constrained by an agreement (written or understood) with those ruled. Generally, this is with the other nobles, but it can be with the people themselves. Usually everyday decisions are handled by a legislative body (nobles, commoners, or both) and presented to the king for approval. In emergencies, the king can assume direct control to coordinate the kingdom’s response.

Monarchies do not have to be led by a king. They can be kingdoms, principalities, grand duchies, duchies, counties, and baronies (if you’re using a European model). Other regions had different names for their systems.

14) Oligarchy: Rule by a select few. Similar to a junta, except an oligarchy tends to be more stable since it is the recognized government. In Medieval Italy, for example, many city-states were ruled by a council of the most powerful families.

15) Patriarchy: Rule by men.

16) Plutocracy: Rule by merchants/wealth. A city-state devoted to trade and industry might be ruled by a merchants’ guild, with a bureaucracy set up to deal with the day-to-day running of the city’s administration.

17) Republic: Similar to a democracy, except the people choose representatives to act on their behalf to run the country. Representatives pass laws that are enforced by a chief executive, sometimes chosen by the people and sometimes chosen from within the body of the legislature. The oldest continuous republic is the Republic of San Marino, founded in AD 301.

18) Technocracy: Rule by experts. Scientists, engineers and technologists who have knowledge, expertise, or skills would compose the governing body, instead of politicians, businessmen, and economists. Decision makers would be selected based upon how knowledgeable and skillful they are in their field. (More for use with a science fiction milieu, but it is possible to have a technologically advanced city in a fantasy.)

19) Theocracy: Rule by religious leaders.

20) Tribal: Rule by an individual over a small complex grouping of people. Smaller groups, usually bound together by familial relations, may be considered a band. Several bands may come together to form a tribe.

It should be clear there can be a combination of these types of governments. You could have a monarchy that selects its ruler from among the most powerful wizards—this would combine monarchy and magistery and meritocracy. A nation ruled by a warlord could be a combination of a meritocracy (most capable warrior) combined with a dictatorship (he rules by decree). The only limits here are your imagination and a little common sense. Obviously there are forms of government that do not combine easily, although if you can figure out a way to combine a commune with an absolute monarchy and not make it sound like a Monty Python sketch, more power to you.

With this said, let’s start reviewing the countries we created last chapter and see which types of government seem to be the most logical from the above definitions:

1) The Brotherhood of the Sword: As stated in chapter 3, this is a confederation, but one with anarchic tendencies. Each pirate band individually is a democracy. Each captain serves as long as the crew believes in them. If voted out, the crew will choose the new captain from their ranks by vote. (We’ll get into pirate lore later.)

2) Vararis: This would probably fall under the concept of a league. It’s an alliance of hunting and fishing villages that contribute to the maintenance of a militia and a navy to defend against the pirates. Let’s assume two larger towns dominate the others, but they can only push so hard without risking a revolt.

3) Asari: Asari is likely a plutocracy. It is a major trading nation with a fairly compact geographic area. I can see a council split between the major shipping concerns and several trading families who specialize in overland shipping. Do they spend money on the navy or the army this month?

4) Enzelle: Here, we have a country with hostile tribes in the mountains and pirates haunting their exposed shores. I see a warlord ruling backed up by a council. So, we have a meritocracy/dictatorship for military matters, but the trappings of a republic (each city sends a representative to be on the warlord’s council) for domestic issues.

5) The Wilds: Anarchy, pure and simple. With three countries and several bandit groups vying for supremacy, any local government more evolved than a band would be rare.

6) Carpenteria: Ruled by a priest-king, Carpenteria is a theocratic monarchy. The high priest of the country also serves as the head of state.

7) The Broken Lands: Another league, but not as organized as Vararis. Each city within the league may have its own form of government (monarchy, democracy, commune), but they’re too spread out along the east coast to realistically put a powerful central government together. They all contribute toward a navy to guard their trading vessels. It is understood, though, that they cannot count on support arriving from another city in time. This forces each city to be self-sufficient.

8) Arendal: The largest country on Aviones is a feudal monarchy. The current ruler has divided the country into several duchies, a couple of baronies, and two city-states. Also, the four marches (Eastmarch, Northern March, Westmarch, and Seawatch) are under the command of a lord general, who serves at the pleasure of the ruler. The nobles serve as the king’s privy council and advise him on affairs of state. Each noble is expected to be able to field a militia and a core of professional soldiers at their own expense.

9) Vulpeni: A constitutional monarchy, Vulpeni broke off from Arendal many years ago. The current ruler is a distant relation to Arendal’s ruler. When they broke away from Arendal, the nobles of Vulpeni established a Great Charter to limit the power of the king, but it also solidified their responsibilities to the kingdom. More of the lesser nobles have been removed for breaking the Charter than kings have been.

10) Nesis: A magistery, the headmaster of the wizards’ college also serves as the titular head of state—when Nesis can be bothered to get involved with other realms. The college administration doubles as the bureaucracy running the day-to-day affairs of the island. The high lord admiral is the second-in-command for government affairs.

11) Elysia: A republic, Elysia’s legislative body is made up of three groups: representatives from each city, the heads of the mining and trade guilds, and the five major temples. The legislature chooses from among the most senior representatives as the executive for three-year terms.

12) Khoi: An absolute monarchy, Khoi has been run by the same family for nearly four hundred years—some hint it may even be the same person all this time. But those people tend to disappear if they say it too often or too loud.

13) The Tribes: The Sorabi are a matriarchal tribe. The Artabi are led by a warlord who is chosen through a yearly martial contest. The Tavii are bands who come together three times a year to meet for trading and festivals. The Blanii are led by a hereditary ruling family—the eldest male in the family serves as the chief while his eldest son leads the war parties. The Aspinthi are led by a powerful shaman. The Camunni are a series of communes that have little trade among themselves. The Lepontii are ruled by a witch-king, and each of the cities is ruled by a witch responsible for protecting it from the volcano when it erupts. The Sicani have a number of city-states hidden in the mountains—they have not quite organized themselves into a league yet, but are likely to be the next recognized government. The Ericusi are a plutocracy, run by the mariners’ guild. The Sythiani are bands of nomads that follow their horse herds, gathering into tribal councils every three months or so.

What do we do, now that we have assigned governments to each of our countries and tribes? Well, here’s where the writer’s job starts to get fun. For example: Is there just a strong family resemblance in the ruling family of the Kingdom of Khoi, or are the rumors of an immortal monarch true?

Why is the government of Nesis so standoffish? What kind of secrets could they be hiding on their island?

Will the Wilds ever be tamed, or will the three competing governments actually go to war over that region? What is so valuable about this rocky, windswept land that it draws the attention of all these competitors?

How closely related are the rulers of Vulpeni and Arendal? If something happened to the king of Arendal, could the queen of Vulpeni be next in line to the throne? Would she have to step down in Vulpeni to assume the throne? Would the kingdoms be rejoined and, if so, which form of monarchy would become predominant? Or would they keep their independence and form a commonwealth, combining the two?

Then again, the Blanii chief might be able to prove an older claim for the throne, so who might be willing to back him?

By adding governments to these lands, we’ve also added story hooks. And if you think this gets complicated, wait until we start discussing resources. After all, without resources, you really don’t have much of a country. We haven’t even gotten to religion yet. If there aren’t story hooks there, I don’t know where to find them.

5

Resources

TIMUR POINTED TO THE SMOKE RISING in the distance. “We’ve reached Elysia. That’s an iron mine over there.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Can we rest for a moment?”

Timur glanced back over his shoulder. After a few moments, he turned and smiled at the young man. “I think so. Your future father-in-law is unlikely to pursue us into Elysia. The Tavii don’t want to run into any patrols.”

“And we do?” The young man paused to catch his breath. They’d spent the better part of the day avoiding a group of Taviian warriors who had taken umbrage over the way he’d thanked that young woman yesterday. How was he supposed to know that touching her hand when she passed him the bowl of gruel was tantamount to a marriage proposal?

“We don’t depend on trade with Elysia,” Timur replied. “If they get caught with an armed war party on Elyisian soil, they could be cut off for quite a while. Elysia does not need the furs and medicinal roots they trade with as badly as the Tavii need Elysia’s steel weapons and tools.”

“At least we should be able to get a good meal soon. I’m glad we had them, but if I never eat another piece of salted cod again, I’ll die happily.”

“There’s a town about six miles from here. We’ll skip the inn. I know Granny Sover. Now there’s someone who knows how to cook. There should be fresh meat and vegetables, and if my nose isn’t mistaken, the blackberries are ripe. She’ll have a cobbler on, for sure.”

Visions of fresh food inspired the young man to find a reserve of strength he didn’t know he possessed. He checked to see that the package he’d been entrusted with was still tucked safely under his tunic and stood up straight. “Fresh cobbler, you say? Lead on, Timur. Lead on.”

We’ve established most of the physical aspects of Aviones, as well as identifying where the various governments are and what they’re like. However, these are skeletons for our story to hang on. One thing that would add a layer of muscle to our story’s body would be to establish who the inhabitants are and why people moved to the island in the first place. We’ll address the first half of that question in the next chapter.

This chapter is going to focus on why people came to Aviones in the first place. Historically, when bodies of people move to inhabit a new land—whether or not it has its own indigenous population—there is an external force moving them. Perhaps they’re fleeing from a militarily superior force, which explains many of the invasions of Europe from ancient times through the High Middle Ages. The Germanic tribes were pushed by the Goths. The Goths were pushed by the Huns/Avars, who were in turn pushed by Slavic tribes who were most assuredly pushed by the Mongols. In these cases, each group was looking for a new place to live, and if they had to clear some earlier settlers to make room for their own people, that’s just what happened. Remember, this whole concept of fighting a war and then giving the land back to the people you defeated is very much a twentieth-century concept.

However, most people didn’t arbitrarily try to conquer others. Usually pressures at home were driving this conquest. Generally there would be three issues that would start a migration: too many people, a lack of food, and a lack of resources. One would exacerbate the other two, but when a tribe or country found itself with restless members, then it was time to point to the far frontier and offer great rewards, tracts of land, and titles for those brave enough to move the current inhabitants on down the road and seize those lands for king and country.

Looking at the island of Aviones, we can see the island is well designed to support a rather large population. There is no major desert and while it has large mountain chains, there is no significant rain shadow, so agriculture of some type is possible throughout the island. Focusing on the southern half of the island, we can see several large rivers and the valleys between them indicating large areas for farming and other types of agriculture. Also, there are sufficient lands in the plains and mountain valleys to support groups of people without encroaching on one another. This implies there is food and other natural resources for the inhabitants.

The countries to the north probably have smaller populations than the southern lands, for the opposite reasons. The populations in this region are probably rather focused in cities and towns that either command strategic passes or are on the seacoast. Instead of farming, the northern countries would likely focus on fishing, hunting, and winemaking as their exportable food sources. We can imagine a thriving trade between the northern and southern lands with wagons loaded with beef, pork, and vegetables going north and fish and wine moving south. Unlike the south, the northern kingdoms would have smaller populations because of the limited food supplies. Overcrowding would put a strain on their development, as too many people compete for too few resources. This also would explain why many of the northern countries are either tribal/federation in scope (smaller groups taking care of their own people first) or else strong, militaristic governments (pushing the weaker groups out to ensure the government’s people have sufficient supplies).

Agriculture, from ancient times through the late Reformation and even into the nineteenth century in some parts of the world, has been a high-labor, low-return affair. Very few areas were able to grow sufficient crops to export to other areas on a consistent basis. Those who worked in farming villages—whether in the fields, in the bakeries, or the mills—were expected to provide a percentage of their labor to their lord for providing protection. In return, these lords were expected to provide for their own lords, as well as ensuring there was food for sale or trade to those who worked in the cities. If there was anything left over, it might be exported to another country (or another region within their own).

Many of the wars fought by Rome—the Roman Republic, not the Roman Empire—were over control of the wheat fields of Egypt. If the general who controlled Egypt, and thereby, the bread that the people of Rome demanded, did not gain one of the high offices in his own right, he certainly was the power behind the Counsels. So, agriculture is a major resource to consider when developing a world. You don’t need to go into detail whether your peasants use wooden plows versus those newfangled iron ones in the kingdom on the other side of the mountains—unless it’s germane to your story. However, if you know one country produces more food than the other, you’ve got a source of tension. Is the productive country gaining a large population and will they need to expand to house all these people? Is the less-productive country desperate enough to consider attacking their neighbor to seize food and technology? Who’s going to feed the plot bunnies?

While food is “a” resource, it’s one of many. Sufficient land and sufficient food will sustain a group of people, but if you want to grow your village into a kingdom, you’re going to require more resources than that. So, what does the island of Aviones have to offer that would have encouraged people to sail from the mainland and settle here?

The number one reason that has driven much of the world’s exploration from ancient times through the Age of Exploration and up to modern times is not gold, rare spices, or gems, but sodium chloride. Salt has been valued for centuries for its various properties in food preparation and preservation, for medicinal and industrial purposes, and as a source of revenue for governments.

Salt has been so valuable that the Romans used to pay their soldiers in salt rations, and the Aztecs were able to control vast parts of Meso-America by controlling the salt production in southern Mexico. As author Mark Kurlansky relates in Salt: A World History, “[Spanish conquistador Hernán] Cortés . . . observed with admiration how the Tlatoque had maintained their independence and avoided the oppression of the Aztecs by abstaining from salt.”¹ According to William H. Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico (first published in 1843), the other subject cities had to provide tributes, some of which included “2,000 loaves of very white salt, refined in the shape of a mould, for the consumption only of the lords of Mexico.”²

In fact, one of the signs of a country preparing to go to war in Europe was increased salt purchases, as well as large amounts of herring or cod that could be pickled or packed into large barrels of salt, and carried along with the armies on the march. Without sufficient salt, it would have been impossible to sustain a large force in the field for any amount of time. While the soldiers might get tired of the taste of salted herrings, it was certainly a better option than “hoping” they could forage enough food from the lands they were marching through. It also made seizing the enemy’s supply train and protecting your own a high priority. You didn’t have to necessarily defeat the enemy in the field if you could destroy their supplies or deny resupply to them. Starvation and disease would take care of the enemy’s actual fighting capability for you. Even today, the modern soldier may hate the Meals Ready to Eat (or MRE), but having a reliable and portable food supply sometimes means the difference between holding out or being forced to surrender. MREs, C-Rations, and K-Rations can trace their lineage to these humble barrels of salted herring.

Also, the ability to salt food meant that sailors were able to sail into uncharted waters. While the older navies did suffer from lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, at least they were able to survive on salted fish and pork, cheeses, and other vegetables that could be stored in salt or brine. Without this capability, crossing the Atlantic likely would have been limited to the Orkneys-Iceland-Greenland-Labrador corridor or the run from West Africa to the tip of Brazil.

Also, salt production had another benefit, one the Chinese discovered around AD 100 and the Western world sometime much later. In salt-producing Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, it was believed that the brine wells were inhabited by ”evil spirits” that caused workers to suddenly get sick; worse yet, jets of flame would sometimes spout from the wells. However, in the year 100, workers realized it was an invisible gas coming from the wells, and would light the holes to identify the source. After a while, the workers began cooking over these flames and eventually ran bamboo pipes back to their villages to fuel communal cooking and eventually into the lord’s home to cook with. By the Middle Ages, the Chinese had learned to pipe natural gas into their homes.³

Heating and indoor cooking by natural gas instead of charcoal or wood, backed up by historical precedent—how’s that for a plot bunny?

Okay, I hear you grumbling that salt isn’t sexy. Where are the gold, gems, and mystical elements that are the staples of fantasy stories everywhere? We’re getting to that.

Let’s look at our country of Elysia, which is tucked in the middle of the Cluster. We mentioned the Great Armory of Elysia back in chapter 3. If you’re known for your weaponsmith and your armorers, you’ve got to have steady access to specific things like coal and iron. It would be safe to say that the Telair Mountains, especially the Cluster region, is filled with veins of coal and iron. The inhabitants of this region who’re not involved with working at the Armory or doing whatever agricultural tasks that can be accomplished in a large mountain valley are probably working in a mine somewhere or supporting the mine somehow.

Nesis, our island to the southwest, is a magistery. There is a reason why the wizards established themselves as a ruling class here: It’s one of the few places in the world where kirbyon can be found. Kirbyon is a rare mineral that reacts to mental stimulation and can be shaped by gifted mages into items of great power. Access to that mineral partially accounts for the wizards’ standoffish behavior toward the rest of Aviones, and explains why their navy patrols the Alborom Strait so ferociously.

(Yes, I realize that kirbyon is an element closely related to the equally fictitious unobtainium, but hey, if you can’t name a mystical metal after comic-art legend Jack Kirby, what’s the point in being a fan of his work since you were eight years old?)

The Broken Lands, along Aviones’ eastern coast, are host to many small mining outfits. The central region is currently dealing with an influx of treasure hunters after rumors of a silver strike have filtered over the mountains into Khoi, Arandel, and Carpenteria. Since the Broken Lands are made up of independent cities, they’ve been at a loss on how to deal with the rabble moving into their area, and some of the cities have begun making deals with the earliest prospectors to police the newcomers for a percentage of what comes out of any mines that may begin producing. Will the new ramshackle towns that are springing up all over the Broken Lands turn into long-term settlements or become ghost towns (possibly literally, in a fantasy world) like many of the mining towns in the American West?

And why have the Aspinthi been able to hold onto their small corner of southern Aviones? Could it be that there is a powerful but very delicate medicinal herb that grows only in their mountains? The Aspinthis’ shaman king has been willing to trade with any who request it as long as his tribe’s independence is respected, but has given orders to destroy the herb’s growing areas should the tribe fall under attack. The southern cities of the Broken Lands, the Arendalian army, and the Nesisian navy patrol the borders of the Aspinthi to ensure their neighbors live up to the deal, as well as protecting the Aspinthi from independent raiders and pirates. Here, the Aspinthi have been able to turn a weakness (small tribe in an inhospitable land) into a strength (controlling an irreplaceable resource).

In general, water makes it much easier for transporting goods than going overland, so also consider how the waterways in Aviones are resources. We’ve stated the majority of the northern rivers are fairly short, fall a long way down the mountains, and are fast. This is a great opportunity to use the forests of the mountains and the power of the river for hydro power. Mills (lumber and grain) will be plentiful, making it economical for the northern people to grind their smaller harvests, while the people in the south grow plenty of grain, but they have slower moving, long, looping rivers. The southern markets are dependent on man- or animal-powered grinding to process the harvests. It may turn out to be more profitable to ship whole grains instead of ground meal to the north.

To paraphrase a comment regarding magic made by game designer and New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman—who discusses world building in the interview at the end of this book—there’s no reason to reinvent things if there’s a real-world equivalent. So, referring to an old World Book, Encyclopædia Britannica, or my standby, the Perry-Castañeda Library Collection at the University of Texas, an ambitious author can see how resources are distributed in real life. I recommend the library’s Thematic Maps collection⁴, particularly the Industry and Economy group of maps to observe economic activity or known resources. The Land Use group of maps shows forestry, vegetation, and land use, and will help you determine what types of fruits or vegetables might be grown in your version of Aviones. For a more “fantasy feel,” check out the Historical Maps of Europe section for the ground plan of a monastery in St. Gall, Switzerland⁵ or the plans for a medieval manor.

Or perhaps you’re steampunking? Then a map of the River Thames running through London in 1882⁶ might be just the thing. After all, we did say rivers count as resources, too. When creating any world, you’re limited only by your imagination. Still, with some careful thought and placement, you can devise realistic reasons for the inner workings of your character’s world.

Remember, the more your readers can relate to the setting, the easier it is to sweep them along in the story. Make the background comfortable and genuine so they can concentrate on the story you’re telling.

Now could someone help me round up all these plot bunnies? I swear, there were only two a minute ago. . . .

6

People

THE YOUNG MAN WAITED AS TIMUR negotiated their passage into Mendar’s Forge, the capital city of Elysia, with the guards. He was struck by the difference in the men, Timur’s darkly tanned skin and long black hair contrasting with the two blond behemoths at the mouth of the gatehouse, their large axes slung easily over their shoulders. A few soft words, a leather pouch that appeared and disappeared so quickly he wasn’t sure if he had actually seen it, and then the two guards were motioning them forward.

Timur glanced back at him. “You may want to keep your hood up. There aren’t likely to be many Dravs around, so you’re going to stand out. Relax and let me do the talking. We’ll get you to your meeting.”

The young man hated the term Drav. It was short for Dravan, but he could never understand why the northerners insisted on shortening the name of his ethnicity. It wasn’t as though it took that much more breath to say the whole name. Besides, Dravans would never disrespect someone else’s ethnicity by giving them a nickname.

The young man looked about in awe. After hiking through the northern forests, to him Mendar’s Forge seemed like a kaleidoscope of people and clothing in comparison. Tall blond women argued with short, stocky, dark-haired merchants. An entertainer with golden earrings and hoop bracelets danced on a corner while a swarthy man encouraged passersby to toss some coins into his basket for her. A huge man wearing only pants waved a spear threateningly at a group of smaller men who were arguing with him in a language the young man could not identify. All in all, it was a maelstrom of people and sounds that caught his attention and held it.

He didn’t realize Timur had stopped until his horse bumped into Timur’s. He looked up guiltily, about to apologize for woolgathering, when he realized that Timur was facing two tall men with coal-black skin dressed in dark clothing. It was hard to tell where the clothing stopped and their skin began. He instinctively pulled his cloak’s hood a little farther down over his face.

“You have traveled far, Hunter.”

“You are a long way from home, Mingali.” The young man could tell from Timur’s voice that he was trying to remain civil, but clearly there was no love lost between the men.

“Yet, here we are. Tell me, what is so important that you’re escorting this stranger through these lands?”

“You seem to know a lot about my travels.”

“Your skill and the identity of your companion are not unknown in Khoi. We keep track of that which interests us.”

“Then get used to disappointment. I have nothing to say to you.”

“Alas. Well, until we meet again.”

Timur waited until the two men disappeared into the crowd and then turned back to his young companion. “We’re going to a different inn than I had planned. Then you and I are going to have a long talk. I think there are a few things you haven’t told me. The Tam-Umbri do not just appear at random. Someone is very, very interested in you.”

The young man swallowed hard.

We’ve established the countries and tribes making up the island, but we haven’t gone into great lengths about who these people are and where they came from. When I look at the island and the work we’ve done up to now in developing it, I see Aviones was populated in three waves. We’ve already talked about the Blanii tribe being forced into the mountains by the forces of Arendal in the south, the Camunni tribe being the remnants of an ancient civilization before the cataclysm that created the Axeinos Sea, and the Aspinthi who live on the southern tip of the island, avoiding contact with outsiders as much as possible.

Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to decide the tribes of Aviones are made up of three major ethnic groups that arrived on the island in the first wave of inhabitation. The tribes that live on the northwestern arc of the island and inhabit the mountains on either side of the Axeinos Sea are known as the Karan. Karans, in general, have deeply tanned skin, dark straight hair, and dark eyes. They have fairly square features and tend to have a stocky build. The Karans are interspersed within several of the tribes in the northwestern regions of Aviones, as well as living in several of the established countries. They tend to be distrustful of strangers, but once they make a friend, they tend to be friends for life. Karans prefer to live in small villages or individual households, but occasionally will live in the larger cities as long as they can go on “trips” from time to time to get away from the crowds.

The second major original ethnic group is the Sirti. The Sirti inhabit the central mountains surrounding Elysia, but they have spread into the northwestern mountains and some live at the southern tip of the Blue Mountains in Arendal. The Sirti are known for their long blond hair that they wear in elaborate braids. They tend to stand taller than the average person on Aviones, their tribal nature shows in their general muscular build and their love of singing, telling tales, and feats of physical strength. The Sirti are known all over Aviones as master bards and heralds, and some would say the Sirti can get a message from one end of Aviones to the other by word of mouth faster than a wizard can send one with his magic. While the Sirti are lovers of song and ale, they are a force when pushed into combat, and stories of these blond, blue-eyed warriors charging down a hill with their axes and shields have frightened many a child over a campfire at night.

The third major original ethnic group would be the Tanisians. Ancient Tanis covered the southern third of the island before the arrival of the Westerners, as the Tanisians call them, and the elders of the tribe continue to raise the young men and women to remember their former greatness and to scheme on ways to drive the Westerners out. Those of Tanisian descent are known by their bronze skin and dark curly hair. Tanisians also have distinctive eye coloring, going from dark brown to an almost pale brown. Some Tanisians are born with an almost golden eye coloring, and they are said to the incarnations of ancient noble spirits. Tanisians tend to favor beautiful, albeit archaic, clothing made of fine materials and dyes in a riot of colors. Different groups of Tanisians favor different colors as a way to tell the members of their group from the others. The Tanisians tend to cluster in two tribes: the Sythiani, who are the horse tribes of southern Aviones; and the Blanii, who constantly raid into Westmarch and Northern March.

The Aspinthi—whom I’ve mentioned in chapters 3 and 4—is a fourth original tribe, but very little is known about them. They are said to be very short and thin, and their skin tone tends to be dark gray. The few people who claim to trade with them say they have bright dark eyes and long, straight black hair. It is rumored the tribe is heavily inbred because of their antipathy toward outsiders, but this could be local paranoia about what the Aspinthi are hiding in their mountain retreats.

According to the tribal legends, most of the inhabitants of Aviones arrived nearly three thousand years ago. All the tribes agree the island was uninhabited when they arrived, but they state there were signs someone had lived here before their arrival. Who these people were and why they left is unknown. All that remains are a few ancient buildings that may or may not have been temples, and some pictographs in some caves on the eastern shore. Additionally, large mounds can be found on the Arendal plains. Some have contained elaborate burial grounds; others have opened into caverns that go miles beneath the surface. Some were just mounds. Who created them, and why? (OK, you authors, here’s a plot bunny for you. Run with it.)

The second wave of immigration to Aviones started about one thousand years ago. That’s when the Dravan people sailed from eastern Reudigni—remember, that’s the continent to the west of Aviones—and landed on the southwestern corner of the island. Bringing the latest in new weaponry, armor, and horses, the Dravan were able to push the Tanisians farther and farther to the northeast and eventually occupy the great plains of Aviones. The Dravan have uniformly black straight hair and brown eyes. They have rather sharp facial features and deeply tanned skin. The Dravan are quite fastidious—some would say fanatical—about their cleanliness and appearance. The men tend to wear their hair in intricate braids while the women tend to wear their hair long. The longer a Dravan’s hair is, the higher in society one is, since this means one has the leisure time to care for their own hair, or enough servants to let them deal with it. For all their fastidiousness, however, the Dravan are students of magic and war, and begin training with weapons from around the age of five. Take them lightly at your own risk.

The Calibrians emigrated from the mountainous regions of eastern Reudigni approximately one hundred years after the Dravan first made landfall. Miners and engineers came primarily in the first wave, searching for iron, gold, and gems, and eventually founded what became Elysia. They settled in the central mountains and intermarried with the Sirti before others from the Calibri region of Reudigni arrived. There are two subgroups of Calibrians: those who trace their unbroken lineage back to the mountain cities of Calibri, and those who’ve intermarried with the Sirti. The Calibrians tend to have stocky builds, reddish-blond hair, and brown or green eyes, whereas the Calibri-Sirti tend toward blond hair and blue eyes. Both groups are quick to anger and quick to get over it, and favor plain, utilitarian fashions in their clothing. They save their extravagance for their ironworking and goldsmithing, creating some of the most elaborate pieces that defy the ability to explain how one thread of gold could possibly take that many different shapes within a single piece of jewelry.

The Umbrians came from a kingdom deep within Reudigni and they’re not inclined to speak of their former homeland. They settled in the Wolf River Valley and established the nation of Khoi. The Umbrians have not spread out much beyond this valley, so if a traveler were to meet one in another land, it can be assumed this person is either an ambassador or a trader. The average Umbrian lives and dies within the Wolf River Valley. The Umbrians have two basic sub–ethnic groups: the Tam-Umbri and the Cel-Umbri. The Cel-Umbri are the most common of the two groups. They have very dark skin ranging from mahogany to almost coal black, with dark, tightly curly hair and brown eyes. They tend to be tall, although not quite as tall as the Sirti, and are somewhat thinner built than the mountain tribesmen. They have a fondness for golden jewelry and try to work it into all their clothing designs, no matter the season. The Cel-Umbri are noted agriculturists and have spent a lot of time terracing the sides of the Wolf River to increase their available farmlands. The Tam-Umbri are very tall, averaging well over six feet, even the women. They are less physically gifted than the Cel-Umbri, but they make up for it in their affinity toward magic. The Tam-Umbri are said to be able to cast spells before they can speak. There are stories of babies summoning their favorite toy or stuffed animal to their bed from across the room at the age of six months. Could these be rumors? Certainly, but most do not want to investigate too closely. The Tam-Umbri are a very secretive group, and make up the ruling class. It is said the current rulers of Khoi have an ashen color to their skin.

Several years after the Umbrians arrived, the Avestan began landing on the northwest coast and spread across the northern arc of the island. Primarily fishermen and traders from Reudigni’s central and northern coasts, they intermingled with the Karan and formed a rather symbiotic relationship with the northern group of Karan tribes. Both groups are now quite dependent on each other, which is why the Northern Karan tribes are closest to forming actual governments than those who live in the Illicitanus Mountains on the southern coast of the Axeinos Sea. The Avestan tend to be of average height and build with an olive complexion, dark wavy hair, and brown eyes. The concept of family is highly important to the Avestan, to the point of supporting family over king and country, and therefore they tend to form rather homogenous groups within their lands. This is why the northern governments tend more toward confederation or almost anarchy rather than strong kingdoms.

The final wave of immigration for Aviones started approximately two hundred years ago. The last three waves are still arriving and it is unclear how their presence will affect the island in the near future. The first group is the Ostians, a group from the east who are apparently moving to Aviones to escape a great catastrophe in their homelands. They have been settling in the Broken Lands, taking areas where no one currently lives, although a few have begun settling in the Wilds and Carpenteria. They are dark skinned with dark wavy hair and extremely stocky. It is not uncommon to encounter an Ostian standing around six feet tall and weighing nearly three hundred pounds of pure muscle. They are fond of loose-fitting, yet colorful clothing, and favor pearls and coral for their jewelry over gold or silver. They are magnificent sailors and navigators, and very adept at turning local flora and fauna into functional items. The Ostians have a preference for striking a target from the sea and the land at the same time, relying on their spears and large shields. They did not seem to know about the bow before arriving on Aviones, but they have wasted no time adding this weapon to their arsenal.

The Rendovan are the current inhabitants of Metaris Island. The magistery of Nesis was established when the Rendovan overran the island approximately two hundred years ago. The original inhabitants, the Qardi, were eventually destroyed either in the initial conquest or from disease. Some have said the Qardi were subjected to inhumane experiments by the magistery, but those who say that out loud tend to disappear or meet sudden, violent deaths. The Rendovan have pale skin with a slight yellowish tint. Dark, straight hair and almond-shaped eyes are common, but there are blonds and redheads occasionally seen on the island, intimating the Rendovan have intermarried with other ethnic groups from time to time. Those who have a golden tint to their complexion and green eyes are taken at birth to be raised in the Nesisian academies, as these traits are considered a sign of great magical potential. The Rendovan favor long, loose clothing with fine thread work, but dislike jewelry as being ostentatious. Rendovan sailors can be found in almost every port in Aviones, as the island kingdom relies on trade to maintain its independence.

The final group of newcomers is the Lycani—the bane of the island of Aviones. The Lycani are the inhabitants of the Euthian Islands—which are also known as the Pirate Isles—and they emigrated from the northern reaches of Reudigni around four hundred years ago. After establishing themselves in the islands, they have since moved to the northern coast of Aviones and incorporated themselves into the lands there. They are generally of moderate height and build, with pale skin and red, auburn, or reddish-blond hair that is straight—although wavy or curly is not unheard of—and the majority has blue or green eyes. When not on the sea, the Lycani wear loose-fitting tunics and pants for both men and women for everyday wear. For more formal occasions, they favor large woolen sashes or kilts done in their clan colors. The clans are quite separate from the pirate bands, which are often comprised of Lycani and other groups. The Lycani are the island’s permanent inhabitants and while they certainly profit from the pirates’ operations, they also farm the islands, fish, and run the small industry found there. While a Lycani pirate is quite proud to proclaim his status as a hunter of the sea, do not make the mistake of calling all Lycani pirates, unless you just want to start a bar fight.

Why did we spend this time creating these ethnic groups? For the same reason we took the trouble to create countries, identify resources, and name the rivers: it adds a layer of realism to your world. Unless you’re crafting a story about an island completely untouched by outsiders, a writer needs to have their characters interact with people who look different from them, act different from them, and have a different view of history from theirs. It’s important to show there’s a bigger world out there than the characters’ little bubble. It’s how your characters grow and, maybe, how your reader grows.

As the old saw goes, “history is written by the winners.” I think in this little world we’re creating here, we can definitely see the Dravan and the Tanisians would have different viewpoints on how a particular battle was won or lost. There’s probably quite a difference between how a Tam- Umbri and a Cel-Umbri see the same portents in the sky, and that’s from two people who live in the same kingdom and share the same heritage. It’s probably safe to say the Karan have quite a different worldview from the Ostians—and we haven’t even touched their religions yet. But we will in the next chapter . . .

7

Religion

Mendar’s Forge.

THE YOUNG MAN’S HEAD STILL SPUN as he walked out of the inn Timur and he were staying at and gazed at the bustling city. Even though it was nowhere as big as some cities he’d visited before, the volume of people crammed into the mountain town was incredible. It felt a little claustrophobic. The towering walls of the city seemed to offer nowhere he could go to get a moment’s peace . . .

. . . until he spotted it.

He had no idea how the gods managed it, but finding a temple to Kuvilan, the Blue Father, here in the middle of the mountains—well, if that wasn’t a miracle, it would do for now. Timur escorted him over to the main doors, but paused and excused himself. The young man went in and found the interior decorated with tapestries and rare silks of the finest blues and greens, a silver nautilus shell dominating the designs. As he stepped into the cool shadows of the temple, a temple maiden approached, her silk robes making a soft sound reminiscent of waves rushing upon to a shore.

She stopped in front of him and held up her forefinger and thumb in a circle to her forehead before bowing to him. “How may I help you?”

He made the appropriate signs in reply and then smiled at her. “I was hoping to visit the meditation room.”

“It is right this way.” She took him by the arm and escorted him over to one side.

“I have to admit, I was surprised to find a temple of Kuvilan here. We are many miles from the ocean, here in Elysia.”

“We all came from the sea, so where there are people, there too shall Kuvilan’s reach be found.”

He went inside the meditation chamber and seated himself in front of the reflection pool, his worries about meeting the Khoi emissaries fading as he watched the light flickering off the slowly swirling pool. In the semidarkness, the quiet and solitude eased his troubled mind, but eventually—too soon, he felt—he rose and exited. The young woman met him at the door and graciously accepted his donation.

Timur came out of a tavern across the street and met him at the base of the temple steps. “I thought I was going to have to go in there after you.”

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

His guide pointed up at the sky and the young man noticed the sun had definitely shifted overhead. “Four hours, fifteen minutes.”

The young man blushed. Apparently he’d been further in meditation than he’d realized.

Timur only nodded and then pointed down the street. “Since we’re obviously not leaving today, come with me. There’s something you should see.”

When we first began developing the island of Aviones, it was a large amorphous shape on a blank piece of paper. Using the strategies I’ve recommended—start outside and divide the world into smaller and smaller pieces—we began with the large things: seas, landmasses, terrain, rivers, and smaller islands. Once we had established this, we needed to populate the island and so we created the countries, determined their forms of government, placed some strategic resources, and addressed the point of ethnicity.

What we’re attempting to do with this exercise is avoid the cookie-cutter approach a lot of fiction seems to take: elves are always haughty and standoffish, specific races are always evil, barmaids are always brainless, knights are always noble, and so on. By building your world in a realistic way, you make your characters come alive because there’s reality behind their existence. You can argue there’s no reality behind a nest of baby dragons your adventurers may come across, but if you’ve built your world with some logic behind it, the reader will accept the fact that dragons—big, scaly lizards that can fly and might breathe fire—could exist.

Now, we’re about to add some more layers onto Aviones to make it feel organic. We started addressing this with the resources chapter. We’re establishing that different areas have access to different resources, which is why they would logically trade with each other. Most nations prefer trade to conquest as long as both sides feel like they’re getting a benefit from trade. After all, trade caravans are cheaper than keeping armies in the field, and you can tax the money a caravan makes. Armies are notorious for not paying taxes—something about having all those weapons makes the average medieval tax collector a tad nervous.

However, there are things that drive our various groups of people apart as much as trade might pull them together. One could be prejudice, and we touched on that briefly in the ethnicities chapter. Now, we’re going to cover religion.

Religion is always a touchy subject. Whether you’re doing an alternate Earth scenario, an urban fantasy set in modern times, or creating your whole world from scratch, there will always be someone who doesn’t like what you’ve done. Even if your made-up religion is completely out of your head, someone is going to accuse you of misunderstanding/making fun of an established religion or cultural heritage.

You, as writer, have basically two options: don’t use religion at all, or don’t worry about it. I’ve read some novels that completely ignore religion and they’ve been pretty well written, but they’re rare, especially in fantasy. It would be highly unusual for a country set in a pseudo–high medieval/early renaissance era to have no religions, when in this period they were almost always state sponsored and a driving force behind politics. In fact, the myth of the god-king goes to the earliest recorded history, predating Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian mythology by centuries.

So, the other option is to press on and don’t worry about the occasional brickbat. Now, that is not to say do what you want. If you want to set up a pseudo-Celtic mythology, then invest the time and do your research. People are more inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt if you’re almost right. That’s called artistic license. I’m not a very politically correct person, but I do try to be sensitive to the fact one person’s myth is another person’s history/tradition. I think a variation on the Golden Rule works best here: Treat someone else’s culture the way you’d like them to treat yours if they were writing about it.

That being said, it’s time we populated a few temples and holy groves on the island of Aviones. Were we anthropologists visiting this island for the first time, we’d note the religions of this island are probably divided in the same manner the ethnicities are broken down. In other words, there will be older and younger religions on this island, and they probably tie into the waves of immigration to the island.

Back in chapter 4, we noted the Aspinthi are led by a powerful shaman, and we noted in chapter 6 that they’re a very standoffish group. It is possible a writer might deduce the Aspinthi were some of the original inhabitants of Aviones and possibly the only surviving aboriginal tribe. If true, then it’s possible the Aspinthi were pushed farther and farther into the mountains until they laid claim to just the southern tip of the island. This would make them not only hostile to everyone (which we’d noted before), but also survivors, living where no one else wanted to or could. In your story, that might not be how you want to go, but we’re going to run with it for now. Let’s assume the religion the Aspinthi follow is unique and their shaman caste are the few left who remember the rituals and the legends of the original inhabitants.

For this scenario, we’ll assign the Aspinthi a pantheon of spirits that they worship. Their main god is Xipia, the goddess of fire. Their legends talk about a great fire that swept over the island, leaving only the Aspinthi behind. Xipia was born from this cataclysm and she led the Aspinthi to their current home, teaching them about cooking, metalworking, and other skills for which fire can be tamed, and also how to use fire in warfare. Other major spirits the Aspinthi worship are Zahin, the god of the sky; Urvil, the dark god of the earth; and Atlan, the fickle goddess of water. The Aspinthi have to rely on Atlan’s good graces to refill their underground cistern and pray she and Zahin are at peace with each other to avoid the dangerous storms that blow through the southern peaks.

The next oldest religions on Aviones would be associated with the other tribes of Aviones. The tribes worship the same pantheon of gods, although over time there have developed differences in how the gods are worshipped, what are the holy days, and so on. This hints to the idea the tribes originally came from roughly the same area of the continent, or at least at a time when this specific religion was strong enough to be widespread. That’s your call as the writer. If it was a powerful religion, could it be ready for resurgence or are these gods slowly going to sleep for lack of followers? Do the gods’ powers depend on the strength of the faith and number of followers? That might be an interesting plot bunny to chase.

The chief god of the tribes is Tkarav, the sun god. Tkarav is married to Konava, the moon goddess, and their many children are the stars in the sky. Most of the children, known collectively as the Dessan, are too busy playing to pay attention to the world, but a few have taken notice and occasionally interact with their followers. Of these, Abana, the goddess of nature, and Aeronis, the god of war, are the most powerful. Twin gods, Abana and Aeronis struggle to prove whether nature will rule man or vice versa. Abana is more popular in the southern tribes where farming and ranching have taken hold, while Aeronis is more widely followed in the northern tribes, where raiding and conquest are more a way of life.

There are a number of lesser gods and goddesses in this pantheon. Not all of the tribes worship the same number of gods, but agree that the Dessan are without number and accept the fact one tribe might know more about a specific Dessi than they do. At last count, the Sythiani worship six or seven, while the Blanii claim to have shrines dedicated to over a thousand of the Dessan.

The next pantheon to address came with the second wave of immigrants. As the newcomers landed on Aviones, they brought along their traditions, cultures, and religions. By this point, much of the continent of Reudigni was “civilized” and divided into nation-states. The easternmost part of the continent was divided into many different governments, but there was one unifying religion keeping intercountry conflicts down to a reasonable level. This unity allowed the countries to send their more hotheaded inhabitants to the wars of the west where the followers of the Rovani pantheon could continue their war against the followers of the other two major religions in the region. Crusades flare up every so often, the most recent one now raging for thirty years, although it’s currently ground itself into a stalemate.

The Rovani is a hierarchical pantheon. There are six major gods, twelve minor gods, and twenty-four demigods who protect the eastern kingdoms and, by extension, the island of Aviones. We’ll review the six major gods. If you want to set a story in Aviones, you can determine who the lesser gods are and what their spheres of influence are.

The chief gods of the Rovani are Gyania, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge; Robidan, the god of the underground; Kesavio, the god of agriculture; Misa, the sun goddess; Viliu, the god of war and manufacturing; and Kuvilan, the god of the oceans. Each of these gods and goddesses has demigods who aid them. Without going into names, Kuvilan has the god of the rivers and streams, the goddess of lakes and pools, the goddess of rain and the god of storms who work closely with him in myth and legend. Also, many of the gods (major and minor) have subdomains. While Robidan is the god of the underground, that also means he’s worshipped by miners, undertakers, and gravediggers, necromancers (who ask for permission before raising a body from the grave), farmers (in conjunction with Kesavio, since the seeds are planted in the earth before they sprout), and so on.

The Rovani are worshipped in most of the countries on Aviones since the majority of the people currently in positions of power are direct descendants of these migrants (or invaders as most of the tribes still see them). This means Rovani temples are the ones most travelers encounter as they make their way across the island. Unless they’re stopping in a tribal village, it’s unlikely to find the Dessan being worshipped in any organized country, with the possible exception of Elysia. Being centrally located, Elysia attempts to maintain good relations with the countries of Aviones as well as the tribes, since they need both groups as markets for their manufactured goods.

However, other areas do not follow the Rovani. In the Broken Lands, the Ostians brought their religion with them when they fled whatever drove them to the shores of Aviones. The Ostians will not mention the name of the islands they fled, for fear that their enemy’s gods might overhear and send the black ships against them again.

The Ostians’ worship is not completely dissimilar to the Aspinthis’ in that the classical elements make up a majority of their pantheon. Koria, the sun god is the supreme ruler, but he is aided by Kydina, the goddess of fire; Teslina, the goddess of water; Avishan, the god of earth; and Rhianu, the goddess of air; and Tatini, the goddess of the moon. Koria’s wife, Beligia, is seldom spoken of and then only in whispers. Her other domain is death and to invoke her name is to invite her to notice you.

Khoi is the only monotheistic region of Aviones. The Umbrians brought their own religion with them when they fled to the island. In their secluded kingdom, they worship Lamya, Goddess of the Dark. The Umbrians are very insistent that no other god is worshipped on their lands and missionaries and priests of other gods generally meet unfortunate fates when they try to proselytize in Khoi. Few beyond the country’s borders know much about the religion and Khoi’s wandering ambassadors go to great lengths to discount and explain away the rumors about human sacrifices and orgiastic rites as being simple propaganda spread by people jealous of Khoi’s growing power.

In chapter 6, we noted the Lepontii are ruled by a witch- king. The witches of this tribe worship a group of unnamed and unnamable spirits who provide them power for a cost. What this cost is has not been discovered by any outsiders . . . yet.

And this leads us to the Magistery of Nesis. Driven by their councils of wizards, the Rendovan reject the idea of gods and divine powers completely. They believe all so-called miracles can be duplicated with the proper application of wizardry. Power comes from magic and magic comes from within. Power is meant to be wrenched out of the grasp of an uncaring and unfeeling world, and not dependent on some fickle god. As you can imagine, the Rendovani worldview is not very popular on Aviones.

So, now that we have the start to all these religions, what can we do with that? Hopefully, as writers, we can take some of these ideas and turn them into either stories in and of themselves, or use them as seasoning to make the island people come alive. Does your character see a miner give special thanks to Robidan just before he enters the mine for another day beneath the earth? Does the adventuring party stumble onto a tribe getting ready to make a sacrifice to one of the innumerable Dessan . . . and what kind of sacrifice might it be? A captured warrior from another tribe? A virginal maiden? A sheep to be sacrificed and then consumed in a ritual feast afterward? If it’s the latter, would your character be comfortable eating something like that or would he or she risk offending the tribe to stay true to their own religious upbringing?

How do any legends you create to go along with these gods and goddesses tie in to your story? Does the cataclysm from which Xipia saved the Aspinthi relate to the one that created the Axeinos Sea? In chapter 1, I mentioned the Axeinos Sea might have been created by the release of great magicks. Do the Aspinthi legends speak of this final battle between the two unnamed forces we discussed? Perhaps the Aspinthi are the only people who might have knowledge of the truth and are protecting some dark secret. That could explain why they’re so antisocial to everyone.

What we as authors need to do is avoid the clichés and stereotypes when it comes to religion. You’ll note I did not go into details about what Lamya, the Goddess of the Dark’s powers are, or what her domain is. In fact, we don’t know if she has domain over darkness, or if the Dark is a more powerful being for which she’s its avatar. However, people will start making assumptions based on that name. This is where as the author you have the power to play with stereotypes. You could have Lamya as an avatar who allows the Umbrians to better commune with ancestral spirits or nature spirits, as easily as you could make Lamya an evil goddess who delights in destruction and chaos.

Also, the concept of a trickster god or spirit is universal. I haven’t added one here, but you most certainly could. Perhaps a god who’s forced to assume mortal guise for one prank too many and is stuck living among us until he’s learned his lessons? Hmm, wait, didn’t Star Trek do something like that with one of their nigh-omnipotent beings?

Whichever path you decide to take with this topic, even if you’re more comfortable just going with the flow rather than outlining or doing massive world building, developing your religion(s) in a logical fashion will help make it feel more a part of the world you’ve developed rather than just an afterthought. You want your readers to not get pulled out of the story and you don’t want to pull yourself out of the story to go do research. Working out the kinks ahead of time (like their names), hopefully will let you keep writing instead of pausing to go research a name.

And if you don’t have a few plot bunnies running around in your head now . . . wait until the next chapter.

8

Cosmology

“WHERE ARE WE GOING, TIMUR?” THE young man asked as they walked through the streets of Mendar’s Forge. He noted the crowds were beginning to thin as the sun slowly set behind the surrounding mountains which worried him. His encounter with the Khoi emissaries had left him concerned about their interest in him. He wondered if Khoi could have been behind some of the attacks he’d already survived on this trip, but the visit to the temple had taken the edge off his nerves . . . for now.

“Since we are going to be here in town overnight, you might as well visit the Grand Observatory. I happened to run into a friend while I was waiting for you and he says there’s going to be an observation party tonight. A group of sages from Nesis have arrived, claiming an unusual celestial event can be observed tonight through the Great Telescope if they point it in the direction of the Lion. Now, I don’t know about you, but personally, I’m curious what would bring Nesisians all the way here, given how much they hate strangers. Besides, he says the observatory staff has placed an order with the local brewery to deliver a special keg tonight for after the observations.”

The young man paused in shock. “Wait, you’re saying we have an invite to an official event at the Grand Observatory?”

Timur smiled and slapped him on the back. “No, we do not have an invite. He’s going to open a side door and let us in. We’re crashing the event. Besides, haven’t you ever wanted to look through that telescope into the heavens before?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I do. I think every child knows about this place.”

“Well then, let’s not keep the man waiting.”

We’ve covered quite a bit in the previous chapters, but now we’re really going to expand a few horizons. Mainly because we’re going to discuss what lies beyond the island of Aviones . . . what lies way beyond.

When our adventurers look up at the night sky, there’s more stuff up there than just little flickering lights. We’re now going to create the solar system, and a few memorable constellations. From those items, we’re going to create the calendar governing Aviones. So, yes, there is a practical application for this exercise, and no, we’re not veering off into science fiction . . . quite yet.

If you’re as much of a space geek as I am, you’ve been amazed by all the discoveries of planets lately by NASA, ESA, and other cosmic scientists. They’ve found stars with supergiant planets whose orbits last less than a day¹, possible planets in the Goldilocks zone²—a means of determining whether a celestial body is “just right” for sustaining life—and even a planet floating around without a star.³ The idea our solar system is not alone in the universe is not that farfetched, so let’s imagine what this fictional solar system might incorporate.

The sun, Lyra, is slightly larger and the same color as Sol, our own sun. However, since Lyra has a greater mass, it captured more debris in its formation and now has eleven planets of varying shape and size: five rocky inner planets, four gas giants, and two ice planets. There is a huge ring of asteroids between planets five and six (more about that later) and a rogue planet that circles Lyra well off the orbital plane, and it causes havoc whenever it returns (more on that later also).

Of these planets, astronomers at the Grand Observatory (located in Elysium on Aviones) have identified nine; we’ll discuss all of them briefly as potential plot points down the line. Perhaps a mad wizard announces the return of the rogue planet. Do people remember ancient legends regarding its last visit, or is the wizard hauled off to the gaol for inciting a riot? Do some of your mythical beings reside on one of these outer planets and if so, do they occasionally interact with the inner ones? If so, why?

The five rocky planets are Biborci, Coritani, Vellauni, Regni, and Isuraan. Of these, Vellauni, Regni, and Isuraan potentially support life. Biborci is an airless planet that circles Lyra every one hundred days. It is tidally locked with Lyra, which means it is incredibly hot on one side and frozen on the other.

Coritani is a mysterious planet covered in mist. Sages and wizards on Regni have debated for years whether life could exist on their green neighbor. Currently, there is no way to prove anything, given the limited abilities of even the most magically enhanced glass and telescopes. Still, bards and poets have been known to wax poetically about the green jewel in the sky, especially when out on a date with a green-eyed beauty.

Vellauni is a planet of great variation. Mountains higher than any on Regni are interspaced with huge canyons that delve deep into the brownish surfaces of the planet. Huge forests cover this planet, as the sages have noted areas of Vellauni that turn green and brown in stages over the course of the Vellauni year. If there is another planet most likely to contain life in the solar system, it would be Vellauni. However, given the limits of both technology and magic, it seems unlikely that theory will be proven or disproven unless the Vellauni are more advanced than the people of Regni.

The world of Regni is the home of our island Aviones. Along with Reudigni, the large continent to the west of Aviones, are other continents and large islands. But we’ll visit those in the next chapter. This one is dedicated to Regni’s sister planets.

Isuraan is a small planet, just slightly larger than Biborci. Apparently hit by another celestial body long ago, Isuraan axis-rotates ninety degrees off from Regni’s. So, if you imagine Regni is spinning like a top, Isuraan rolls along on its side. Similar to Biborci, Isurran only has one face toward Lyra. However, on Isuraan, it’s the northern hemisphere that is eternally in sunlight and the southern hemisphere that is cloaked in darkness. However, unlike Biborci, which is scorched by the constant heat from Lyra, Isuraan is farther away; the constant sunlight helps keep its northern hemisphere warm enough to potentially support life. One of the drawbacks to this eccentric spin is the movement of air from the hot to the cold sides of the planet ensures the planet it wracked by giant storms.

The four large gas giants—Ratae, Uricon, Sorbio, and Durnovaria—circle beyond the asteroid belt. Sages believe the asteroids were once another rocky planet, known as Ardovici. Mystics, wizards, and sages argue endlessly about the destruction of Ardovici. Some claim the gods destroyed Ardovici because its people had become too proud and haughty to bow down before them. Others believe it may have been destroyed through great and evil magicks. Still, a few of the sages who specialize on the stars believe it may have been hit by whatever affected Isuraan. There’s an old saying, get two sages together and you’ll get six opinions—and all of them could be right.

Ratae is a beautiful gas giant of swirling red and gold. It is easily spotted in the night sky and its double rings can be seen without trouble even through a typical ship’s spyglass. Legends say if you view Ratae though one of the telescopes at the Great Observatory as a youth, you’ll grow up to be a star sage. You’ll never get that sight out of your mind. Whether or not this rumor is true, Ratae is an absolutely beautiful sight.

On the other hand, Uricon, with its sickly greenish-black clouds, terrifies those whose gaze reaches skyward. This planet, while twice as big as Ratae, is almost invisible against the blackness of space. Most all the religions on Aviones attribute Uricon as the home of the dead. Some have the god of death living there, others believe it’s where the gods send people’s souls after they die, but there’s agreement among all the mystics that Uricon is a foreboding place.

Sorbio and Durnovaria are twin planets, one green and the other blue, that occupy the same orbital plane. The Dancers, as they are known, circle a singular spot in space. The two of them are locked in a dance, crossing each other’s orbit forming two interlocking circles. Whether something between the two planets is affecting them is unclear to the sages at the Great Observatory. Many people have offered up theories, but for every theory that appears, a counter-theory shows up to shout it down. Some major schools of astronomy have broken up over the Great Debate.

Beyond the most powerful telescopes and only vaguely hinted of in the strongest divination magicks lie Salassi and Oxibi: two frozen worlds where the sunlight of Lyra barely reaches. Little is known about them, but some mystics believe the gods have chosen these two worlds to watch Regni—close enough to intervene if necessary, but far enough away for the people of Regni to have to learn to be self-reliant. However, as noted, most people who live on Regni have no clue these two planets even exist.

However, everyone knows when Tadmor visits. The rogue planet lies almost eighty degrees out of the orbital plane of the other eleven and is known as the harbinger of change on Regni. In fact, its odd orbit brings it between Regni and Isuraan, and can even be seen in the day as it makes its passage beyond. Legends tell of how every three hundred and twenty years, when Tadmor appears in the sky, strange and incredible events occur—empires fall, heroes are born, famine and endless bounty occur within miles of each other, things that should not be are and things that should be are not. Is Tadmor due to return anytime soon? Does the yellow planet, a color that should not be, actually affect things on Regni or is it merely a coincidence, and such events would still happen even if Tadmor was not blazing in the sky?

The planets are not the only things that progress against the night sky. Not unlike the early Greeks, Persians, Phoenicians, Chinese, Japanese and so on, the people of Regni have taken to drawing lines between the stars overhead and creating their own constellations and myths about the stars. Several places around Regni have their own unique names for the constellations, but we’ll focus on the ones most easily seen from Aviones.

The most prominent constellation is The Lion. Six of the ten stars that make up this constellation are among the brightest in the heavens. On the first day of spring, the sun rises between the four stars that comprise the Lion’s body. There is a cult that worships the Lion as if it was an actual god, claiming its sacrifices guarantee a great planting season and a bountiful harvest, but most priests do not put much faith in the cult’s beliefs.

As the year progresses from spring to winter, the sun passes from the Lion to the Waterfall, the Dragon, the Unicorn, the Lovers, the Warrior, the Castle, the Great Dog, the Crown, the Snake, the Shark, and the Ox. Astrologers claim each of these constellations, along with the alignment of certain planets and other heavenly bodies, can foretell the future of men based on the time of their birth. Other sages dismiss this as poppycock and claim people are who they are and no object floating in space has any effect on a single individual on a single planet. So, when you, the author, create your own cosmology, you can decide whether or not there’s any truth to the theory. If there is, then what causes this? The gods? Random luck? A giant cosmic crapshoot? If there’s nothing to it, then are your astrologers merely deluded, or are they intentionally spreading false information; if so, why?

Regni is another unique world in the fact there are two moons circling it. Huntress orbits around Regni in a twenty-eight-day cycle. This formed the basis for the months. Arcturos (the Great Bear) orbits on an eighty-four-day cycle. The first day of the full moon under Arcturos is the celebration of the changing of the seasons. The year on Regni is 336 days long.

As you can imagine, with two moons there are dual full moons occurring for one week every three months, which leads to some monster tides. Conversely, the week of the twin dark moons has very low tides, which can be just as dangerous for shipping and port cities. The twin full moons lead to riotous celebrations. The night is almost as bright as day when both Huntress and Arcturos shine down. The true “dark of the moon” is when some of the more forbidden arts have their most sacred sacrifices. People do not go out when “both eyes are closed” except in dire emergencies. To die on those nights means one’s soul cannot find the right path to Uricon and is doomed to wander the earth until an appropriate guide can be found.

There are six days celebrated in all the lands in Aviones. Each of the solstices and equinoxes has their own special celebration. Spirit Night (18 Turnleaf) is the middle of the week of the twin new moons following the Harvest Festival (01 Harvest Moon). The wall between the spirit world and the mortal realm is believed to be the thinnest on this night, and the spirits of departed ones return for the evening to partake of the bountiful harvest or to punish the lazy who failed to take advantage of the harvest. Twenty-eight Swiftdays is also known as New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Day. Some enjoy the day as a chance to celebrate surviving another year and to wish each other the best in the upcoming year. Others like to use the day to visit the graves of those departed and ensure their memory is not forgotten. They tend to gather in large family gatherings at which the eldest will recall the legends and tales of their families to ensure the children know their ancestors.

Celebration Days:

1 Icewind Winter Solstice (New Year’s Day)

1 Stormbringer Spring Equinox (Planting Festival)

1 Hawkflight Summer Solstice (Fire Night)

1 Harvest Moon Autumn Equinox (Harvest Festival)

18 Turnleaf Spirit Night

28 Swiftdays Day of Remembrance (New Year’s Eve)

So, we’ve established how our intrepid islanders came up with their calendar. The names of the months were originally used by Arendal, and as it grew in power, it simply became easier to adopt the Arendalian names rather than have different names for the same month. It certainly simplified shipping for the various merchants around the island when they all agreed on shipping and arrival times. As the merchants went so did the people, and eventually the nobles found trying to keep each country’s calendar separate a losing cause. Some purists hold to their ancient calendars and some merchants use them to confuse their rivals, but it’s more a matter of using a “code” than it is a desire to return to the old ways.

So, now we’ve created the solar system, the planet Aviones rests upon, the moons and stars overhead, and a way to map the changing of the seasons. We’ve tried to walk through the reasons we came to the decisions we made and what their effects are on this world. With every world designed, very little happens by chance. Once you make a decision to add anything, whether it’s something as huge as a planet or as small as a special bush, you have to weigh what effect that decision is going to have on your world. Also, remember, as I’ve stated time and time again, not everything we create here would be used in a novel or short story; probably only about 10 percent of what we’ve done will actually impact any one story. However, the sprinkling of data that a writer might use will ground the story in its own reality, which makes the fantasy that much more fantastic.

9

Regni

THE YOUNG MAN WANDERED INSIDE THE Grand Observatory, admiring the drawings and paintings that adorned the wall of the reception area. He glanced up through the opening in the ceiling and counted at least four floors between him and the darkened room where they had viewed the planets dancing in the blackness overhead. He could still hear the sounds of carousing going on above him also. Whoever said sages were stuffy old men who had forgotten how to have fun had obviously never been invited to a sky-watching party.

The Nesisian sages had been correct, too. Two comets, one with a huge green tail and the other with twin red tails, had crossed in front of each other. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the Nesisians noted the overlapping trails had formed a symbol representing a letter in their language. However, when the Head Observer asked them for more information, they only smiled and politely told him it was too early to say exactly what it meant.

Timur standing next to him must have picked up on the young man’s thoughts. “Sages—they’re the last people to ask for a straight answer. All riddles and vague predictions, unless it directly affects them.”

“But, it was a gorgeous sight.”

“Yes, it was impressive.” Timur waved a hand at the walls. “You seem very interested in these paintings.”

“Yes. Once upon a time I had hoped to study mapmaking. I’ve been taking careful notes where we’ve gone on this trip. I suspect my employer will find it interesting. Well, my usual employer that is. I’m not a courier by training.”

“In that case, follow me.”

The young man followed Timur, wondering what his companion had up his sleeve this time. Timur led him to a small room off the main corridor and lit a lamp. This room’s walls were covered with paintings and drawings too, but instead of planets, it appeared to be a collection of maps.

Timur pointed at a large one dominating the far wall. “All right, mapmaker, let’s see if you can point out where we are.”

The young man stared in amazement and then walked slowly toward the wall. The map rose high above his head and he saw a wheeled ladder nearby. He stopped a few feet short of the wall and spoke in a hushed tone. “Is that really Regni? I’ve never seen a map so detailed.”

“And most people never will. This is made of hundreds of smaller maps, each one carefully revised as new information about the world is discovered. The Ossians alone added several sections when they arrived. The Grand Observatory hires explorers who have a good eye for detail. When you finish this mission, you should talk to them.”

The young man nodded, but a dark though crossed his mind, “If I finish this mission . . .”

Welcome to the world of Regni. Rev up those plot bunnies, because if you thought you had a lot to write about before with Aviones, we’re going introduce more opportunities to write any story you could want. We already have twelve countries and ten tribes on our island. Just think about what you could do with an entire world!

Referring back to chapter 2, where we first began developing names for Aviones, we mentioned the continent to the west of Aviones was Reudigni. However, when I started working up a world map, I decided that Reudigni was the southern half of a supercontinent. Like Europe and Asia are sometimes referred to as Eurasia, Reudigni is the companion of the continent of Vennic and together they make up the supercontinent of Scandi. Now, besides sages, cartographers, and a few select scholars, 99 percent of the world of Regni will never know Scandi exists, at least by that name. Many of the less-educated might not even know (or care) that the continent is named Reudigni or Vennic either. They’ll know the name of their country, the surrounding countries, and maybe a few faraway lands, but if they’re not merchants, sailors, or adventurers, the odds are they’ll never visit them.

Reudigni covers the southern two-thirds of Scandi, with two major mountain ranges going north and south. The southern portion of the continent is split by Sabrina Bay, forming two large peninsulas that extend almost to the frozen southern seas. These mountain ranges begin merging north of the equator until they get to the Isthmus of Therodica and Briganti Bay, which carves into Scandi like an ax wedge, separating the land into the two sections. Beyond the isthmus lies the continent of Vennic. Vennic is longer east to west and resembles the top of a T with Reudigni forming the body of the letter. It is a cooler, wetter climate than Reudigni with much lower mountains and more plateaus.

Across the Codenus Ocean from Scandi lies another supercontinent: Angrivari. Although about half the size of Scandi, it is heavily populated and a major player in sea trade. Marsi Prima, the southern portion of the continent, has a large coastal mountain range that protects it from the cold storms that come rolling in off the ocean. The western coast is heavily forested and relatively smooth, so no major ports have developed. However, once a traveler crosses the Rhaegi Desert, they enter a lush, agricultural area that supports the majority of the continent’s population. There is brisk trade between the coastal kingdoms and the neighboring kingdoms on the nearby continent of Chersonese.

The northern quarter of this continent is known as Marsi Secundi, a wild and mountainous region, dominated by a large, central plateau. There are some major centers of urbanization on the southern coast, but the northern coast is lashed by winds off of the northern ice fields and is virtually uninhabited. (Or is it? Who could be living up there, authors?)

Chersonese is the second largest continent on Regni, but it is much narrower east to west than Reudigni. There is large equatorial desert splitting Chersonese into two distinct parts culturally. The southern half is dominated by a mountain chain running up its western coast, and the central area is covered with mysterious craters, which some of the sages claim formed the mountains long ago. While some may debate what exactly caused the craters, it is known that there are minerals and metals that can be mined in southern Chersonese that are found nowhere else in the world. The northern half of the continent contains some of the best farmlands anywhere on Regni, and the coastal kingdoms of Marsi Prima are dependent on those farms to feed their burgeoning populations. This means that piracy in the Strait of Colona that separates the two continents focuses more on intercepting food supplies than gold and gems. The kingdoms of Marsi Prima will pay large ransoms to keep their populations fed, but woe to the pirate who’s caught intercepting a food convoy.

Northeast of Angrivari and Chersonese, across the Sea of Anadar, lies the sunken continent of Aborness. The only signs of the cataclysm that drowned the continent ages past are the Zarobara Islands, a collection of several hundred islands occupied by hearty seafarers who rely on hunting seals, whales, and other animals that can survive in those subarctic waters. The natives rely on trade with the neighboring continents, but given the limited resources of their native lands, they discourage outsiders from taking residence there.

Between Aviones and Chersonese are a number of more tropical islands scattered through the Codenus Ocean. The Picensian Islands lie southwest of Marsi Prima and provide harbors for the lumber and mining industries on Prima’s western coast. While nominally independent, these islands are heavily dependent on trade with Prima’s coastal kingdoms. Are they upset with this arrangement, or have they developed a healthy, symbiotic relationship? That, dear author, is up to you. Either way could lead to some interesting developments depending on what your story needs.

Southwest of the Picensian Islands lie the Callatrama Islands—the original home of the Ostians who now inhabit the Broken Lands on Aviones. Are these islands uninhabited now, and if so, why? Did another group of people force the Ostians to flee or perhaps their ancestors still live on these islands? If the Ostians split off from their original tribes, what could have caused the split? Overpopulation? Civil War?

Would someone get those plot bunnies under control?

Farther south, an explorer would find the Siscia Islands, lying right between the southern tropics and a more temperate zone, which means these islands are a riot of unique animals and plants found nowhere else on Regni. However, the islands appear to be uninhabited, and some would say uninhabitable. Several countries have attempted to establish colonies on these islands, but it seems as if the inhabitants simply disappear after the twin darkening of the moons. What could possibly be happening on these islands, and what is the true fate of all the colonists who’ve disappeared over the years?

Traveling east of Chersonese and crossing the Bravurian Ocean, you’d find three smaller continents in roughly a north-south line from each other. Were they part of an earlier continent that settled beneath the waves? The sages are not certain about that, but if they were originally a single landmass, they’re certainly quite different today. To the east of these lands lies the Vareda Ocean, which would lead an explorer to Scandi.

The northern of the trio is Rheba, the snowbound. It extends far into the arctic zone and its climates run from tundra-like barren northern plains to heavily forested southern portions where evergreen trees dominate. It is a sparsely inhabited continent, but the central region is known for its mining and the southern forests are prized for their use in shipbuilding. The inhabitants of this continent are primarily fishermen and merchants, but they have been known to gather their fleets and go raiding across the Cormart Sea from time to time.

The middle continent is Saldinsi, which straddles the equator. The northern and southern thirds are heavily cultivated and have a number of major cities both on the coast and the major waterways. The central plateau is covered with a large tropical rainforest, and large plantations harvest materials there for use by both mages and healers. There are rumors of a lost civilization deep in the jungle, led by a reclusive queen, but whether or not those rumors have any basis in reality no one is quite sure . . . no one except you, dear author.

Across the Albus Strait lies the southern continent of Montani. The smallest continent on Regni, it is easily the most mountainous. Forming five arms off a central hub, Montani is also the most volcanically active continent—easily 50 percent of all the volcanos on Regni can be found here. The population tends to hug the coast, far away from the flaming mountains, but rugged miners take the risks to reach the gems the volcanos had exposed over time.

The icy continent of Ietis covers the crown of the world. It is uninhabited except for a few mages who have managed to discover ways to protect themselves from the bitter cold and the lack of vegetation. Ietis is surrounded by the Ocean of Maelstroms, which carry large icebergs south to threaten shipping in the northern seas. The southern lands are known as Castria, a series of frozen islands covered by a large icecap, surrounded by the nearly frozen Darian Ocean, which is known as one of the greatest fishing locations on Regni—although the larger fish that swim in it are known for hunting the fishermen. Many fortunes have been made in these southern seas, but for every fortune made, three lives are lost.

Now, unlike Aviones, I’m not going to post a map about the rest of Regni. I think by now you should be able to create your own map of these continents. Use what you’ve already learned to create the mountains, rivers, countries, and so on. Regni is a tabula rasa for you to build upon, and I wish you the best of luck designing your own worlds of adventure.

10

Economy

THE YOUNG MAN SAID GOOD-BYE TO an older gentleman and saw Timur sitting on the steps in front of the manor house. A few steps later, he slumped down next to his guide. He let out a long sigh before speaking.

“I thought my journey was supposed to end here in Elysia. It appears my employers want me to deliver another package to Mantus, the capital city of Arendal. I tell you, I’m not sure I’m ever going to get home.”

Timur nodded sympathetically before answering. “It has been a long journey for you already, but one doesn’t always get to choose their own path. When do you intend to set out?”

The young man stared up at the sky for a moment and then sighed deeply. “Well, the first question is, can I hire you to guide me the rest of the way?”

Timur laughed. “That’s what I do, but I don’t do it for free. I’m certain we can negotiate a reasonable fee, though. I might even throw in a discount since you’re a repeat customer. I assume you were paid for delivering your package intact?”

“Yes, I received a bill of credit as well as a small sack of coins for the upcoming trip. I have to say, though, these coins are nothing like ours back home. I had to take my contact’s word on their worth.”

“Well, don’t go flashing them around here. Mendar’s Forge may be a civilized town, but there are people here who’d be more than happy to liberate them from you. If we’re going to Arendal, we’ll need to get some of them changed into marks to spend there. Luckily, the bill of credit should serve to get all the supplies we need here. I know a guy who can help us out—probably the most honest money changer here in town.”

The young man saw the smile on Timur’s face as he continued. “Of course, you realize that doesn’t mean a lot. Keep a hand on your purse and the other on your weapon.”

One of the topics that many fantasy authors skip over in their world building is the economy. If the hero needs money, he just pulls some gold coins out of his pouch and spends them throughout the town, or overtips the bartender to get the piece of information he needs to thwart the villain’s plan. The merchants always have the item she needs to make the perfect disguise.

Note: The ever-full quiver of arrows, while a trope of bad books and movies, doesn’t fall within the scope of world building. However, remember, supplies are limited. People will notice if your characters never “need” to reload or resupply. Plus, knowing you’re down to your last arrow helps raise that dramatic tension.

I understand dealing with economics is not everyone’s favorite subject—heck, I went out of my way to avoid it in college. Still, even though some parts of it can be hand-waved into or out of existence, authors who spend a little time establishing their world’s economy system bring richness to their stories that are hard to replace. I certainly don’t expect authors to provide a dissertation on how trade moved from the island of Ceylon, through the caravans through the Middle East to the port of Venice through the fairs of Champagne and finally to the docks of London. However, it’s not unrealistic for an author to recognize the effects of trade and rare material on a local economy.

An example: eggs were going for a couple of cents in Missouri in 1849,¹ and a dollar a piece in the gold fields of California.² Why? Because there were hundreds of farms in Missouri and only several thousand people wanting them. There were probably more eggs than the entire state could eat in one sitting available, which meant people could be choosy, and so the market forces pushed egg prices low. However, in California at the time of the Gold Rush, there were only so many farmers and thousands of gold miners—many who had arrived in California with little more than the shirts on their backs—so naturally, those few merchants who had eggs (or pickaxes, or beer, or whatever you want to insert here) could ask for nearly any price and be certain someone would come up with the cash or the gold dust. Inflation skyrocketed during the Gold Rush³ because while some of those who struck a wealthy vein were cautious with their money, most of the miners would spend it as soon as they got it because surely, if they hit it once, they’d do it again, right? Lots of money and not a lot of supplies mean instant inflation. Think about that when you have your heroes find that treasure horde. As soon as word gets out, you can figure everything is going to get more expensive—not to mention, everyone they’ve ever known is going to show up to put the touch on them. Call it the Lottery Winner syndrome.

To discuss inflation, we need to set a few standards. Based on various sources, I’ve discovered living during medieval times sure looked pretty good from a consumer’s point of view.⁴ You could buy a bull for 96 pence or 30 eggs for 1 pence. A bushel of wheat would go for around 3 pence during a great harvest or 30.5 pence in the middle of a famine. Those sound like great prices, right? However, when you consider that during medieval times, a dairywoman might earn the equivalent of 0.2 pence a day for 12 to 14 hours of work, or a reaper might earn 4.5 pence per acre of wheat, it means that bull equates to half a year’s work and thirty eggs are almost a week’s pay.⁵ Not quite the deal it originally appeared, wouldn’t you agree? Of course, there were good-paying jobs: the chanter at a church “might” earn up to 5 pounds 15 shillings for a year’s service. And the head chaplin at Windsor Castle earned a princely sum of 6.66 pounds per annum.

Given those wages, what do you think is going to happen if your heroes just wander into town and start tossing gold sovereigns around like there’s no tomorrow? And once prices start going through the roof, what are the locals going to start thinking about these newcomers who are pricing them out of the market? Talk about your laws of unintended consequences! I suspect your heroes never thought they’d be run out of town on a rail for being successful, did you?

So, it doesn’t hurt to establish a baseline for your world. Is it a fairly wealthy one already? Can people afford to buy a book, or are they treated as rare artifacts that the entire town needs to pool their money to purchase? Is education even prized in your lands, or is it strictly the privilege of the wealthy and/or the church?

With Aviones, we’ve established there are several rich sources of raw materials on the island in chapter 5, so we can postulate there would be some major economies on the island. In most societies, coinage came in copper, silver, and gold. Gold was primarily used for large purchases, payment of the military and backing state activities. Silver was for midsize transactions, paying taxes, contracts, and fealty, while copper coins were used for common transactions.

It was the discovery of the touchstone that led to the creation of metal-based money.⁶ Any soft metal can be tested for purity using a touchstone, allowing one to quickly calculate the total content of a particular metal. Also some specific acids reacted with gold depending on its purity. Aqua regia would have no effect on 24K gold but definitely would react with 14K. This was used as a test for counterfeiting. These tests led to the concept of standard coinage. If a silver drachma could be determined to contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent base material, then all drachmas should contain the same. This allowed merchants to ship goods from one city to another and know how much they were being paid as long as both cities used the drachma. Minting money was a carefully guarded process and usually done under warrant from the government—in other words, whoever paid the crown enough up front would get the license—and standardized money would be stamped with dies specifically prepared by licensed die makers. Some of these die makers lived in conditions that could be described as house arrest to ensure against another illegal mint making coinage indistinguishable from the authorized coinage.

And never overlook the effect of sudden introductions of a new source of wealth on not only the local population, but to the countries—and even continents—beyond. The influx of gold and silver into Europe after the Spanish conquest of the Americas produced hyperinflation, which combined with Spain’s weak development of industry—why make it if you can buy it?—led to Spain having to take out massive loans while waiting for the delivery of gold and silver from the New World. In his review of Stanley and Barbara Stein’s Silver, Trade, and War: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe, Ralph L. Woodward notes, “Yet the enormous flow of silver did little to develop [Spain’s] economy, instead flowing directly or indirectly to France, Flanders, Holland, England, or Germany, where it capitalized the more successful commercial and industrial capitalism there.”⁷ So, northern Europe led the race toward the Industrial Revolution on Spanish silver and gold. Plus, to maintain such a large empire, Spain was spending huge quantities on maintaining a large army to protect their lands. Even with controlling such huge reserves in gold and silver, by the end of the reign of Charles V, he “owed over 25 million pesos to bankers, two-thirds of his budget went to finance his debts, and his annual payments on the debt exceeded receipts from the New World”⁸ A Venetian ambassador noted, “This gold that comes from the Indies does on Spain as rain does on a roof—it pours on her and it flows away.”⁹ Even though there was a wide variety of coinages in Medieval Europe, there were certain coins that became standards—the French franc, the Florentine gold florin, the electoral rheingulden, and, later, the British pound. Depending on circumstances, a merchant could accept payment in French francs and spend those same francs in the Holy Roman Empire and get nearly an equivalent amount of goods and services as if he was in France. Now, there were times when one currency was stronger than the others, but that’s what money changers were for, right?

There were two ways to deal with this. The first was to attempt creating a trade coin accepted in all countries. While this never quite took shape in Europe until the creation of the Euro, various Asian countries had trade money in either gold or silver bars of specific weights. A merchant could take an amount of money into another kingdom and be sure they’d get the best exchange rate.

Another method was to use a written document, sometimes known as a Bill of Exchange,¹⁰ or a Bill of Credit:¹¹ an agreement to supply goods, services, or money at a later time in exchange for goods or services now. This was reliant on the merchant finding a creditable person to guarantee this transaction—a merchant banker, a prince, a merchants guild—and then finding someone who’d accept the bill. The person it was presented to could then sell the bill to a local merchant banker for money. This would give the new merchant banker a claim against the first merchant’s goods and he could redeem this bill for money or additional goods at a later date. It allowed merchants to travel between towns without carrying large sums of cash. Much like businesses of today that take out loans against future sales, grain merchants of ancient Egypt used this same system with the farmers who borrowed money to prepare their fields—and then prayed they’d have a good enough harvest to pay off the loan and still make money on their sales.

A disadvantage of using coins for trade was the constant threats of counterfeiting and altering coinage. One of the great scams of American History happened when the Liberty Nickels were introduced in 1883.¹² When they were first issued, they only had a roman numeral V on their reverse, as did the three-cent nickel and three-cent silver pieces. Criminals quickly recognized the new nickel was about the same size as a five-dollar gold coin. They took these coins and had a thin coat of gold electroplated to them and then passed them off as new five-dollar gold coins.¹³ Very quickly, the U.S. Mint altered the dies of the nickel to have the word “cents” added beneath the V, but it took years before the scam wound down and some of these “gold” coins can still be found at coin shows as novelties.

Another scam perpetrated since at least Roman days and probably well before, is a trick called shaving or clipping.¹⁴ Here a scammer will carefully trim the edges of coins (remember, a gold coin is relatively soft), then collect the residue and either melt it into bars of gold and silver, or else turn it into a light coat over a coin made of base material to pass off as the real thing. That is one reason many modern coins have either writing on the edges or ridged edges. This was to make it easy for a merchant to see if the coin had been altered.

There’s always an argument to get rid of money and go back to a bartering system—which works if I have something you want right now and you have something I want right now. However, if you’re a wheat farmer and I’m a citrus fruit grower, our harvesting seasons do not coincide. Therefore either we can’t trade or else we have to come up with another medium. This does not have to be precious metal coins—other cultures have used shells, barley seeds, rice, tally sticks, or something agreed on to represent how much a commodity is worth. One could trade their wheat for so many shells and then trade those shells back to the orange grower for an equivalence of what they’d received from you. However, this is still using the monetary concept, just using a different medium.

For the island of Aviones, we’re going to introduce a number of different money concepts to help facilitate trade among the countries and tribes, not to mention back to the continent of Reudigni. For simplicity’s sake, we will not assign a separate coinage to every country on Aviones, but instead we will have three areas bound by trade agreements. Each country may produce their own coinage, but they’ll agree to value each other’s coinage as if it was made in their own country.

Arendal, Eastmarch, Northern March, Westmarch, Seawatch, and Vulpeni all use the noble as their unit of coinage. One hundred marks equal one noble.

Copper coins: ½ mark, 1 mark, 2 marks

Silver coins: 5 marks, 10 marks, 20 marks, 25 marks, 50 marks, 1 noble

Gold coins: 1 noble, 2½ nobles, 5 nobles, 10 nobles, 20 nobles, 50 nobles.

Twenty- and fifty-noble coins are almost never found in circulation and are primarily used to settle debts between governments and huge merchant families. If a peasant were to be found with one, they probably wouldn’t live long enough to spend it, as they’d be accused of theft. In fact, most peasants might not ever see any of these gold coins in their lifetimes.

Elysia, Khoi, the Broken Lands, and Carpenteria share the scudo. However, unlike the noble, it has a different breakdown with ten grani equaling one taro and ten tari equaling one scudo.

Copper coins: ½ grani, 1 grani, 2 grani, 5 grani, 10 grani

Silver coins: 1 taro, 2 tari, 5 tari, 10 tari

Gold coins: 1 scudo, 2 scudi, 5 scudi, 10 scudi, 20 scudi, 50 scudi, 100 scudi

Again as with the noble, denominations above ten scudi are almost always held by the governments of these kingdoms or the most powerful temples and merchant princes. One of the most common coins to be counterfeited in Elysia is the one-taro coin. It’s small enough to be duplicated by shaving coins from other realms, and it’s a small enough denomination that merchants might not check it as closely as they might a one-scudo piece. However, it takes a brave man to counterfeit in Elysia as the charge of counterfeiting carries the same weight as treason, meaning men will be hung, drawn, and quartered before being burned at the stake. Women have a much lighter punishment: they’re simply burned at the stake.

Vararis, Asari, and Enzelle, as well as the Sorabi tribe, use the crown, which is similar to the scudo in that different coins are forged with different precious metals, but here the coins are set up in a base-12 system rather than a base-10. The Asari, who created the crown, feel it makes it easier to create change since you can have a half crown, a quarter crown, a third of a crown, a sixth of a crown, etc. Merchants who come into the northern trade zone from other areas are warned to count their change carefully, since unscrupulous merchants may make change as if it was a decimal system and cheat unsuspecting visitors out of a percentage of their money.

Copper coins: ½ pence, 1 pence, 2 pence, 3 pence, 4 pence, 6 pence

Silver coins: 1 shilling, 2 shillings, 3 shillings, 4 shillings 6 shillings

Gold coins: 1 crown, 2 crowns, 3 crowns, 4 crowns, 6 crowns

Platinum coins: 1 royal, 2 royals, 4 royals

Here in the north, they have access to platinum—it is mined in Asari and a few areas in Vararis—so rather than minting larger and larger gold coins, they use platinum as their exchange material between other governments. Most platinum coins are traded between the three governments. Platinum pieces that go south tend to be melted down and the platinum extracted for use in jewelry or other exotic items.

It should also be noted the Sorabi do not yet have their own mint, but have recently found what might be huge veins of both gold and platinum near the Asari border. They’re trying to decide if they’re willing to allow the Asari to send a mining expedition in exchange for their own mint or if they want to begin mining it themselves and establish their own coinage, but the cost of defending such a mining operation might be more than the scattered tribes are willing to fund and man.

Now, there are a few areas we did not mention. The Brotherhood of the Sword is an equal opportunity group and they’ll use any coinage they can get their hands on in the islands. The few merchants who set up in those forbidden islands are quite careful with their touchstones to ensure the pieces the pirates trade them. In return, the merchants will issue chits stating there is a specific amount of credit for the holder of the chit. As they exchange the chit for items, partners, or ale, the receiving merchant marks reissue a new chit with their cut taken from it. Once a month, the merchants meet to exchange chits for coins, and then the coins are shipped to the mainland to be exchanged for more goods.

Like the Brotherhood, all coins are accepted in the Wilds and by most of the tribes on Aviones. Both of these groups are also known for their use of trade markers, to represent a specific number of furs, gems, or foodstuffs they’ve traded with another tribe in exchange for trade at a later date. Trade can be one thing that brings two tribes together, but it has also started many wars among the tribes when one has felt it’s been taken advantage of in a deal, or one side reneges on a trade agreement.

The one thing almost all of the countries on Aviones agree on is the need for a common trade coin for dealing with the continent of Reudigni. They’ve had issues with the merchants back on the mainland who’ve conspired to undervalue the money of the island and charged ruinous exchange rates when merchants from Avoines have attempted to do business there. After years of negotiations, most of the major trading ports on the continent and the merchant guilds of Aviones came to an agreement on a trade coin that can only be spent in specific ports on both areas. There are official government trading posts monitoring the exchange of these coins to ensure equitable trades take place, and then the trading houses convert these coins into the local equivalent. The trade coins are called the lion. One hundred talons equal one lion and one hundred lions equal one unicorn.

Copper coins: 1 talon, 2 talons, 5 talons, 10 talons

Silver coins: 20 talons, 25 talons, 50 talons, 1 lion

Gold coins: 1 lion, 2 lions, 5 lions, 10 lions, 20 lions, 50 lions

Platinum coins: ½ unicorn, 1 unicorn, 5 unicorns, 10 unicorns.

Since these are trade coins, the gold and platinum coins are the ones most traded. The silver and copper coins are only made every so often and never in great quantities, and are mainly used for paying merchant ship crews who can only spend them in those port cities that accept them. Needless to say, they’re not very popular with the sailors, considering the difficulty they have turning them into local currencies.

The main recipient of the silver and copper version of the talon is the Magistery of Nesis. Nesis is the major mint producing the lions and talons and supposedly they use the trade coins exclusively within their borders. Since most people from Aviones never get beyond the one trading port on the island, it is unknown if the trade coins are actually used on the island proper or if there’s another form of currency hoarded within.

To recap—we’ve established how the money system works on our island, and discussed basic economic concepts. We’ve established how trade could work among the various countries, the potential pitfalls of these trades, and how “official” trade moves back and forth between the island and the mainland. We’ve also now created some specific ties between countries due to a shared coinage, which implies trade and treaties, which may become influential. After all, if you’re tied to a country economically, is your government willing to let your major trade partner fall to an outside invasion? Or maybe your government should investigate absorbing your neighbor to forestall it falling to an outside influence. After all, since you already share a common currency, it should be easy to absorb their merchant class . . . right?

11

Military, Part One

THE YOUNG MAN WINCED AS A branch smacked his arm. The rider on his left looked back and gave him an apologetic nod. They’d been riding in silence ever since they left the border town of Kiren’s Dale. The troop of soldiers escorting him was almost as quiet as Timur, moving like ghosts through the trees. Their armor was muted with greens and browns, and the long cloaks they wore made it even more difficult to see them in the morning fog.

As they passed by a large moss-covered boulder, the leader raised his hand and made a strange motion with his wrist. Timur edged his horse closer to the young man as the other riders surged forward. The young man saw a line of horsemen waiting for them—Khoi warriors on matching black mounts. Alternating black, silver, and gold scales covered their armor. A quick glance told him this was not just ceremonial armor, as some of the warriors bore the scars of battles past.

The young man recognized the Khoi who rode forward: Mingali, the man who had accosted them in Mendar’s Forge. “Ah, Timur, I told you we kept track of that which interested us. Now, you will answer some questions.”

Timur let out a noise that was somewhere between scoffing and laughing. “Mingali, you are too late. We have already accomplished our mission. There’s nothing to be gained by impeding our progress.”

“No? I think the priest-king might find what your companion knows very useful.”

There was a sudden rustling as both sets of riders loosened their weapons, but no one wanted to be the first to draw their weapons . . . yet. The young man was trying to decide the best way to handle this when a bird’s cry suddenly split the quiet.

The soldiers looked around and Timur called out, “Mingali, truce until first light tomorrow?”

The Tam-Umbrian nodded back to him as he drew an odd-looking sword from the sheath on his horse. “Truce. Provided we see first light.”

The young man was about to ask Timur what was going on when a blue-shafted arrow streaked out of the woods. One of the Khoi warriors slid silently off his horse, the shaft imbedded in his neck. A scream split the silence as a horde of Camunni warriors, naked to the waist, spilled down the hills to either side. The two groups of soldiers drew their swords as one and waited for the onslaught of spears and axes to come.

“Boy, I hope you know how to use that sword of yours,” was the last thing he heard Timur say as they charged forward to meet the Camunni.

At this point in our world-building exercise, we’ve introduced the concepts of countries, governments, ethnicity, and religion. We’ve established that there’s a healthy trading economy on Aviones, as well as major industries. However, there’s a subject we haven’t touched on that is vital to establishing and maintaining a government: how order is maintained.

Unfortunately, like the real world, Aviones is not a utopian society, and therefore needs armies to protect its interests. However, war is a costly business. Only the wealthiest nations can maintain a standing army during peacetime, and given the pseudo–late Medieval/early Renaissance time period we’ve established for Aviones, maintaining a professional army is definitely a drain on the economy. So, these kingdoms and tribes are not going to have hordes of trained, combat-experienced warriors living in every village, and they’re not likely to be able to support a war that requires constant campaigning over multiple years. In fact, depending on geography, most historical wars tended to be fought in the summer (and the winter in lower latitudes). Only an extremely wealthy king could afford to have the majority of the men in his kingdom not out in the fields during planting and harvesting time.

How do countries defend themselves and expand their borders? Most medieval countries relied upon a small cadre of professional soldiers. These individuals, usually nobles, were given territories to defend for the king/emir/emperor/khan at their own expense. Now, even given the power to tax, these nobles couldn’t maintain huge armies on their own—nor would their lord want them to, since they could use them against him. However, they could maintain a core of soldiers who trained on a regular basis.

Should their lord put out a call for support, the noble would gather his trained soldiers—as well as any other men capable of fighting—and go marching off to meet up with other nobles who owed their loyalty (and their positions) to the lord. Once the lord had assembled his army, he would organize his forces. Remember, too, along with his soldiers, there would be a number of people in his retinue: blacksmiths, cooks, courtesans, drovers, horse wranglers, baggage handlers, and general hangers-on who want to watch the battle. The lord and his generals would attempt to mix the best-trained warriors among the army to disguise the hordes of untrained soldiers before marching off to meet a similarly semi-trained army. Examine a few of the old battles from, say, the War or the Roses, the War of the Three Henries in France, or the response to the Mongol invasions of Eastern Europe. For example, where the terrain was reasonably flat and they had time to organize their units, the smaller army tried to concentrate their best forces (knights, heavily armored swordsmen), which would be held in reserve for that specific moment when the opening would come. The average soldier was issued a large shield, a pole arm or a pike, and put into large formations to the front, where they formed a wall of shields to withstand the larger army’s advance. Archers were drawn up behind the shield wall and on the flanks to harass the onrushing forces. Given time, the archers placed rows of sharpened stakes in front of their positions to help against onrushing horses. On the far flanks, formations of cavalry, both light and heavy, tried to envelop the flanks of the enemy or chase down any fleeing foes.

With any luck, the king had hired some mercenaries to provide skills that his men did not have. Over the course of history, mercenary units have included lancers, horse archers, archers, slingers, halberdiers, pikemen, and even siege engineers.

The good thing about mercenaries was they were highly trained, since they made their living fighting. Plus, with any luck, most of the mercenaries would get killed off and you wouldn’t have to pay them. The bad thing about mercenaries was that if the enemy learned you’d hired them, they might try to hire the mercenaries out from underneath you. Also, if the battle went badly, the mercenaries might decide there was no sense throwing good men into a bad situation and either pull out and refuse to fight, join your enemy, or, in the worst situation, turn on both sides and attempt to seize the lands for themselves. After all, they are professional warriors. If they’re stronger than your forces, why are they fighting for you instead of you fighting for them?

Obviously, if you’re doing a story that’s more Greco-Roman in spirit, I’d highly recommend studying the campaigns of Hannibal, or Julius Caesar’s Gallic campaigns. If your story is more Napoleonic, the battles of Austerlitz or Waterloo are incredibly researched and detailed. However, since we’re dealing with Aviones, we’ll stick with the High Middle Ages for our inspiration.

Obviously, unless you’re telling a grand, sweeping epic or a nonfiction historical piece, odds are your character will have little idea of what’s going on more than a few dozen feet around them once the melee begins. In fact, unless they’re one of the army’s leaders, it’s likely all the battle strategy they will know is, “go here, hit the guys who aren’t ours.”

One thing I learned in participating in a few wars in the Society for Creative Anachronism is that once the battle starts, it’s very difficult to keep track of what the heck is going on around you. In my first war, my basic job was to back up the shield wall, avoid getting smacked in the head by a rampaging pike thrusting through the line, and gang up on people who broke the shield wall before they could do much damage. I know there was a grand overall plan, but as a mere swordsman, it wasn’t important for me to know. Once the battle started, I was too busy trying to stay alive to worry about what was going on twenty feet away. Sometimes, anything more than five feet away was pushing it. After about half an hour of wearing sixty-five pounds of armor, and carrying a five-pound shield and an eight-pound broadsword, honestly, the only thing I was worried about was when the battle was going to end so I could get out of all that gear.

If you’re telling your story from an individual’s point of view, keep this in mind. The king may be able to get a general feel for the battle if his retinue is on a hillside where he can watch the moving pennants. The knight on a horse may be able to see a bit more given his position, but the average warrior is not going to know if the battle was won because of a great cavalry charge on the flank until well after the battle is won. He or she is going to be too busy fighting for their lives until there’s either no one moving in front of him or he’s too busy running and hoping like hell the cavalryman chasing him spears the other guy instead.

So, now, pulling this back to Aviones, let’s examine some of the countries and tribes and see if we can get a good feel for what the militaries on the continent might look like. We’ll take them in the order they were introduced back in chapter 3.

1) The Brotherhood of the Sword: The pirate bands that haunt the Euthian Islands are a bit too disorganized to form into true military units. In general, the average captain’s reaction to a true naval unit tends to be run, hide, and wait for them to give up and go away. However, this is not to say that they can’t get organized for a raid. The more charismatic captains can pull a small fleet together for a raid on a coastal village or even a small town. However, these small fleets use strictly hit-and-run tactics. The pirates have a hard time standing up to well-organized militia, much less an actual army, so they rely on speed, scare tactics, and good reconnaissance for a successful raid.

2) Varais: Being a league of independent cities and villages, there’s not a typical standing army in Varais. Also, given the terrain of northwestern Aviones, a large army would have a hard time responding to an incursion anyway. There are too many mountains and fjords to easily transport a unit around, so villages have militias to deal with pirate raids and incursions by the mountain tribes. The two largest towns in Varais would have what there is of the Varaisian fleet.

3) Asari: For a small country, the Asari are one of the few that can afford a professional army and navy. The merchant families who control the Asari government ensure that there are sufficient soldiers to guard their caravans and no merchant fleet goes without a naval escort. However, these forces focus on defending warehouses and shipping areas first; the smaller villages and farms are left to their own devices. Beyond the merchant guild armies, there is another organization that patrols the hinterlands. The Gray Guard is not quite a militia and they’re not quite mercenaries, their members drawn only from Asari natives. Each village is expected to provide either manpower or material to support the Guard.

4) Enzelle: The warlord of Enzelle maintains a cadre of professional soldiers loyal to him. Since this is a meritocracy, anyone can challenge the warlord for his position, but in reality, warlords are chosen almost exclusively from this cadre, who maintain castles or forts in strategic places to discourage pirate raids and to encourage the Aratabi to focus on smaller, easier targets like Asari caravans. However, the cadre is scattered, so Enzelle relies upon its militias to rapidly respond to pirate raids. A mountainous country, these militias man a series of watchtowers and watch fires provided to identify where the raid is taking place.

5) The Wilds: Given that there is no government in the Wilds, there obviously is no standing army; the closest approximations would be Redding’s Raiders, Booker’s Gang, or Wallace’s Band—the three largest bandit groups. Also, you might find groups of soldiers from Enzelle, Carpenteria, or Elysia in the Wilds, but they’re probably hunting one of the bandit groups. The main inhabitants of this area would be the Tavii, and their fighting styles are covered in the tribal section. These groups of bandits are not organized like a typical military, but they’re not stupid, either. They rely on scouting, stealth, overwhelming force against smaller groups, paying people off, and living off the land to stay intact. There is a loose chain of command and everyone is expected to keep their own armor and weapons in good working order. However, when facing equal or greater force, it’s every person for himself.

6) Carpenteria: Carpenteria is different from most of the other governments on Aviones since it is ruled by a priest-king. Though they do not have a typical standing army, the warrior priests of Viliu, the Rovani god of war, are a force to be reckoned with. The main temple to Viliu is in the capital city and over six hundred priests conduct both spiritual and martial training there. Upon completion of their training, two hundred of these priests are sent into the Wilds to establish shrines to Viliu and to serve as priests in the villages tucked along the shoreline, where they teach both Viliu’s message and fighting techniques. The others serve as the capital’s defense force when they’re not dealing with restless tribesmen, going into the Wilds to punish an overenthusiastic bandit gang, or guarding some prospectors who are shipping valuable ores back to Carpenteria.

7) The Broken Lands: The Ostians brought a completely different style of warfare to Aviones, preferring quick raids when they go on the offensive and relying on natural and man-made defenses to protect their villages. When they first arrived on the island, they did not use armor, but they have quickly adapted to wearing light armor when attacking an enemy from land. Their marine forces still rely on the traditional tall shield and spear to fight when coming ashore. Every Ostian adult is expected to be able to fight, but they realized they’re badly outnumbered in this strange land. Many of their raids on other Ostian villages become duels between a champion or group of champions. If the attackers win, the losing village has to provide food, treasure, or a sacred relic to the winning side. Only when fighting against the mountain tribes or pirates do the Ostians fight to the death.

8) Arendal: Arendal has the strongest economy and military on all of Aviones. The Dravan won this land by driving the Tanisians (now mostly represented by the Blanii tribesmen) into the Telair Mountains and seizing the southern plains. Arendal is divided into five sections, each with its own military.

Arendal proper is linked together by a series of castles at which each noble maintains a cadre of cavalry, infantry, and archers. These nobles are required to train their villagers for war, ensuring there’s an effective militia to fight alongside the Arendalian army. However, with the establishment of the four military regions, or the Marches as they’re known—Eastmarch, Northern March, Westmarch, and Seawatch—some of the nobles aren’t quite as enthusiastic as they could be with the training, relying on forces residing in the Marches to handle matters long before their own lands are threatened.

A testament to Arendal’s wealth is that three orders of knights exist within the country’s borders: one a strictly military order, one a knighthood dedicated to Viliu, and and one—the smallest of the three—dedicated to Misa, the Rovani sun goddess. Each order maintains castles throughout the Marches, but their main castles and centers of power lie in an equidistant triangle around the capital city.

Eastmarch—home to the Sythiani tribes as well as some bandits and hill tribes—is lightly patrolled by cavalry units. The Sythiani have a good relationship with the king of Arendal and, for a price, are happy to provide additional light cavalry support in return for being left alone to raise their herds on the plains.

Northern March has the highest concentration of Arendal’s military and militias. The Blanii believe they are the rightful rulers of the plains and intend to drive the Arendal usurpers back into the sea. So, the king keeps the majority of his army in the Northern March to deal with this potential threat. A number of villages have reported a rise in Camunni raids. Someone, or something, seems to be stirring up the tribes along the southern shore of the Axeinos Sea and the Marchers—as those who live in these military regions are called—rest uneasily in their homes at night.

Westmarch is considered the easiest duty in the Marches. The custom halls on the border are the only places where full-time soldiers can be found in this march. The militias are called out twice a year for training, but given the current peace between the Arendal and Vulpeni crowns, the only villages that take their militia training seriously are those near the southwestern coast. These villagers recall the stories about how the Dravan landed on the coast before conquering the lands now known as Arendal and they are determined any new invaders will be driven into the sea.

Seawatch is home to the Arendalian navy. Even though Arendal is primarily a land power, trade, especially with Reudigni, is vital for maintaining the strength of the Arendalian lands. The Arendal navy projects the kingdom’s power along the coasts of Aviones, discouraging pirates and rival navies from interfering with the merchant and fishing fleets. The Arendalian admiralty has begun incorporating Ostian sailors into their ranks, taking advantage of their knowledge of the eastern seas and navigation skills to improve their own training at the academy on Flora Island.

9) Vulpeni: The Vulpeni military resembles the Arendalian forces, except they rely upon their cavalry more than they do their infantry. The nobles not only maintain their own cadre, but are required to provide relatives to the queen’s forces. This gives her a chance to ensure they’re properly indoctrinated into the benefits of maintaining a strong monarchy. The Vulpeni do not have many deep harbors, but they have several squadrons of coastal vessels that move their smaller infantry units to trouble spots as necessary.

10) Nesis: The Nesisians rely upon their distance from the mainland to discourage assaults. However, their small army is well maintained and has the best modern armor and magical support whenever it has to deal with an overly aggressive—or overly desperate—pirate band. Nesis’s navy protects its shores and guards its merchant fleet. The Nesisian navy incorporates many modern touches as well as magical enhancements for their warships. They guard the secret of these advances with their lives. The crew of a Nesisian ship that cannot make it back to Nesis or a friendly port will scuttle it rather than risk capture. The only Nesisian ship ever to fall into pirate hands came about due to a plague that swept through the ship. That ship, The Shadow of Death, as it was renamed, is the most hunted vessel in the world. The Nesisians constantly send squadrons to reclaim their property and five other countries want to capture it for study. However, the current captain, Sylvia Blackthorne, has outwitted all comers so far.

11) Elysia: The Great Armory in Mendar’s Forge turns out the greatest weapons of war in all of Aviones. Therefore, it should be no surprise the army of Elysia is the best-equipped and best-trained force. The current rulers have no interest in expanding their lands—and caught between Khoi and Arendal, where would they go anyway? The Elysian army is a defensive force with a permanent corps and trainees. Every adult is required to spend two years in the Elysian army, which is an infantry-heavy unit. Those who impress their commanders are offered the opportunity to remain in the Iron Guard. Those not chosen are required to join their village militia upon their return. Every soldier in Elysia is trained in mountain warfare and can live off the land when necessary. There is a small cavalry unit, for escorting important dignitaries, and a company of crossbowmen who are permanently assigned to guard the Great Armory.

12) Khoi: Khoi maintains two armies. One is designated to protect the land and the people of the Wolf River Valley. The second army is known as Night’s Spear, a unit of six hundred men responsible for the protection of the capital city and, more important, the protection of the High King. Every member of Night’s Spear is drawn from the Tam-Umbrians, while the general army is drawn from the Cam-Umbrians. There is no militia in Khoi because only those chosen to be in the military may use a weapon. Should a peasant pick up a weapon to defend himself against a bandit, the peasant may be killed by a soldier for attempting to rise above his station. This does not mean the peasants won’t defend themselves and it’s amazing how inventive one can be with a “farm tool.”

Khoi has a small navy located in the Axeinos Sea. The navy serves two functions: to escort their merchant ships when they make a run back to their former homelands, and to keep an eye on the Lepontii, who still live on the Island of a Thousand Fires. Why the Khoi seem to be worried by this ancient race is unclear. The Khoi have their reasons and that’s explanation enough for outsiders.

We’ve covered the militaries of Aviones’ kingdoms, but what about the tribes who inhabit this land? Plus what about the famous (and infamous) mercenary units that have made a name for themselves? And speaking of the Great Armory, what kinds of weapons do these people use anyway? That, friends, will be revealed in part two.

12

Military, Part Two

THE FIRST THING THE YOUNG MAN noticed was the clouds overhead swirling in the sky; the next was the throbbing pain in the side of his head. He reached up. A wad of cloth was bound to his head. Even this small amount of movement caused agony.

“Ah, he’s waking up.”

He turned toward the unfamiliar voice. A rough-looking man guided a water skin toward his mouth. He drank greedily until the man pulled the skin away. “Nah, no more for you. A few sips until we’re sure you can hold it. Last time, you wound up spewing it all over me.”

Rough laughter followed that comment and the young man rolled onto his side. Timur, his arm in a sling, was speaking to a man wearing a well-worn metal breastplate. The rest of the men in the camp were wearing mismatched leather armor. Their weapons were well maintained, though.

Timur noted the young man was awake and joined him.

“Glad to see you’re awake. You took a nasty shot earlier.”

“What happened? I remember the Camunni attacked, and then everything’s all confused after that.”

“The Elysian and Khoi forces held their own. However, halfway through the battle, another group of Camunni attacked from the rear. I should have known better. They never attack unless they have a significant advantage.” Timur paused and smiled at the young man. “I’ll give you credit—what you lack in skill, you make up in ferocity. You could be a great warrior, if you ever want to get out of the envoy business.”

The young man raised his hand to his head again. “Thanks, but I’ll stick to delivering messages. It’s usually less painful.”

Timur laughed. “Those who survived the second wave formed a defensive circle against a cliff wall. That way, the Camunni had to come at us head-on. Still, if the Hammer of Viliu hadn’t heard the fighting and investigated, our bones would be decorating caves on the shore of the Axeinos Sea.”

“The Hammer of Viliu?”

“Mercenaries dedicated to Viliu.” Timur’s voice dropped conspiratorially, “If you ask me, they’re more interested in the war and less about the god of war, but the church sponsors them, so who am I to judge?”

A shadow fell over them. They looked up. Mingali, the leader of the Khoi forces, was standing there. “Ah, good to see you are awake, Envoy.”

The young man kept his face impassive. “I am also glad to see you came through that battle, Mingali.”

“We were both fortunate. However, I am the only survivor of my command. I will be traveling with these mercenaries to the nearest town. It appears you will not be coming with me—this time. May the gods continue to favor you.”

The young man watched as the Khoi warrior disappeared into the mass of men moving through the camp. “I don’t trust him.”

Timur looked toward where Mingali had vanished. “Neither do I. As soon as you can travel, we’ll be heading south.”

In the previous chapter, we discussed developing the warriors of the nation-states of Aviones and how you could adapt this process to your own worlds. Here, we’ll continue to develop our island by reviewing military strengths and the tactics of the tribes inhabiting the areas not under the control of one of these nations. This doesn’t mean a nation doesn’t claim that area, but claiming something and controlling it are not always synonymous.

We’ve established there are ten major tribes and an unknown number of offshoots, isolated bands, and small pockets of people who refuse to recognize the dominion of a larger government. Still, there are some similarities among them. The first is a reliance on speed over protection when it comes to armor. Leather and hide armor are the most common types used, occasionally supplemented with small pieces of metal to protect vital areas. Given the rough terrain most tribes have been forced into to maintain their independence, they can’t afford to be bogged down with sixty to a hundred pounds of armor, twenty to thirty pounds of weaponry, and heavy backpacks.

The average tribal warrior is probably wearing boiled leather to protect their torso, with quilted padding beneath it. Not only does the padding provide an additional layer or protection, but the quilting keeps the stiff leather from chafing during long marches through the hills. They may or may not have quilted padding on their upper legs. A few may have leather wrappings on their arms and legs for protection and some may use leather helmets, though many eschew those as “lowlander,” which is equivalent to the term “weak.” Some of the tribes, especially in areas where they have resources for either trade purposes or their own industry, have begun experimenting with either brigandine armor—which is a soft, supple leather with metal plates or disks attached by metal brads—or some version of ring mail, which incorporates large circles of heavy wire sewn into the outside of the leather. It might not help much against a direct hit, but it is surprisingly effective against glancing and deflected blows.

For all their interaction with the lowland nations, the tribes find their weaponry is still quite effective, relying primarily on spears and axes. Some tribe members who’ve served in a lowland army or a mercenary unit before may be skilled with other weapons, but it is still a rare sight. Tribes pride themselves in their archery skills, and bows created by the Tavii are especially sought out for their strength and durability. The tribes hold the crossbow in contempt, though, considering it the refuge of the incompetent.

Let’s examine the ten major tribes inhabiting Aviones.

1) Sorabi: As mentioned back in chapter 3, there’s little difference between the Sorabi and the Vararisians—the two groups have intermarried to the point they’re virtually indistinguishable. The Sorabi tribesmen live in the fringes of Vararis and have adopted many of the fighting techniques and weapons associated with that country. It’s not uncommon for the Sorabi to spend some time serving in the Vararisian militia as a way to earn a living before returning to the tribe. Unlike many tribes, they also have good relations with the Sicani. Many Sorabi join mercenary units and serve as shock troops for these commands.

2) Artabi: The prototypical raider culture, the Artabi prey on every country and tribe that adjoin their territory. Despised by most, the Artabi have been forced into some of the worst territory on Aviones with respect to mineral wealth or croplands, so they have little of value to engage in trade with their neighbors. The only options the Artabis’ ruling families can see is surrender their independence and merge with one or all of their neighbors or take what they need to survive from people who are too weak to hold on to their possessions.

The Artabi organize themselves into small war bands of thirty to forty warriors to raid the neighboring lands. These bands tend to be loosely organized and since the Artabi believe you own what you can carry (and defend), bands slowly disintegrate over the life of the raid as each warrior fills their own goal/needs and then returns home with whatever they can carry. Some victims of Artabi raids have taken to leaving their homes abandoned, only to organize ambushes against the homeward-bound raiders.

3) Tavii: The Tavii have a healthy trade relationship with the weaponsmiths and armorers of Elysia. While the Tavii still rely on speed and lightweight equipment to maneuver through the Cluster, they see no shame in using the finest axes, knives, and spears the Great Forge can produce.

Beyond the usual family groupings, their current leader of the Tavii controls the Night’s Terror, an elite group of warriors dedicated to protecting the “Voice of the Tavii,” as their high chief is called. This group of forty warriors is supported by donations from the various Tavii family groups. Rumors abound that these warriors have weapons and armor enchanted by the high armorer in Elysia in return for “services rendered” in years past. Whether this is true or not is hard to say. Most travelers never encounter the Voice of the Tavii and fewer still report seeing warriors who were black armor and dark leather masks. Still, too many rumors exist to completely discount them, either.

4) Blanii: The Blanii maintain the most organized military of any of the tribes in Aviones. One of the few lowland tribes not absorbed during the Great Immigration, they are not related to the mountain tribes except through the very rare intermarriage. The Blanii adopted the light armor and raiding tactics of the mountain tribes over the years by necessity.

However, they maintain a large armory in their capital city, deep in the mountains, and a large field nearby where they still train with pike, short sword, javelin, and sling as their ancestors did. The fact no one else on the continent still fights in huge pike phalanxes doesn’t seem to bother the Blanii. Their ruling family believes the phalanx is still effective against the Arendalian forces and their Sythiani allies.

The Blanii have a small army defending their capital. Each of the Blanii villages is required to send men and women to the capital for training. These recruits spend six months in the academy being trained in military discipline, tactics, weapon handling, and logistics. After three years, they are sent back to their villages to spend another two years in the village militia. Once their commitment is complete, these reservists are required to train with the active militia every year until they reach the age of fifty.

5) Aspinthi: It’s difficult to say how the Aspinthi fight since they have so little contact with the rest of the continent. The only person from outside the tribe who spent time living with them was the scholar Jaquiri the Brokenfooted, and he was more interested in their religious and social interactions than he was their military. However, in his third treatise on the tribe, he did reference a raid on the Aspinthi by another tribe.

He wrote that the villagers retreated into the wooden keep on the highest point in their territory and manned the walls against the encroachers. The Aspinthi relied on archery to keep the raiders away from their walls and had no compunction against using poisoned arrows. When the raiders managed to scale the walls, the Aspinthi men met them with large double-headed axes, as well as with huge hammers and large double-handed maces. Jaquiri mentioned he’d never seen the latter weapons before and never saw them again. Apparently they were kept at the keep strictly for these defensive battles.

There are few reports of Aspinthi raiding out of their territory, so their tactics and types of weapons their raiders might use are strictly conjecture. However, enough caravans disappear near Aspinthian borders to cast doubt on the claim that they are a peaceful tribe.

6) Camunni: The Camunni are different from the tribes of Aviones. They were one of the original kingdoms on the island continent. Whatever created the Axeinos Sea destroyed their kingdom. Relics found in the mountains bordering the sea point to a time when the Camunni were a highly advanced race, both technologically and magically. With the fall of their culture, the Camunni turned to haunting the spell-blasted hills to the south of the sea, dreaming of past glories.

Camunni weapons and armor are archaic designs, but still quite lethal. The Camunni move in small war bands of fifteen to thirty warriors, occasionally gathering into larger bands of forty to sixty warriors to take on larger targets. A standard Camunni tactic is to split the band into two or three groups, with one attacking while the others maneuver behind the target. Once the target commits their forces against the initial onslaught, the remaining Camunni forces will launch a devastating attack with spears or arrows and then rush into the fray before their victims have a chance to react. The Camunni prefer to take prisoners rather than slaughtering their enemies. Given the Camunni habit of human sacrifices to their dark gods, most prefer to force the Camunni to kill them on the field of battle rather than surrender.

7) Lepontii: The Lepontii are almost as xenophobic as the Aspinthi, but not as withdrawn. They maintain a small fleet of black-sailed ships whose presence makes the Axeinos Sea a navigational nightmare. Their sailors are well-versed in the hazards of the sea and they use this knowledge to force their opponents onto the hidden rocks and mud flats that lie just beneath the surface, then swarm the disabled ship like ants. No one knows what happens to the crews seized by the black ships, for no prisoner has ever escaped from the Land of a Thousand Fires.

The island is guarded by a cadre of warriors in black armor with a strong resemblance to the armor used by the Camunni. Whether they are using the ancient armor, which may be mystically infused, or are simply using a similar design is unclear and the Lepontii discourage close investigation. Unlike other tribes, these guards use pole arms (halberds, bills, glaives) while on duty and every guardsman carries a broadsword. The few ambassadors ever to reach the island state they’ve never seen the actual blades, but the design of the hilts resembles one favored six centuries ago.

8) Sicani: The Sicani may be related to the Camunni genetically, but the resemblance stops there. The Sicani take great pride in their tribal organization and are likely to form a working government within the next twenty years. This degree of organization is reflected in their military structure. While still favoring light armor and weapons, the Sicani are organized for defense, relying on a series of hill forts maintained and manned by the surrounding villages.

The Sicani are not as aggressive as many of the other tribes, focusing their attention against the black ships of the Lepontii. They maintain a series of forts near the coastline to watch for any sign of the ships and quickly move the villagers into the forts at the first sign of danger.

The Sicani have their own fleet and have assaulted the Land of a Thousand Fires from time to time. Even with the heavy losses associated with these raids, they believe this forces the Lepontii into a defensive posture instead of allowing them the luxury of striking the Sicani with impunity. How the Lepontii feel about this strategy is unknown.

9) Ericusi: The Ericusi tribe is evenly divided between the Mariners Guild and everyone else. However, each ship in the Ericusi fleet is a sub-tribe in and of itself. The ships may band together into a raiding fleet one week and then try to capture each other the next. As long as each family unit makes its quota of escorting ships across the Temerind Sea between Aviones and Reudigni, the Mariners Guild gives the individual ships complete freedom.

The Sea Guard, on Sand Isle, is responsible for protecting the Mariners Guild compound and the warehouse district in the capital city, but not the capital itself. Those who choose to live on shore know their defense is up to them. However, attacking Sand Isle comes with its own risk. Almost every adult man and woman on the island has spent time in the Ericusi fleet and is familiar with weapons. It’s as if the chaotic nature of the island is its best defense.

10) Sythiani: The Sythiani are horse nomads. In fact, legends say Sythiani are born on their horses and live their entire lives without ever touching the ground. While untrue, the Sythiani culture is based on the concepts of mobility and speed. Their military tactics are heavily influenced by cavalry tactics, as are their armor and weapon selections.

Instead of the standard spear used by the tribes on Aviones, the Sythiani rely on light lances as their primary weapons. They use leather and wooden shields and slightly curved swords when forced to fight up-close on horseback. They also use horn bows and javelins that can be thrown from horseback before engaging the enemy. Most Sythiani only wear the lightest leather with occasional pieces of steel sewn into the chest area for defense against arrows.

If the Sythiani encounter a superior force, they close quickly, launching a barrage of javelins and arrows and then riding away, trying to lure their opponent into chasing them and getting separated into smaller pieces. They avoid engaging heavily armored cavalry or organized infantry squares, relying on their speed to gain an advantage. If an opponent raids a Sythiani camp, the noncombatants mount up and flee, leaving the camp to be pillaged. What is taken can be replaced or retaken later, but lives are irreplaceable.

Given the instability on the continent, Aviones boasts a number of mercenary units. Most mercenaries retire after several seasons of campaigning—those who survive, that is. It’s rare to find a gray-haired mercenary. Still, some take to the lifestyle and stay with it from their late teens until injuries finally force them into retirement.

Among the most famous of the mercenary bands in Aviones is the Red Company. Led by Sir Phillip Hawkings, they are based in Arendal but have recruiting centers in almost every country on Aviones; a few select hunters regularly scour Reudigni for enterprising young soldiers. The Red Company is known for its unusual tactics. One is Sir Phillip hiring almost as many non-fighters as he does warriors. He understands that mercenaries who rely on their employers for their supplies soon find themselves either doing without or buying items at ruinous rates, ensuring no one makes any money on the mission.

The Red Company consists of over four hundred warriors and probably an additional three hundred support personnel. This means Sir Phillip is constantly looking for employment opportunities for his units. They deploy in groups of fifty to one hundred to provide shock troops for an assault or extra forces in a defensive campaign. Only twice in the unit’s history has the entire Red Company fought as a unit and both times, they were fighting against an employer who had either betrayed or cheated them out of their funds. Needless to say, most employers now leave the hiring money in escrow before the Red Company will take the field these days.

While the Red Company is by far the most famous mercenary unit, they are not necessarily the most feared. That would go to the Sable Cats, led by Duncan Kilgore. The Cats are a fairly small mercenary unit, their ranks seldom rising above fifty warriors and hangers-on. Still, when the Sable Cats go into an area, the region tends to get quiet until they move on to a new assignment.

The Sable Cats have one motto: “Get the job done.” They don’t ask a lot of questions, they don’t take a lot of crap, and they don’t take prisoners. The Cats are known for small unit infiltration and assassination missions. One of the phrases Duncan is known for quoting during negotiations is “Cut off the head and the body dies.” To him, this means eliminating the generals and the informal leaders who motivate troops in the field. He recognizes the danger to his own unit also and insists everyone is able to act in the absence of leadership. Many of his former companions have moved on to assume command of other mercenary units because of the training they received with the Sable Cats.

Another mercenary unit of renown is the Hammer of Viliu. A quasi-religious order, they are drawn from the priests and acolytes who worship Viliu around Aviones. They are known for being honorable opponents as well as fierce warriors. With the backing of the church, they have the finest armor and weapons money can buy. That doesn’t mean they’re encased in armor from head to toe—in fact, many of the Hammers prefer to wear very light to no armor, relying on their god’s guidance and blessing to get them through a battle. Whether it’s their religious fanaticism or their training, the Hammers are known for cleaving holes into formations with their berserker style of fighting.

Because their light armor allows them to travel through all kinds of terrain, the Hammers are used for retaliatory raids against the mountain tribes whenever it would be too expensive to send regular troops into the hills. The Hammers negotiate a price that includes a healthy donation to the church before accepting a mission. This gives the tribes another reason to resent the Rovani pantheon.

However, not every organization is well known. Many mercenary units are comprised of battle-hardened warriors who are misfits or criminals, or young men who think being a mercenary is the quick way to make a name for themselves. These units come and go over the years and the only thing they have in common are the lonely, unmarked graves dotting the Aviones countryside.

One such unit is Morrison’s Marauders. This unit is always one or two days away from going bankrupt and, outside of the leader, Carl Morrison, the majority are either on the run from the law or else wide-eyed country boys recruited with wild tales and lots of beer. The Marauders have bounced around Arendal, Vulpeni, and Elysia the past three years, and have managed to be fired and rehired by all of them. Currently, they are working for the king of Arendal and were assigned to the southeast corner of the kingdom, near Aspinthi lands, with the assumption they can do the least amount of damage there.

At last count, the Marauders had thirty effective warriors and ten who were either injured or feigning injury to avoid duty. Carl means well and is truly interested in the welfare of his men, but he himself was cashiered out of the Asarian army for incompetence. No one questions his bravery or his ability with a sword, but he is not a tactician and has no head for organization or supply. If the Marauders survive as a fighting unit, it will come as a surprise to many people—maybe even Carl himself.

We’ve now established the fighting forces on Aviones. What should we do with them? Should we start a major war where multiple kingdoms gang up on Arendal to take down the big kid on the block? What if Arendal’s new leader decides it’s his manifest destiny to unite all the lands under one throne? Are the various tribes content to hold the lands they currently live on, or might two or more unite to carve out more favorable lands for them to live on? If so, which would be the dominant tribe? And what exactly is going on in the Land of a Thousand Fires?

Writers, start your pencils. . . .

13

Pirates

THE SAILS FILLED WITH A FRESH breeze and the young man stared off to the south as the ship’s prow dug into the oncoming waves, as if challenging them to halt her progress. The crew moved smartly as the first mate called out new commands. One squad of men went aloft as another made their way back to the relative safety of the rolling deck.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying the trip much,” a familiar voice said, startling the young man out of his reverie.

“Oh, sorry, Timur. No, she’s a fine ship and we’re making good time. I was just thinking about the trip. We haven’t run into any difficulties since we escaped the Camunni ambush. I hate to admit it, but it feels like we’re due.”

Timur made a furtive sign that the young man didn’t recognize, and then he scowled at his youthful companion. “Are you trying to bring the gods’ attention to us? You know the law of the unspoken.”

“Yes, yes, I know. If you mention bad things, they will happen, and if you mention good things, they’ll stop happening.”

A shout echoed out from the crow’s nest overhead. “Sail off the port stern!”

There was no disguising the disgust in Timur’s voice. “You just had to go and tempt the gods. We’re in for it now.”

“Putting the cart before the horse, aren’t you, Timur? A sail doesn’t mean much. It could be a merchantman or a whaler as easily as it could be hostile.”

The hunter didn’t say anything before turning and moving to the stern of the ship. The young man followed him back there to find the captain and first mate in a heated discussion.

“I don’t like it, Skipper. Why’s he hanging back there? If he’s honest, he has no reason to stay just below the horizon. If he’s a pirate, why isn’t he moving in to engage us?”

The captain took one more look at the distant sail through his looking glass and then motioned for the midshipman to bring him a map. He opened it up, his expression hardening the more he glanced at it. Finally, he stabbed a finger at the map.

“Blue Turtle Reef—that’s gotta be it. Mate, pass out the arms to the men. We’re gonna be in a fight for certain.”

The young man approached the captain as the mate sprinted away to carry out the captain’s orders. “Excuse me, what’s so special about Blue Turtle Reef?”

“Nothing, young man. It’s just a chunk of rock that sticks out of the ocean. But given that ship’s position, there’s probably a pirate ship waiting for us on the far side. They’ll use the reef to keep us from pushing out to sea and that ship that’s lagging—he’s there to keep us from making a run toward the shore. They’re not trying to catch us, son, they’re trying to pin us in so we can’t run away from whatever’s waiting.”

Timur glanced off to the south. “And what do you think is waiting for us?”

The captain shook his head as the midshipman came rushing up with his weapons belt. “Nothing good, sir. Nothing good.”

In the last couple of chapters, we’ve discussed the various military units on Aviones—militias, standing armies, tribal units, and mercenaries. However, there’s another group of fighters out there that don’t easily fit into these categories—the highwaymen of the sea. This time, we’re going to be looking at pirates, privateers, and those who work in the shadows—actual naval units that pretend to be pirates to further certain countries’ goals.

Many people my age (those of us who had to outrun dinosaurs to get to the senior prom) were first introduced to pirates through classic Hollywood movies. If you have not watched Captain Blood (1935), The Sea Hawk (1940), The Black Swan (1942), Captain Kidd (1945), Pirates of Tortuga (1961), or The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), then hie thee unto your Netflix account or whatever is your preferred method of watching old movies and watch these. For modern movies, most people know about the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I highly recommend Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World—the 2003 adaptation of the 1969 novel by Patrick O’Brian—as one of the best sailing movies to come out in a long time. Now, am I implying for one second that these movies are historically accurate? Not in the least. Watch the pacing, the sword fighting, the way they maneuver their ships into combat. Note how they deal with storms, boarding parties, and long weeks at sea with bad water and even worse food.

What the cinematographer was able to do with these movies was capture the audience’s attention. As I’ve said a few times, readers may forgive historical inaccuracies as long as you’re internally consistent. If you start changing the rules mid-story, your readers are likely to toss the book across the room and vow never to buy anything from you again. So, using these movies and other sources I’ll pass on at the end of this chapter, what can we learn about the Aviones version of pirates and privateers?

First off, pirate captains tend to be strong-willed individualists. They don’t often form lasting alliances with one another. Oh, certainly, they may form a wolf pack to take on a convoy carrying extremely valuable cargo, yet most merchant ships don’t carry gold, silver, or jewels, but trade goods, which if captured intact can be resold by the pirates to pay for repairs to their ship, with some money left over for the crew to go drinking. Given the reality of economics, most pirates work alone. More than two pirate ships working together would mean less money from the spoils. Also, pirates prefer to capture ships intact. Those in better shape that can move faster than their old ship, they’ll keep for their own use. Those that are mostly intact, but not fast enough to avoid the navies that ply the seas around Aviones, they’ll seize and try to sell to merchants in a different kingdom. Once they’ve transferred things to the new ship, they’ll leave the captive crew with the old ship and let them figure out how to get the leaking, barnacle-hulled derelict to shore.

The majority of pirates do not slaughter entire crews. First off, most pirate ships are manned with just enough or not-quite-enough sailors to handle their own ship. They’ll need the crew of the captured merchant to sail it, usually by seizing the captain and other officers and holding them hostage to ensure the merchant crew behaves. Second, if a pirate captain has a reputation for butchering captives, why would the merchant surrender? The crew, knowing they’re going to die anyway, will fight twice as hard at repelling a boarding party and then refuse to surrender. Sure, you might overwhelm them eventually, but at the cost of how many of your own crew? No, a reputation for blood thirst might be good in the bars of Port Royal, but being known as a merciful captain means the ship you’re about to board may not fight as hard, its crew hoping you’ll just take what you want and then leave them alone. After all, it’s not their twenty barrels of olive oil and sixteen chests of gingham they’re transporting. Why die if you don’t have to?

Pirates, on the other hand, have a reason to fight to the end when they get boarded by a naval ship or a private pirate hunter. People have always dealt poorly with pirates whenever they could get their hands on them. Julius Caesar is reputed to have lined the coastline of Pergamon with pirates on crucifixes after he ransomed himself and then hired ships to return and capture the pirates, as he had told them he would.¹ Pirates captured by the British were hauled all the way back to England to face trial at the Admiralty, and then given the long walk to Execution Dock.²

Privateers were employed by governments, sailing under what was known as a letter of marque. This letter would specifically state who you could attack, who you couldn’t attack, and how the treasure, if any, was to be divided up with the government. Letters of marque were normally issued only during times of war, but some privateers (who were generally semi-reformed pirates) were hired to conduct antipiracy patrols in areas where shipping was at a great threat.

Captain Kidd started out as a privateer, hunting pirates in the Indian Ocean. However, when he came across a rich Indian merchant, he was quick to help himself to that treasure. This not only meant he broke his letter of marque, but he also embarrassed the British East India Company. They were more than happy to let his patrons know about his indiscretion upon his return to New England.

Additionally, there were pirates who were hired by a government to harass an enemy during times of peace to try and maintain a balance. For example, the Sea Hawks were a group of English sailors who plundered Spanish and French shipping in the Caribbean. There was technically no state of war between England and Spain at the time, but the English wanted to ensure the Spanish did not amass too much money, which they could use to create a navy that would crush the English. It was well understood that Elizabeth I supported the Sea Hawks and got a cut of all their treasures, but officially she had to declare them pirates. However, with the Sea Hawks’ gallant defense against the Armada, all of them were given royal pardons for any and all crimes committed against the Spanish. Convenient, no?

So, given the historical review of piracy, let’s examine several groups of pirates and privateers who haunt the byways of Aviones. For an example of the ships we’re going to be discussing, I recommend Rob Ossian’s Pirate Cove³, a well-documented site with a lot of illustrations.

One of the greatest pirate lords who haunt The Brotherhood of the Sword is Captain Arnwulf Ironsides. Arnwulf controls three ships: a brig, which is his main ship, and a flyboat and a xebec, both of which are perfect for gliding along the shore. One of Arnwulf’s favored tactics is to attack with his brig, The Star Panther, from the seaward side and try to drive a merchantman toward the shoreline where the two other ships can then pounce. Usually, when faced with such overwhelming odds, the merchantman will strike its colors and the cargo is quickly transferred to the flyboat. Since this is a shallow-draft vessel, it can easily proceed into some of the protected lagoons and other hidden waterways in the Euthian Islands. There the cargo can be unloaded, sorted, and divided without worrying about prying eyes or enemy ships.

Arnwulf Ironsides is obviously an alias, which makes sense considering his chosen profession. While a highly successful pirate, he does not seem to be involved in any of the power struggles among the Brotherhood and refuses to sit on the council, which is about as close to an actual government that the Brotherhood has. In fact, he’s known for disappearing for long periods of time, leaving The Star Panther in the capable hands of his first mate, Jovin. However, whenever he returns, he’s usually loaded with supplies and gold, so his men do not threaten to remove him as they might another captain who could be accused of shirking his duties. Where he goes during these times is a mystery and many people who’ve attempted to follow him have been found floating facedown in the Thaean Sea.

Arnwulf’s rival for most feared pirate might be Godfrey the Black. Known for his raven-colored hair and fondness for dressing all in black, Godfrey haunts the northern coast of Aviones with his lugger, The King’s Wrath. He normally can be found raiding Vararis, Asari, and Enzelle, but he has been known to port in the Wilds, where he trades the goods he steals for tribal goods that will bring him a good price in foreign markets.

In the running for the least feared pirate would be Robert the Bold. Cashiered out of three navies, he has a small galiote in hideous need of repair. There are questions as to whether the ship will be sunk by another or simply just fall apart from the neglect it currently suffers. The crew is comprised of sailors who couldn’t get work anywhere else, and that’s the only reason they haven’t mutinied. The problem is that Robert sees himself as a great captain and a greater pirate, and it’s always bad luck—not his ineptitude—that prevents the other pirates from recognizing his greatness. The fact he doesn’t understand anything about ship tactics and his ship is barely capable of seizing the smallest of merchant ships doesn’t help his cause. His immense ego also blinds him to the machinations of his first mate, Sergio, who has been skimming money from the ship’s fund with the intent of deserting the next time they make port on Devil’s Landing and establishing his own crew.

At the other end of the spectrum is Sir Leon Greywhistle. The third son of a nobleman of Arendal, he served for many years in the Arendalian navy before cashing out and purchasing a corvette badly in need of repair. Sir Leon found several backers through his father’s connections and outfitted the ship as a privateer. The Roll of the Dice is known at almost every port around Aviones, where he hires out as a pirate hunter. He is willing to team up with other captains for punitive raids, but in general his motto is, “He who hunts best, hunts alone.” There is a definite rivalry between Sir Leon and Ardwulf Ironsides, but if they meet on shore, there is an unspoken truce between them. They’ve been known to shut down every alehouse in a port when they meet.

Jaqueue Penderson is an Asari privateer who sails the northern waters in his brigantine, The Laughing Mermaid. When not hunting pirates, he has been known to take an Enzellian ship or two, when relations between the two countries have been at their ebb. There is a standing reward for Jaqueue by the Enzellian government, and the warlord would like nothing better than to have the smug Asari privateer brought before him in chains. He’ll be waiting for quite some time, though, because, Jaqueue spends a lot of his time sailing the Axeinos Sea, hunting the black ships of the Lepontii for the city-states of the Sicani.

There are a number of resources that can be very useful if an author wants to include pirates in their world building. Along with a number of dedicated websites, there are hundreds of nonfiction books a good researcher can peruse through. One has to be careful, though, because a lot of misconceptions about pirates have come down through the years. It’s best to check with pirate aficionados about a particular title. Nevertheless, these are some of the books that have been very useful for integrating pirates into my fantasy worlds:

The Pirate Dictionary, by Terry Breverton (Pelican Publishing, 2004)

The Sea Rover’s Practice: Pirate Tactics and Techniques, 1630–1730, by Benerson Little (Potomac Books, 2007)

The Pirate’s Pocket Book, by Stuart Robertson (Metro Books, 2008)

The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade, by Charles Corn (Kodansha USA, 1999)

A History of Pirates: Blood and Terror on the High Seas, by Nigel Cawthorn (Booksales, 2004)

Pirates of New Spain, 1575–1742, by Peter Gerhard (Dover Publications, 2003)

Captured by Pirates: 22 Firsthand Accounts of Murder & Mayhem on the High Seas, John R. Stephens, ed. (Fern Canyon Press, 1996)

Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates, by David Cordingly (Random House, 2006)

A General History of Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, by Daniel Defoe (Basic Books, 1999)

The Pirate’s Own Book: Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers, by Charles Ellms; Marine Research Society edition (Dover Publications, 1993)

A General History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson

The last three should be taken with a grain of salt—or in the case of Captain Johnson’s, an entire hold of salt, considering some historians believe that Johnson may have been a pseudo-nym used by Daniel Defoe, who is most famously known as the author of Robinson Crusoe.⁴ The Defoe, Johnson, and Ellms books were written in the 1700s, supposedly based on “true stories” that the authors had heard. As with any “secondhand research,” there’s a certain amount of bilge water and bluster involved. However, if you want rip-roaring tales of piracy and plunder, these are definitely books one should read.

14

Journey’s End

DAYBREAK SAW THE SILVER HARPOON LIMP into the harbor, her mainsail hanging limply from the jerry-rigged mast. Word ran through the town of the ship’s approach and like ants drawn to honey, the townsfolk rushed down to the docks, some to help, some to gawk, and some hoping to make a profit if the ship was a derelict. The harbor pilots rowed out to the ship and, aided by the crew, soon had lines attached to the Silver Harpoon. They guided it into its berth and then helped the crew unload the wounded sailors.

The captain helped carry off the first set of stretchers and then stood at the end of the gangplank as the rest of the wounded made the treacherous journey down the bouncing piece of wood to the dock. He turned to one of the townspeople. “Get these men to the doctor. I’ll be along shortly to settle the bill.”

There was a sudden stirring along the dock and then someone yelled, “Flee! It’s the Wardog!”

The crowd surged back along the rickety wooden structure, until the captain shouted, “Aye, it’s the Wardog, and it’s carrying the rest of my crew. We took it as a prize just south of Blue Turtle Reef and we’ll be transferring my flag to it as soon as we can outfit it.”

“But, Captain, that’s Biron ‘Magic’ Majewski’s ship. No one’s ever escaped from one of his traps before. How in the world did you manage it?”

“And if you look at the figurehead, you’ll see ol’ Magic’s body hanging there. He thought to surprise us but we set our own trap for him and as you see, I now own his ship and any booty that was found on it. So, put your backs to it, folks. Get my men to the doctors, and once we’re settled in, I’ll tell you all about it at the alehouse.”

The townsfolk fell to with a vengeance and before the second battered ship could be led to the docks, the first one was emptied except for a skeleton crew of guards. The captain waited as the Wardog snuggled into its berth and the lines were made taut. This time, the town militia waited on the docks along with the curious. The former pirates were led ashore in chains and the militia escorted them off the docks. The captain walked up the gangplank onto his new ship, where the first mate waited for him.

“Well done, Mate. I wasn’t sure I’d see you this side of the ocean’s bottom yesterday when this all started. Now we’ve got a fine fighting ship.”

“Yes, sir! Although I don’t understand something, sir. Why’d that kid and his companion insist on getting dropped off before we rounded the point? Didn’t even want his share of the booty, either. Just took a couple hundred crowns for ‘expenses’ and left the rest to us.”

The captain scratched his chin and then shook his head. “I don’t know, Mate, but I’m sure he had his reasons. Look at it this way: leaves more for us.”

“You’ve got a point, sir. Drink, Skipper?”

“After you, Mate. After you.”

The sound of thundering hooves disturbed what had been a tranquil forest as two riders came into view. Timur motioned off to the side and the two guided their horses over to a nearby stream. Dismounting, they led their mounts to the stream to let them drink while they refilled their canteens from the swiftly moving stream.

“Now, that’s a magnificent animal,” the young man said, eyeing his horse with admiration. “I think I’ve walked halfway across Aviones, but this is the way to travel.”

“Indeed, and consider yourself fortunate. The Vulpeni do not normally sell these horses to strangers. I do not know for certain who you’re working for, but that letter of credit got their attention. It was like the rancher couldn’t fulfill your request fast enough. It makes me wonder, not for the first time, what I’ve gotten myself into.”

“Speaking of getting yourself into things, how did you come up with the idea of faking the plague on our ship? It was a brilliant strategy, keeping most of the crew below decks and leaving a few crewmen with fake sores to prove the plague was among us. When we burst out of the hold and fell on them, I don’t know if they thought we were warriors or demonic spirits, the way some of them threw their weapons down and fled in terror.”

“I knew if we got into a regular fight with the Wardog, the other ship would pull up on our bow and catch us between the two crews. We needed something that would tip the odds in our favor in a hurry. Of course, there was always the chance they wouldn’t fall for it and then the lot of us would have been trapped below with the enemy in command of the ship. We were just lucky those sailors could act.”

“I’ll say—even after the battle, those pirates avoided our ‘plague victims’ for the rest of the trip.”

Timur laughed. “At least they were just run-of-the-mill pirates and not another plot to get the package you’re carrying. It must be awfully important.”

The young man stretched out in the grass and stared up at the blue sky filtering through the trees. “To tell you the truth, Timur, I’ve wondered about that myself. Especially when we ran into Mingali. I’m just a messenger—I get paid to deliver things, not ask what’s in the packages. Still, I had the feeling he knew more about what was in my package than I did.”

Timur gave him a noncommittal grunt that the young man interpreted as “I don’t know if I believe you, but I’ll let it slide for now.” The two men let their horses rest, enjoying the quiet until the sun had moved almost a hand’s width across the sky. Then they climbed back into the saddles and moved back onto the forested road that led to the customs checkpoint between Vulpeni and Arendal.

Two days later found them deep into Westmarch. The forests had given way to the low mountain range separating the two kingdoms, and then they were back into the forests on the Blue Mountain’s eastern slope. Another day’s ride and they’d enter the rolling plains that made up the heart of Arendal, and then it was only a matter of days before the walls of Arendal’s capital city, Mautus, came into view.

The campfire’s glow cast odd shadows as the flames flickered into the sky. The young man watched the stars shift overhead as he stared upward, sleep failing to find him this evening. He reached back, shifted his gear beneath his head to try and find a more comfortable lump to lie against, and lowered his head again.

“Having a rough night?”

“I don’t know what’s the problem, Timur. You’d think I’d be sleeping like a baby this close to the end of this mission, but for some reason, I’m restless.”

“I think I know the problem.”

The young man rolled over on his side to see the hunter sitting next to the fire, easing another log onto the blaze. “You’re restless because this is about over.”

The young man started to retort about how ridiculous that was, but stopped short. He laid back down, staring at the never-ending procession of stars above his head and spotted a shooting star blazing its way to the northeast. “You know, you might have something there. After all, I was just another person working at a counting house before I was selected for this. To be honest, it was pure luck. My manager had selected another person for this mission, someone much more experienced than I was, but he broke his leg two days before he was supposed to leave. If I hadn’t been the one to find him in the alley next to his boardinghouse, they probably would have chosen someone else. As it was, I was available, and apparently expendable, so they gave me the pouch, handed me a ticket for the first ship headed north, and sent me on my way.”

The look Timur gave him was a mixture of surprise and resignation. “I was wondering how someone who was so hopelessly inept in the wilderness would get a mission like this. Oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re learning fast and if you stay alive long enough, you could get good at this, but you’re the last person I would have suspected going on a mission that would draw the attention of Khoi.”

“You and me both, Timur. I always wondered why the roundabout way, too? I mean, it’s not that far from Arendal to Elysia. The direct route is only a hundred miles or so. Why sail all the way around Aviones and approach from the north?”

“Why do you think they’d do that?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say, whatever was in the pouch I carried would have been of interest to the Blanii. The gods know they still hold a grudge from when the Arendalian armies pushed them off of the Plains of Valentia. However, it’s probably healthier for me if I don’t try and guess. If they’d wanted me to know, they’d have told me instead of handing me a sealed pouch.”

Timur laughed before answering. “You’re getting wiser the farther south we move. Still, have you thought about what you want to do once we finish this mission?”

“I hadn’t, really, but I know I’m not going back to the countinghouse. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life hunched over a balance book, worrying about who’s behind on their rent or which merchant has had a better quarter importing goods from Reudigni. No, whatever I do has to have some travel involved in it.”

Silence settled over their small encampment, with only the crackling of the fire providing background noise. A thousand thoughts scurried through his mind as he thought about and discarded this possible profession or that one. Finally, he flumped his head back onto his gear in frustration.

“You know, there’s an option you’re not considering.”

He rolled over to face Timur. “What’s that?”

“I told you I had friends in the Cartography Society. You saw the Great Map of Regni back in Elysia. They’re always adding new details to the map. You’ve got a good head on you and with your experience in the countinghouse you’ve probably got a good eye for details. Besides, we don’t even have a complete map of Aviones yet, much less all the other lands. I’d wager half of the Broken Lands and the Wilds are still unmapped, and I damn sure know the Axeinos seashore hasn’t been surveyed in hundreds of years. Besides, who knows what happens for certain in the Aspinthi lands?”

The young man’s smile spread as he realized something. “Hold on there, Timur. You said, ‘We don’t have a complete map,’ not they. You’re a member of the Cartography Society, aren’t you?”

“Good catch, kid. I am a hunter and a guide by profession, but the Cartography Society pays me to map certain areas for them, too. Especially areas that others aren’t fond of going into. I like those jobs; they pay a lot better than surveying a road in Westmarch. After I get done nursemaiding you, I may even head for the Callatrama isles and do some mapping there. I hear they’ve got warm beaches, beautiful women, and gorgeous mountains rising out of the sea. That is, if you don’t mind the occasional tribal war, and I hear a few of the islands are home to some nasty headhunters. They’re paying double for that mission.”

The young man decided to let the “nursemaiding” comment pass. A sharklike grin settled onto his features as he looked at Timur. “Of course, you have to be alive to collect, too.”

Timur nodded and continued the conversation, but the young man noticed he inched his hand down toward his sword. “Sometimes I think they’re hoping I won’t come back. Save them a bunch of money if I disappeared. Preferably after sending in my latest maps by courier, that is.”

The young man stretched and tucked his hands underneath his gear bag, wrapping his hand around the hilt of his own sword. “So, who would I need to talk to if I was interested in taking a position with the Society?”

Timur moved his head to the left and shrugged his shoulders as if he was trying to get a crick out of his neck. “I’ll introduce you to the Society recruiter when we return to Elysia.”

They heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching and tensed in anticipation. The shadowy figures burst into the circle of light, but paused for just a second as both Timur and the young man rose, drawing their weapons. The two men exchanged glances and rushed at their former ambushers, giving off a cry that would have put a Camunni to shame.

Dodging an overhead swing, the young man laughed and called out, “If we live to get to Elysia.”

Timur’s answering laughter could be heard over the sound of the clashing blades. “If we live.”

Just like our hero, Terra Incognito has reached the end of this particular journey. We started it with a blank piece of paper and now we now have a fully developed world just waiting for someone to set their characters in. We’ve created islands, mountains, rivers and lakes, savage tribes who worship dark gods, and cities of science and technology. We’re created governments, religions, and money, and stocked our island continent with resources and people.

All that’s left is for you, the writer, to find those stories hidden on Aviones and tell your tales—and then go on to create your own worlds. After all, the subtitle of this guide is “Building the Worlds of Your Imagination.”

Happy writing.

Interview with Tracy Hickman

In June 2012, I had the opportunity to interview Tracy Hickman, New York Times bestselling author of the Dragonlance novel series and an acclaimed game designer. We had a wonderful time, covering his experiences as a game designer and as a media tie-in author, his strategies for world building, a behind-the-scenes look at how his writing career has progressed, his online writing seminars—which focus on designing worlds—and other things of interest. So now, on with the interview . . .

RW: Tracy, for those readers who may have been living under a rock for the past thirty years, can you give us a quick thumbnail description of who Tracy Hickman is?

TH: That’s a difficult question to answer. Because there’s Tracy Hickman, the guy who takes out the garbage and there’s Tracy Hickman, the guy who writes. Tracy Hickman, the guy, is a father, a grandfather, and a guy who loves to tell stories. However, most people know me as one of the creators, along with my wife, of the Dragonlance series, which I wrote with Margaret Weis back in the mid-eighties. It was the first novel written in conjunction with a game system and set a precedent for hobby gaming ever since. The Dragonlance series and a number of my other books have made me a New York Times and international bestselling author. I have well over fifty books in print currently after thirty years in the business, and more on the way. I started out in this business as a game designer. I still have a great fondness for games and occasionally still design games. So, I started off as a game designer and wound up as a novelist.

RW: Although, I think I caught from the tone of your voice that “grandfather” seems to rank up there pretty high, too.

TH: Grandfather is way up there.

RW: And the best part is you get to spoil them and send them home.

TH: That’s the best part actually. They come to Papa’s house from time to time and it’s always a good time. Papa and Nani always have a great time with the grandkids, and hand them back once they’re all charged up and wound up.

RW: Your first foray into gaming was developing Rahasia and Pharaoh. These were privately published games. So, as a beginner, how difficult was it to put your world together?

TH: It’s interesting you’d ask how difficult it was to put the worlds together initially because you have to understand, when we wrote those original games, Pharaoh and Rahasia, Dungeons & Dragons was still in its infancy.

I’m going to date myself pretty heavily here, but the [Advanced Dungeons & Dragons] Players Handbook had just come out in 1980 and all we players had up to that point was what we called the Blue Basic set. We called it the Blue Basic set because the cover was done in one color (blue) because [game publisher] TSR couldn’t afford to put more than one color on the cover.

RW: I remember—I started out with Men & Magic [the original digest-sized version of the D&D rule books].

TH: There you go. When we first started doing these dungeons, my wife and I did it together. My wife actually introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons, so she’s the one who got me into this.

RW: So, now we know who all those gamers have to thank for that.

TH: Absolutely. I’d been into games all my life and was heavily into fantasy and science fiction—of course, in those days, fantasy pretty much consisted of [J. R. R.] Tolkien and [Anne] McCaffrey. My wife was introduced to D&D by a friend of hers in Provo, Utah, and she got so into the game she actually forgot to come pick me up at work one day. We’d barely been married for a year by then and I was thinking, “Oh, the honeymoon’s over. She’s forgotten me entirely.”

I rode my bicycle across town and found our Volkswagen in the parking lot. I went inside and she met me, saying, “Oh honey, I’ve just found this wonderful game and I’m sorry, but I had just such a great time.”

I said, “OK, what’s the board look like?”

“Well, there isn’t one.”

I paused and then said, “So, what are the rules like?”

“Well, they’re kind of flexible.”

I thought this sounded like the stupidest game I’d ever heard of, but she bought the Blue Basic set for my birthday that year and she soon regretted it because she wound up becoming one of the first D&D widows. As I read through this almost impenetrable and completely opaque rule set, I still “got” the vision of what was going on. From that moment on, grid paper was a part of my life.

We took a look at the state of dungeons and adventures at that time and most were: go into a meaningless maze of rooms and corridors, kill whatever was in there, and take its stuff. We wanted more out of the game than that. We wanted to put story into the game. So my wife and I came up with the idea of Night Ventures and started self-publishing games. It’s hard today for people to understand what that meant back in the late ’70s/early ’80s. When we produced the original Rahasia, which was an eastern-themed temple game, we first made sure it made architectural sense and then that there was a story that would unfold over the course of the adventure.

In order to produce this, we took my father’s Selectric typewriter, typed the text, and then at the end of every line, we would insert slash marks. Once that was finished, in order to right-justify the text, you’d have to add spaces between the words on each line to match up to the number of slashes in the original draft.

So, imagine, we were hand-justifying the text. Then we had to go back and type up this document, sometimes two or three times if we miscounted the number of slashes, until we had a strip of text that was right-justified. After that, we took scissors and cut those strips out and used rubber cement to paste them onto a master page. That, literally, was how we made our first modules.

Then we would take those pasted-down pages down to the photocopy place and photocopy them, then go back to our apartment and lay them out on the card table. We stapled them together with covers we had printed and used some bookbinding tape on the bound side. And, to give it a nice finished look, we’d take it down to the butcher at the local grocery store and he would shrink-wrap them in the butcher shop. That was self-publishing when we started.

RW: Now, when you set up your world, there was Grayhawk, which was fairly well known, and Blackmoor, which was fairly vague, and those were the only D&D worlds out there, outside of the myriad homemade systems. What did you do to keep internal consistency while building this first world of yours?

TH: Actually, Rahasia (which means secret in Indonesian) and Pharaoh were pretty small and self-contained so the greater world was not a great concern. We wanted to make sure the story made sense, fit within the setting, and there was enough setting for it to make sense.

Ravenloft, which was the third game my wife and I produced, came about because we wanted to tell a vampire story where the vampire is in its own setting—again, in a setting that made sense.

We’d been through a lot of adventures with other DMs [dungeon masters], where they would say, “Oh, and then you come across a vampire.” I kept wondering to myself, “Why? Why would he be here, hanging out with the kobolds and the orcs and stuff?” As we started designing these adventures, which were a chained story, we came to appreciate the importance of background and setting.

RW: Speaking of settings, can you tell us a little bit about how Dragonlance came about?

TH: When I took the job at TSR, Inc. in Lake Geneva [Wisconsin], my wife and I drove across the country in our little Volkswagen Rabbit with our first two children in the backseat, trying to come up with something to justify some company paying us to write games. That’s where Dragonlance was born—a world where people rode dragons into war. When we were finally able to develop Dragonlance for TSR, there were a lot of other people involved in putting the background together for the world. It became a collaborative process to build a fantasy world that was complete and made sense for people to work in.

In terms of process, we literally started with tectonic plates and ran them together on the world. We did this on paper since there wasn’t enough computer processing available to do this in those days. We drew where these plates came together. We drew where the mountain upthrusts would be, where the plains would be, where the gulf streams and the oceanic flows would be around this landmass. From that, we plotted rainfall. From the rainfall plots, we came up with the rivers across this land and with the rivers we were able to plot the expansion of civilization, because all early civilizations expand along waterways. It’s the most efficient means of transportation available for early technology.

So we went through all this process, and once we got to this point, we started developing the history of the world, from a time of legend up through a time of history. Once we had it all set up and had everything the way we liked it, we threw a meteor strike into the middle of it and wrecked it. Because if you’re doing a fantasy, you’re going to want ruins—especially if you’re doing a D&D-style fantasy—you’ll need a place to adventure in that world, so we needed ruins. We needed cities that had existed, cities now in ruin that had a reason to exist in the place where they were. So, all of this was in the background of establishing a consistent bible for the world.

RW: I love how you’ve just described what I’ve suggested to the writers out there: starting from the outside in. I’ve also pointed out the importance of placing resources. Say you have set a country up in the mountains—why would they be there? What would bring explorers and settlers into this area instead of out on the plains? Obviously, there’s probably mining or they’re using the mountain streams to provide power for lumber mills and such.

TH: Well, if the dwarves are underground, there’s a reason for them to be there, because otherwise they wouldn’t be there. We teach world design as part of our Scribe’s Forge writing seminars series, which are a series of online writing seminars and workshops.¹

It’s a wonderful course, because not only do we have video instruction and workbook materials I have created personally, but we also have forums for our subscribers, who are also writers, where they can workshop with each other. I often participate with them as well as hosting a live webinar once a month for all our writers. We do live video on the Web for groups of up to twenty writers at a time and discuss a topic about writing together. That’s what we do in the Scribe’s Forge.

In the writing seminars, one of the modules is about world design. We talk a lot about some systemic things you can do in terms of the world you’re creating. One of the most basic things we’ll talk about is to make it organic. It needs to be natural—everything needs to work naturally. Everything happens for a reason and if there’s something strange going on in the world, there’s a reason for that too.

RW: Right. Two guys walking down the street . . . no big deal. The secret cult hiding in the abandoned building on the edge of town . . . you might want to know what’s going on.

TH: One of the techniques we teach in our world design seminar is a technique we learned in a Tolkien seminar several years ago which is the idea of similitude, which is, if you’re going to design a world and you do have a secret cult, it needs to exist for a reason. But rather than trying to come up with the rules and the bylaws and the foundation and the origins of the secret society—well, you can do that and maybe you’ll get it right—but it’s much easier and better in many ways if you study secret societies that have already existed in our world. Examine what their rules are, where they came from, and why their rules are that way. Then build your secret society, your knighthood, your civilization, your government or whatever, modeled on something that already existed.

RW: I think imagination is a great thing, but I don’t think anything takes the place of good old research as long as you know when to quit researching and start writing.

TH: Absolutely. There does come that time you need to stop researching and produce something, but, in general, it’s a good rule of thumb: the better the research before you begin writing, the easier the writing is.

RW: You developed Dragonlance for TSR, but you put your distinctive spin on things. You created your own races—the Kender, the Gully Dwarves, and the Draconians. How much pushback did you get from them on the way they did it versus the way you wanted to do it?

TH: Regarding pushback for new material, we really didn’t [get any]. Back in the early days of TSR, it wasn’t all so formulaic. Nobody really knew anything and there wasn’t enough formula in place to say this is canon and this is not. We were writing canon. If we wanted to do something new, it was, “Sure, let’s do something new.” Now, if it had come to a place to say, “Was a Kender an official D&D monster?,” well, maybe not. Maybe Kender don’t belong in the Monster Manual or in the Players Handbook, but yeah, if we wanted to do it, then absolutely. Give us the stats and let’s have at it.

You have to understand Dragonlance happened under the radar. AD&D had just gone big when we had proposed Dragonlance to the company. We—being a few other people I had brought together in our “secret” group—went to Larry Elmore and Keith Parkinson and a couple of other staff artists in a meeting at Larry Elmore’s basement, and asked if they’d produce some art for this project on the side that no one knew about. And they were so excited about the project they agreed to do this, and Larry actually produced three or four painting on spec for us to do a presentation to the company, to sell the idea to the company.

Dragonlance was accepted as a project for the company. However, it was “a” project but it was not an A-list project. In fact, a lot of effort was put into the company at the time to produce “the next great role-playing game.” Dragonlance was seen as a B-list, stopgap product to help support us until the next big thing came along. As it turned out, Dragonlance was the next big thing. You just can’t predict that kind of thing.

RW: I remember when the Dragonlance modules first appeared in the bookstores, thinking, “Dragons? You can play dragons in the game? I’ll have to check this out.”

TH: The reception was really remarkable. I’m still very humbled and in awe with the reception and how people still love that series and still play the games. Not just in terms of the games, but in terms of the books as well. When the first novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, came into the company, no one in Public Relations had done anything to market it. It was really in response to the reaction of the fans it became the big event it turned out to be.

RW: I remember the first two “gaming books” that came out: yours, and Quag Keep by Andre Norton, which was the first D&D novel. I enjoyed her book, but it was definitely focused more on the people and not the game world. When I read yours, I was transported into the world immediately. You didn’t spend a lot of time explaining what was going on to the readers like she did.

TH: I think that’s important in both games and in storytelling: you need to get into the action. It’s a big challenge with fantasy and science fiction, because world setting is so important writers want to explain everything early on. That can really bog down interest in a text. It’s important to get into the action and fall into the world as quickly as possible.

RW: Are there any characters where you’ve looked back and said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted them to be”?

TH: Well, it’s hard to pick out any one thing. There’s one character, however, that I find tremendously memorable, largely because of how he came about, and that’s Lord Soth.

We were producing the modules concurrent with the novels. We were pioneers at the time and discovered it is much harder to write from game to book than from book to game. Once we got to the point where the books were ahead of the game product, everything smoothed out immensely.

So, what had happened, we had written the second book and there was a big battle at the High Clerist’s tower, where huge armies were going to be attacking this tower in a big enormous set piece. At about the same time, Douglas Niles, one of the great game designers, was producing this thing called Battlesystem, which was an attempt to merge D&D with miniatures gaming. So, you could field entire armies of Orcs or Draconians, in a minatures battle, and have it translate into D&D. It was an amazing system. I had arrayed this huge army [of miniatures] around a map of the High Clerist’s tower with the upcoming module in mind. There was this specialized unit and I was looking through [The Fiend Folio], and found the entry for a Death Knight. So, I read through the entry and I put the piece on the board with Banshees for support.

The moment I set this down on the board, the moment I saw these pieces in this enormous display, it was like Lord Soth walked into my head. I immediately knew his name, his history, where he had come from, what he had done, why he was the way he was. It was like he exploded fully realized in my head. I can remember running out from where I was working on this display and finding Margaret in her cubicle and going, “Margaret, I have got to tell you about this new character I’ve come up with,” and she was blown away by this character. He immediately appeared in the book and he has been a problem for us as authors ever since. Every time he appears in one of our books, he’s so big, he’s so powerful, he’s so interesting, he wants to grab the story and drag it off in his own direction.

RW: I can sympathize.

TH: So, every time he shows up, we have to beat him back out of the way so the rest of the story can take place. Then he sneaks back in, grabs the story, and tries to drag it off somewhere else. He’s a real nuisance when it comes to writing books.

RW: While the story is about the heroes, there always seems to be the one character—it doesn’t have to be the “big bad”—who grabs the story and says, “No, it should be about me, now.”

TH: It’s a common occurrence. My wife and I produced a book called Eventide, the first book in our Tales of the Dragon’s Bard series. I think one of my favorite characters—and I say that, knowing I’ve been the creator of many, many characters—but my favorite character is in that book. And this character is named Gulandrious Duggen and he is the dwarven blacksmith in the village. He’s got this wild, splayed-out hair, this huge biker beard, and his hands are all blackened from working the forge. He’s this squat dwarf who wears these big, heavy boots—the typical dwarf.

But, every year at winter, when the snow’s fallen on the ground, and the village people come together in the guild hall to hold their winter dance, outside, the dwarf drags over a crate, peers in through the window, and shuffles his booted feet along the top of the crate as he stares in through the glass. Because all he really wants to do is dance, but nobody in the town sees him this way. Everyone just sees him as the dwarf who’s the ironmonger. Yet, he has this soft heart and this delicate soul that wants to dance and loves to create art, but nobody in the town knows this about him. I really love this character and what happens to him in this story is wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. Of all my characters, this gentle soul that everyone sees to be so rough is probably one of my favorites.

RW: There have been around 190 novels and anthologies, not counting the modules and other gaming supplements set in the world of Krynn. There must have been a significant story bible to ensure continuity. Was this put together over time, just gathering up data into one spot, or was this created up front for everyone to use, or is it still an ongoing process?

TH: It’s difficult to answer that question. One of the things we learned from Dragonlance, and sadly a bit too late in my opinion, was the importance of having that centralized bible and keeping it properly maintained. The truth is while Margaret and I were at TSR, we were the touchstones for the background. We were the people everyone came to when they wanted to be sure, and if it was what we would consider canon. But then, Margaret and I left the company to pursue other things. When we left, that central touchstone was no longer there.

Things began to shift away from the vision we had originally had, as others brought their own visions to the product. Eventually it got to the point [TSR] felt it had gone astray and they approached Margaret and I to come back and redirect the project. So, we’d come back and write a new book series—get it set back on the original vision—and then we’d have a falling out with the company and be gone again. It was pretty much an abusive relationship. (Laughter)

We’d come together and then we’d split, then come together again, then split.

And by straightened it back up, I don’t mean we went in and put our booted foot down and said, “This is the way it is,” and “This is our world and this is how we’re going to do it.” What we did in every case is we came in and took a look at what everything everyone had done and tried to assimilate that back into a unified whole. We didn’t want to be disrespectful of the contributions people had made to the creation of the world, but we needed to find a way to make it all make sense again. That’s what we’ve tried to do every time we’ve come back to work on the world. We’ve tried to work on a way to make a unified whole of what everyone had done in their contribution.

So, if there’s a unity in the vision of Dragonlance over the years, it hasn’t been the unity of an iron rod, but the unity of consensus, cooperation, and respect for the contributions made by many, many people down through the years.

RW: I’d like to talk about your Darksword series, which is your first series on your own. After spending all that time in creating and writing about Dragonlance, how difficult was it to shift gears and really make Darksword stand on its own?

TH: What I have always done in terms of world design is I start with a central kernel of an idea. The kernel for the Darksword series was what if technology was forbidden? What if [what we know as] technology was considered an occult art and magic was the technology of the world, and common? That led to the entire idea of an inverted King Arthur. Once we had those basic concepts, everything else sprang from that basic concept.

When we went to do the Death Gate Cycle, a seven-book series, the kernel for that series sprang out of my ponderings over Northern Ireland. I’m sure people will go “huh?” about that. “How do you get from Northern Ireland to Death Gate?” For me, as I looked at “The Troubles” of Northern Ireland, I began to wonder if people really remembered what they were fighting about. Could there be some ancient conflict so old that nobody can remember why the war took place in the first place? Why we’re supposed to hate each other still? This became the kernel for the idea of sundering the world into its elemental components, which led to the kernel from which everything else sprang.

RW: Now, with Dragonlance, you had the TSR “forms” of magic, rough as it was back then. But, with Darksword, you had to create the mysteries as your way to describe magic. So, for people who’ve never done this before or are maybe considering building their own magic system for their books . . . Well, let’s face it, creating a magic system and keeping it internally consistent isn’t an easy thing to do. Do you have some suggestions or tricks people may want to consider when they start out?

TH: I think the most instructive thing I could talk about here is Death Gate. For this series, we needed another new system of magic—and not only a new system, we needed competing systems of magic. This became complicated because not only did we have to develop two consistent systems but they had to be able to fight each other and make sense. So what I did in researching some concepts for Death Gate, I started reading a number of popular science books on parallel universes, quantum physics, and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.

Jack Grubb, an old friend of mine, used to define quantum physics as “figures, figures, figures, God does something here, figures, figures, figures.” So, I did all this reading in quantum physics, and decided quantum physics sounded an awful lot like magic. So, I modeled one of the systems of magic on quantum physics and the other on Newtonian [physics] and found them to be competing. So, I took these basic physics concepts and then modeled them into magic. Once I did that, I had a whole bunch of rules I could use. Both sets of magic suddenly made sense and did well. The idea you could shift between parallel universes, for example, and push reality between universes—that’s how we came to the new magic system.

Like I say, rather than trying to come up with all the rules of magic for your magic system, go out and find a system that’s already functional. It has already evolved over time for reasons you may or may not know, or fully understand. Because it’s fully evolved over time, it’s already organic. If you do, your magic system will seem fully fleshed out and your readers will think “Wow, this really works.”

This is true of magic systems and social systems. If you need a knighthood, go study knighthoods that really existed back in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, because they have developed their own rules and those rules would be perfectly good to model today.

RW: A friend of mine, who knew I was going to be interviewing you, had a question regarding the Labyrinth from the Death Gate Cycle, which is really “not a nice place.” Did you base the Labyrinth on anything in particular? Did you do any special research to turn it into what it became in the story?

TH: The concept for the Labyrinth as the central prison may have been developed, in part, from Winchester House. However, the idea of the central point came out of that original kernel of an idea.

RW: I wasn’t sure if you had based that on any ancient prisons or other structures. Obviously the Labyrinth is more than just a small building, like people think of Minos’s Labyrinth on Crete.

TH: Correct. It did come from taking a look at prison systems. In fact, I think the Supermaxes [super-maximum security] are interesting in terms of study. But yes, I looked at ancient and modern prison systems and modeled over those.

RW: I believe Margaret Weis and you are writing the Dragonships of Vindras series for Tor Books now?

TH: Yes, we’re at the third book and the fourth will be coming up.²

RW: Could you tell us a bit about it and anything in particular you did for world building there?

TH: Dragonships evolved out of the desire to do a Viking series. As I said, with older technologies, waterborne travel allows you to get much farther. If you look at the historic Vikings, they reached the Mediterranean, they crossed the Atlantic . . . they were amazingly wide-ranging—far more than most people assume. Most people have heard about their exploration of North America, but most don’t know they explored rivers in Russia and were quite familiar with the Mediterranean Sea. They even explored down the African coast, for that matter.

There’s a reason also why The Odyssey takes place at sea: You could take your heroes much farther in a shorter period of time. We wanted to do a story that was wide-ranging, so we centered our story on Vikings. This also allowed us a much bigger world to work in.

My wife and I just finished a series called The Annals of Drakis.³ That was an interesting world in terms of design for me, because I was able to use the same process we used in Dragonlance, in creating this world. We started with a central kernel, as I often like to do, which was “fantasy Spartacus.” I wanted to write a Spartacus story about a slave who’s trying to become free.

This led us to this amazing world where we have an empire of elves, which is, bluntly, a Nazi empire. So imagine Nazi elves in Roman times who’ve taken over the known world. Most of humanity is wiped out and what’s left serves the elves as slave labor. Drakis, the main character, is a human Impress Warrior (that’s his title), because the elves don’t fight their own battles—they have their slaves fight their battles for them. They enslave those they conquer through magic. Every night, the conquered peoples have devotions, and these devotions alter their memories so every bad thing that happened to them that day is forgotten and submerged in their subconscious. So the slaves always think their lives are great, everything’s wonderful, and being a slave is a great thing.

Except every day is their worst day . . . since every day they’re subjected to cruelty, sadism, and punishment from this evil elven empire. What happens to Drakis is, through circumstances in the story, the devotions of the household where he’s a slave out on the frontier are shattered and every slave in this warrior household suddenly remember every bad thing ever done to them. And it doesn’t just affect this household, but begins spreading throughout the neighboring regions. In the turmoil, Drakis is able to escape with the memory of who he is and what has been done to him. This is all bound up in a prophecy about someone who will appear and save everyone, destroy the elves and save the world. Everyone wants it to be Drakis . . . everyone else wants it to be him, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t think it applies to him and he doesn’t want to be the prophesied savior of anybody.

This world evolved beautifully from those central concepts. Then we did modeling to make the world work. The Elven Empire, for example, we actually modeled it on the government structure of Nazi Germany, because it was a complicated, convoluted, and often an overlapping series of compartmentalized government offices. This made it highly complex and highly politically charged. This worked beautifully in terms of our elven empire.

RW: This makes it ripe for subversion and corruption if no one knows what the other offices are doing.

TH: And everyone is involved in intrigues with everybody else.

RW: And if anything goes wrong, you blame it on the other guy.

TH: This definitely happens during the course of this book. And everyone refers to the “will of the Emperor” in this novel in the same way everyone referred to the “will of the Fuhrer,” which was supposedly the justification for anything you did. So we made this wonderfully convoluted government and this one department, the Oblici, whose job is to keep a record of the truth and keep it hidden. Because everyone lies and history is changed to suit the current political climate, but in order for the government to continue to function, for the Emperor to continue to be the Emperor, someone has to know what the truth actually is. That’s the job of the Oblici, to keep the record of the truth and make sure it stays hidden. It’s an absolutely fabulous world, and because it’s grown out of those central concepts.

RW: Earlier, you mentioned Eventide, which is the first book in your Tales of the Dragon’s Bard series. I understand that’s a different undertaking for you. Can you give us some more details on that?

TH: The Dragon’s Bard series is an interesting story in itself. Laura and I produced Eventide as a serial book online. We sold subscriptions, produced a chapter every week or two, and the subscribers would get to download the chapters, they would come on the forums and discuss it, tell us where we’d made mistakes or done well. They actually cleaned up the text for us. Then once the book was completed, we professionally produced a hardback copy of the book. We then mailed a signed and numbered edition of the book to every one of our subscribers. We thought this was very important. We call it the Scribe’s Forge method. It takes Dickens’s and Arthur Conan Doyle’s serial publishing from the 1800s and brings it into the twenty-first century. We think it’s important people not only have that serial experience, but when they’re finished with it, they get the book.

A friend of ours said the book was the souvenir of the experience. It’s what we put on the bookshelf to remind us of the journey that we’ve already taken. We realized we could give the book to people a chapter at a time but at the end it was critical they had the souvenir, the physical book. Every one is signed, every one is numbered, and every one is registered. I know who owns every copy of the book. Because of the response online, to the subscriptions and to the limited edition—we privately printed the book, it was my own private label—there’s only 500 in existence, and that’s all there ever will be. But, because of the success of that book, we were subsequently able to sell that book to a trade publisher who just released a hardback edition for the mass market.⁴

RW: One of the first times we ever talked, you were working on The Immortals [published by Roc in 1996], which if I recall correctly was a very intense book for you. For our readers who may be unfamiliar with this book, can you give us a quick thumbnail sketch?

TH: The idea for The Immortals came from my wife. Laura came to me one morning and said, “I’ve had this scene in my head, and I just can’t get rid of it. I can’t stop thinking about it. So, I’m going to tell you about it, so you can deal with it.”

RW: Sharing the pain, eh?

TH: She said, “There are these two guys in a room in a concentration camp, and the one guy says to the other guy, ‘This is the Dying Room, because nobody is living here.’” And the moment she says this to me, it was another one of those moments when the entire book sprang into my head. So, I said, “Then here’s what the story’s about,” and I told her the story of The Immortals while we were sitting in the kitchen. She nodded and said, “Yep, that’s it. Now it’s your problem. You have to write it.” And she was right. From that moment, I was obsessed with this story and wanted to get this book written.

The Immortals is essentially the story of AIDS concentration camps. Although within the context of the story, people are not suffering from AIDS, they’re suffering from the cure for AIDS. Within the story, the cure proved more virulent than AIDS itself. So, all these people, under the auspice of national security, have had their rights suspended and essentially have been declared dead before the fact. So, all of these people have been shipped into the western desert of Utah, into these prefabricated concentration camps, supposedly until the cure is found, but ultimately we find out these camps are there for a more sinister purpose.

What I love about the story is the people here come to realize they are going to die, but they need to transcend death. They need to find some way they can be remembered—that their art and their thoughts and their music and who they were need to survive their own death. How they can possibly do this in a concentration camp that is designed to burn to the ground? It is a difficult journey of a story but I’m always moved by the ending of the book. Ultimately, it’s a book about hope and acceptance.

RW: Now, if my research is correct—and if it is not, I apologize—The Immortals is one of the first books you wrote by yourself. Is that correct?

TH: Yes, that was one of the first books I wrote on my own.

RW: Since you’ve normally worked in collaboration with someone, whether it was your wife or Margaret, you’ve always had someone to bounce ideas off of, whether it was world building, characters, etc. How difficult was it to shift from being on a team to everything being on you?

TH: I have to divulge a secret.

RW: OK. I’m prepared to copy.

TH: The secret is, I’ve never written alone. Everything I have ever written, even in collaboration with Margaret, I’ve written in partnership with my wife. Whether her name appears on the cover of the book or not, she’s always been my partner in everything I’ve ever written. From the time we were married until today, and always, everything I’ve ever written has been with her. We always talk about story between us. Even when I was writing Dragonlance with Margaret, we would often talk about stories as they were coming down, and the backgrounds and things that were going on. So, I can’t say I’ve ever written anything on my own.

RW: I understand. My wife and I may not work together, but she is definitely my alpha reader, and I like to joke she wields the “Red Pen of Doom (pat. pend.).” You know how they always say, never show your work to friends or family because they won’t give you an honest opinion. I have no fear there.

TH: (laughter) Isn’t it so much better to have someone fix your work before anyone else sees it?

RW: She has saved me from myself on more than one occasion.

TH: This is why every writer should love an editor. You should also love and respect anyone who buys red ink by the gallon. I’ve been very fortunate with many of my editors. Right now, I’ve been working with Sheila Gilbert at DAW Books with the Drakis series and she’s been tremendous as an editor. The best editors are collaborators, and when all of you get together with the determination to make the book the most important thing and the best thing . . . well, that’s the best world you can live in.

RW: Now, you mentioned your Scribe’s Forge website, and I believe you do a podcast, do you not?

TH: I had been doing a podcast, but it’s been dormant for a while, mostly because we’ve been writing all these books.

RW: But they’re still available for download, correct?

TH: Absolutely. The DragonHearth podcasts are available,⁵ but we’re largely concentrating on the Scribe’s Forge writing seminars. We feel it’s important for us to pass on what we’ve learned about storytelling, the structure of story, and more importantly, as changes take place with increasing pace in publishing today, it’s important to pass on what we know about that to the next generation of writers.

RW: You mentioned as part of Scribe’s Forge you teach world-building design, etc., and not naming any names or anything, what are some of the common mistakes you see people make, besides not going to the sources and seeing what’s already there? Are there things you observe people doing when they just jump in and start designing worlds?

TH: One of the early mistakes—I think it was pointed out by Orson Scott Card—is that most fantasy or science fiction maps look like “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” You have some mountains over here, and here’s the lake we visited, and there was a town over here, and there’s a castle over there. Generally, when people create their own worlds, they don’t create them with enough scope or with enough understanding of the distances involved.

One of the tools, in fact, I suggest people use is ProFantasy Software⁶ and I use ProFantasy in my world design. I generally build my world concepts now in ProFantasy’s Fractal Terrains because I can sit here, with a certain smugness, and push a button and go, “No, not that world,” and then push the button again, “Nope, not that one,” and push the button and say, “That looks promising. Let’s save that one.” This allows me to see a parade of terrains go by until I find something that looks like it’s going to work.

Then you can render the fractal design out into their Campaign Cartographer software, which is CAD-based software, and then I can deal with detailing the map out. It results in very natural-looking maps and intriguing places to explore as a creator. I can look at the map and go “Wow, what is there?” and think about what exists there in my head. This often leads me to new discoveries in the text. At least, that’s how it works for me. One of the first things I suggest is taking a look at those pieces of software, simply to help you get a scope of the world.

The second mistake I think people make is depending too heavily on magic and magic is going to solve their character’s problems for them. My wife and I did a series called The Bronze Canticles a few years back. I had this wonderful map for it, but I realized, as we were getting into the second book, I had this line I had drawn on this map underneath this mountain range. The label I had put on it was “The Dwarven Road.” I thought, “This makes sense. You have your southern ports and you want to connect them to the northern ports, so you have this dwarven road and people can go under then mountains and transfer goods.”

Then I looked at the measurement on the map. I used the tool in the software and traced the line so it could tell me the distance involved and it was hundreds and hundreds of miles long.

RW: Now, that’s a tunnel system.

TH: So, now I had to say, “OK, I’m a guy in a southern port. I’ve got my wagon here. I’ve got my goat. How am I going to traverse 400 miles in some big, long, dark underground tunnel? It’s not going to work.”

RW: That’s where you get right back on the boat and sail around the island to the northern ports.

TH: And you couldn’t do that because the island was so large, it would take forever to sail around. You really needed this link. And, I needed this thing because I’d already put it on the map, I had spread societies based on this. Now, I’m thinking, “How am I going to solve this problem? Did they have magic teleports? No, not magic, that’s cheating. If you have a problem, you need to solve it.”

And strangely enough I was looking at the map one day and I leaned back and said, “You know what, you don’t have to solve this problem. The dwarves have solved this problem. How did the dwarves solve this problem? What did they do?” And then it was when I realized river travel is a lot faster than by road. So, in the book, we have this reveal moment, when the travelers are trying to find this ancient dwarven road. And they find the ruins at the beginning of the dwarven road and they realize it’s a lake that leads into this long underground tunnel. They realize the dwarven road is a river. They learn the dwarves have created this underground river system, with viaducts and conduits. The dwarves arranged this entire thing so you could travel underneath the mountains quickly.

Suddenly not only did the dwarven road make sense, but it was a magnificent visual and a great surprise for the reader. And again, it felt organic. So, again, the second thing is people try to solve their problems by magic far too quickly when magic needs to be much more carefully defined and much more limited in its scope.

RW: And just because something is older technology does not mean its inefficient technology.

TH: No. And in many cases, because it exists, it’s better.

RW: We’re coming up to the end of the questions I had. Is there anything you’d like to toss out as last thoughts for my readers—besides, go out and buy your books? (Laughter)

TH: Well, certainly go out and buy my books, but if you’re interested in structure of story and to learn how to publish in the new media age, come to Scribe’s Forge and learn from me and everything I know. I’m there to be a mentor and I’m very hands-on with all our writers there.

Oh, and one other thing. Characters and motivations often spring out of the worlds we create. If their actions are going to make sense, if they’re going to evolve naturally, then the world they live in needs to feel the same way.

RW: I’d like to say “Thanks” to you, Tracy for all your time. You’ve been incredibly generous with us and I’m certain my readers are going to have fun reading this.

TH: Thanks for inviting me.

[Editor’s note: To read about Tracy Hickman’s experiences in writing the 2012 Batman tie-in novel Wayne of Gotham—which he and Richard discussed during this interview, but was cut here for space—visit Richard’s blog at: www.richardcwhite.com/rcwwp/blog/]

About The Author

RICHARD C. WHITE made his first professional sale in 1975 when he sold a sports article to the Hallsville [MO] Top. Over the next several years, he became the sports editor, and wrote articles and editorials for the paper. He was a sports reporter at the University of Central Missouri’s radio station where he wrote/edited on-air copy and did interviews with local schools sports teams.

After college, Rich joined the United States Army. While still in the service, he sold his first comic script to StarWarp Concepts, for the first iteration of Troubleshooters, Incorporated—and then went on to create his own small press company, Nightwolf Graphics. After a number of years, Rich left the army in 1999 and joined a defense contractor, where he still works today.

Rich became involved with media tie-in works in 1998 when he co-wrote “Assault on Avengers Mansion” for The Ultimate Hulk anthology. He followed that with Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, an original novel based on the popular video game franchise. He has also written for anthologies based on the Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Doctor Who licenses.

Rich is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. He also serves on SFWA’s “Writer Beware” committee.

When not writing, he shows an inordinate amount of interest in sharp pointy things. Rich picked up fencing in college, learning the foil. Also, while attending the University of Central Missouri, he was introduced to the Society for Creative Anachronism, where he learned the art of sword fighting using broadsword and shield, great sword, and pole arms. He also was an apprentice armorer, learning how to make both leather and steel armor pieces for other members. Rich’s current sword-related vice is Kendo, in which he has achieved the rank of nidan and is studying both itto (single-sword) and nito (two-sword) styles.

Rich’s current work includes the critically acclaimed fantasy novella series, For a Few Gold Pieces More and Strikeforce Falcon, an e-series of short stories set in the Pacific Theater of WWII for Pro Se Productions. Additionally he has released two short novels through Pro Se: Full Moon Affair, a fantasy noir, and The Dark Leopard #1: Mouse Trap, an homage to the golden age of comics, as well as the novella “Notes in the Fog” in the Charles Boeckman Presents: Johnny Nickle duology.

Notes

Chapter 2. Names, Part One

1. The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection is located at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/. Spend some time viewing the historical maps, especially “Australia Southeast 1832” at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/australia_se_1832.jpg. Please pay attention to the notes that accompany the map and see how a specific area was explored and settled. Imagine your characters landing in a new land and having to explore it for King and Country. What might they encounter? What might be difficulties they’d run into (natural and perhaps hostile natives)?

Chapter 3. Names, Part Two

1. If you have some time, check out some of the topological maps at the Perry-Castañeda website. For example, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/taiwan/txu-oclc-6557994-nf51-5-450.jpg shows mountains, rivers, creeks, towns, etc. Note how the terrain affects how not only the water moves, but also how it must have had an effect on land travel through this region, too. Also note the effect of water on where major towns are placed.

Chapter 5. Resources

1. Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), 204.

2. William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico (New York: Modern Library, 2001), 38.

3. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 26–27.

4. The Perry-Castañeda Library’s Thematic Maps collection is located at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/thematic.html

5. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/monastery_st.gall_swiss.jpg

6. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/thames_river_1882.jpg

Chapter 8. Cosmology

1. “WASP-18b: A ‘Hot Jupiter,’” September 26, 2014, NASA.gov, http://www.nasa.gov/chandra/multimedia/wasp18-2014.html

2. “Are we not the only Earth out there?” William Harris and Jacob Silverman, HowStuffWorks.com, http://science.howstuffworks.com/other-earth1.htm

3. “Lonely Alien Planet Discovered Without a Parent Star,” Megan Gannon, Space.com, http://www.space.com/23143-lonely-alien-planet-discovery.html

Chapter 10. Economy

1. Robert F. Klein, Dubuque During the California Gold Rush: When the Midwest Went West (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2011), 54.

2. “Food of the California Gold Rush,” Tori Avey, January 20, 2015, The History Kitchen, PBS.org, http://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/food-california-gold-rush/

3. “California Gold Rush,” Robert Whaples, Economic History Association,http://eh.net/encyclopedia/california-gold-rush/; “The California Gold Rush of 1849,” Alan Beilharz, Coloma, CA, http://www.coloma.com/california-gold-discovery/history/california-gold-rush/

4. Christopher Dyer, Everyday Life in Medieval England (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2003), 167–86; “Medieval Sourcebook: Medieval Prices,” Kenneth Hodges, http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng240/medieval_prices.html; “What we can learn by looking at prices and wages in Medieval England,” Vlad Zavidovych, Medium.com, https://medium.com/@zavidovych/what-we-can-learn-by-looking-at-prices-and-wages-in-medieval-england-8dc207cfd20a; “Medieval Prices,”http://www.medievalcoinage.com/prices/medievalprices.htm.

5. “Medieval Prices,” http://www.medievalcoinage.com/prices/medievalprices.htm.

6. “Bench Tip #9: Use the Touchstone Method for Testing Purity in Karat Gold,” Gemological Institute of America, http://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research-bench-tips-09; “Touching Precious Metals,” Walo Wälchli, Gold Bulletin, Vol. 14, Issue 4, 154–58, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF03216559

7. “Silver, Trade, and War,” Ralph Lee Woodward, June 2002, H-Net Reviews,http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=6430

8. Timothy R. Walton, The Spanish Treasure Fleets (Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1994), 30.

9. Ibid., 29.

10. Meir Kohn, The Origins of Western Economic Success: Commerce, Finance, and Government in Preindustrial Europe, “Bills of Exchange and the Money Market to 1600,” 1999, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~mkohn/orgins.html and “Bills of Exchange, Interest Bans and Impersonal Exchange in Islam and Christianity,” Jared Rubin, April 1, 2009, http://economics.stanford.edu/seminars/bills-exchange-interest-bans-and-impersonal-exchange-islam-and-christianity

11. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/bill-of-credit.html

12. “Coin Super Story: The Great Gold Scam (or how 5¢ became $5),”http://www.coinsuperstore.com/CoinSuperStory-TheGreatGoldScam.htm

13. “1883–1913 Liberty Head Nickel,” The Liberty Nickel Collector Society,http://www.libertynickels.org/intro.php

14. “Coin Clipping,” http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/coin_clipping.html; “Coin Clipping And Inflation,” Don Stott, April 19, 2001, http://www.gold-eagle.com/article/coin-clipping-and-inflation    

Chapter 13. Pirates

1. Plutarch, Caesar, Thomas North and Rev. Walter W. Skeat, eds. (Tufts University: Perseus Digital Library), http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0078%3Atext%3DCaes.

2. “Pirates & Execution Dock,” BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8079000/8079174.stm

3. Rob Ossian’s Pirate Cove is located at: www.thepirateking.com

4. In fact, the Dover Publications edition of Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates, published in 1999, credits Defoe as the author.

Interview with Tracy Hickman

1. Scribe’s Forge is located at: www.scribesforge.com

2. Rage of the Dragon, book 3 of the Dragonships of Vindras series, was published in 2012. Doom of the Dragon, the fourth and final book in the series, is scheduled for release in January 2016.

3. Blood of the Emperor, the third and final book in the Annals of Drakis series, was published in 2012.

4. Shadow Mountain published Eventide in hardcover in June 2012. The second book in the series, Blackshore, was published by Shadow Mountain in July 2013, under the title Swept Up by the Sea: A Romantic Fairy Tale. Book 3, Mordale, is currently being serialized at the Dragon’s Bard website: www.dragonsbard.com.

5. The DragonHearth podcast ran from July 2006 to December 2010, but its archive of episodes is still available for free download from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dragonhearth-podcast-feed/id111099446?mt=2.

6. ProFantasy Software is located at: www.profantasycom

Bibliography

“1883–1913 Liberty Head Nickel.” The Liberty Nickel Collector Society.

Avey, Tori. “Food of the California Gold Rush.” The History Kitchen, PBS.org, January 20, 2015.

Beilharz, Alan. “The California Gold Rush of 1849.” Coloma.com.

“Bench Tip #9: Use the Touchstone Method for Testing Purity in Karat Gold.” Gemological Institute of America.

Boen, Brooke, ed. “WASP-18b: A ‘Hot Jupiter.’” NASA.gov, September 26, 2014.

Cavendish, Richard. “Execution of Captain Kidd.” History Today, Vol. 51, Issue 5, May 2001.

“Coin Clipping.” HistoryHouse.co.uk.

“Coin Super Story: The Great Gold Scam (or how 5¢ became $5).” CoinSuperstore.com.

Chang, Kenneth. “A Doomed Planet, and Scientists Are Lucky to Have Spotted It.” The New York Times, August 31, 2009.

Drake, Nadia. “A Guide to Lonely Planets in the Galaxy.” Nationalgeographic.com, March 13, 2014.

Dyer, Christopher. Everyday Life in Medieval England. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2003.

“Execution Dock, Wapping.” Eastlondonhistory.com, December 2006.

Gannon, Megan, ed. “Lonely Alien Planet Discovered Without a Parent Star.” Space.com, October 10, 2013.

Harris, William and Jacob Silverman. “Are we not the only Earth out there?” HowStuffWorks.com, 2012.

Hodges, Kenneth. “Medieval Sourcebook: Medieval Prices.”

Klein, Robert F. Dubuque During the California Gold Rush: When the Midwest Went West. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2011.

Kohn, Meir. The Origins of Western Economic Success: Commerce, Finance, and Government in Preindustrial Europe. 1999.

Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.

“Medieval Prices.” MedievalCoinage.com.

“Pirates & Execution Dock.” News.bbc.co.uk, June 12, 2009.

Plutarch. Caesar. North, Thomas and Rev. Walter W. Skeat, eds., Perseus Digital Library. Medford/Somerville: Tufts University.

Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Mexico. New York: Modern Library, 2001.

Rubin, Jared. “Bills of Exchange, Interest Bans and Impersonal Exchange in Islam and Christianity.” Stanford.edu, April 1, 2009.

Stott, Don. “Coin Clipping And Inflation.” Gold-Eagle.com, April 19, 2001.

Wälchli, Walo. “Touching Precious Metals.” Gold Bulletin, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December 1981.

Walton, Timothy R. The Spanish Treasure Fleets. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1994.

Whaples, Robert. “California Gold Rush.” Economic History Association.

Woodward, Ralph Lee. “Silver, Trade, and War.” H-Net Reviews, June 2002.

Zavidovych, Vlad. “What we can learn by looking at prices and wages in Medieval England.” Medium.com.