City design... in a new way

[loogie]

hey guys.

haven't been around in awhile... finding I have very little time with work and the ammount of time i spend on a train (Ravells might know exactly how bad it is since he's here in the UK) I have to take a train every day from Bournemouth to Havant... and back... 2.5 hrs each way... combined with a 7.5hr day and i'm gone over half the day...

I've been thinking hard about trying to work on my world again, and came up with an interesting idea I thought would be cool, and possibly help create a realistic city map.

My idea is this. Follow its founders and leaders, by writing journal entries by them, describing the needs of the city and whats being done about it. An example of such would be "Villagers are finding that they need to cross the river more and more, and the ferry isn't pulling its weight. I've decided to erect a bridge" etc etc...

It helps me get into the mood of the design, but also lends history to the place. I chose this route because I have more then enough time to write things at work, but using a computer to draw things is limited. Let me know what you guys think.

To try to stop my procrastination I've decided to start with the objective of at least 1 entry a day, but as many as I can muster really. So... hopefully I'll see you guys tomorrow, with my first post!

[ravells]

Hey that 2.5 hours on the train is good mapping time!!!!

Looking forward to seeing the start of your narratives. It's an interesting mental exercise on city development. In Chapter 1 of my guide to building fantasy cities (see link in sig), I had a similar thought process where I imagined walking throught the city, meeting and talking to people etc. I like your thought experiment which adds a temporal element to the process.

[Steel General]

It does indeed sound like a neat idea.

[Ascension]

Count me in as another interested party to this exercise. What you could do is take a piece of paper and sketch out the basic terrain by hand (mainly just a river and some trees), then everyday while on the train write an entry and draw a basic shape to go with the entry. Need a bridge -- draw a rectangle over the river, need some farmland -- erase some trees. On the weekends you could scan and color and post. This could be really cool.

[loogie]

Here you have it, entry one of this project. I'm going to put it in quotage so its easier to see whats chat and whats work.I'll also set the post icon to info for these posts.

Excerpts from Lord Arthien's personal journals

Day 53

The storm has taken its toll on all our ships. The Daisy May has significant mast and sail damage, and the Aspen is listing hard to port. Our shipwright has informed me that the Aspen is in need of a dry dock, lest she be lost to the sea.

The most tragic of all, we have been parted from our third vessel the Sultry Lass, sometime during the night. The last visual of the ship was on the second hour of new day, where the guard Algrim spied the vessel through the blinding winds and rain of the storm. All hands were called below deck shortly after, for waves continued battering the deck, and we had almost lost both Ivray and Peters to those dark depths.

When morning broke I was greeted with some positive news, for we could once again spy land. Investigations of our maps revealed provided us no location, had I finally made it to Northrend? Being down one ship and the others in grave need of repair, I decided to find a suitable place to stop. A few hours later we came upon such a place. A large bay with clean deep water. The bay was fed by a sizable river, and the land was lush with greenery, grasses mostly and other plains-land vegetation. The odd tree roamed the grounds, but not enough to be of much use to the ships.

We set to work and managed to beach the Aspen, to much longer in the water and our supplies were in danger of getting damaged. Without much daylight left, I set the boys to work on a large fire. My heart holds hope that the Sultry Lass is not far behind, and hopefully our light may guide its way.

In the morning I shall gather a party to march, to see if I can find our location, and find some sign of my lost ship.

[Sigurd]

Ernst Sputage - Carpenter


They're such butchers of fine woods. I watched them drag timbers ashore to burn. What a crime. They start with the largest timbers of course and then leave them in the light of the fires to dry. These are the same idiots who will come to me to help them find timber!

They seem scared of the night though. Apparently, Randall's whole family has gone off into the darkness and not returned. Some say they heard screaming.

- Sigurd

Ernst may only be an occasional or temporary character. Feel free to post from his perspective if you have details of woodwork or construction to tell.

What is the racial make up here?

[loogie]

** MAIN POST **
This post will hold all of journal entries and information in my City Design project. I am posting all of the entries here to help make things easy to read and find, so I will be copying other contributors entries here. If you wish to contribute, please read the memorable character lists for ideas of the amount of people currently a part of the storyline, and either use one of the free characters or create your own!

Memorable Character List
This is a list of the characters currently mentioned in the entries for this city. Some have not been mentioned by name, but have been given one so they can be added to the list. These characters have been created by one of the authors, so please read the entries to see where they fit in. Beside the name of the ship is the approximate number of survivors on that ship, and new characters can be added as long as there is room in the ships roster. This is a pioneer expedition, so make sure these people have reason to be present (The majority should be tough hardy folk) I'll give mainly free reight of your entries, but I may msg you with ideas or requests about the events that happen in them. I will message anyone who contributes and ask them if they wish to contribute regularly or leave such up to the other authors

Daisy May 16 Survivors Left
1. Lord Arthien, Commander Taken
2. Algrim, Soldier
3. Dell Ivray, Seaman
4. Samson Peters, Forrester and Fletcher

Aspen 17 Survivors Left
1. Randall, Woodsman
2. Ernst Sputage, Carpenter Taken

Survivors of the Lass 6 Survivors left
1. Old Man Kressel, Woodsman
2. Becca, Serf
3. LT. Atwood, Officer
4. Hiram, Cook
5. Jasper, Deck hand
6. Larim Greyson, Seaman Taken

Unfortunates List
Danriella, Wife to Randall (Unexplained)
Raiff, Son to Randall (Unexplained)
Captain Harrison, Captain (Went down with the Lass)


Entries

Excerpts from Lord Arthien's personal journals

Day 53

The storm has taken its toll on all our ships. The Daisy May has significant mast and sail damage, and the Aspen is listing hard to port. Our shipwright has informed me that the Aspen is in need of a dry dock, lest she be lost to the sea.

The most tragic of all, we have been parted from our third vessel the Sultry Lass, sometime during the night. The last visual of the ship was on the second hour of new day, where the guard Algrim spied the vessel through the blinding winds and rain of the storm. All hands were called below deck shortly after, for waves continued battering the deck, and we had almost lost both Grayson and Peters to those dark depths.

When morning broke I was greeted with some positive news, for we could once again spy land. Investigations of our maps revealed provided us no location, had I finally made it to Northrend? Being down one ship and the others in grave need of repair, I decided to find a suitable place to stop. A few hours later we came upon such a place. A large bay with clean deep water. The bay was fed by a sizable river, and the land was lush with greenery, grasses mostly and other plains-land vegetation. The odd tree roamed the grounds, but not enough to be of much use to the ships.

We set to work and managed to beach the Aspen, to much longer in the water and our supplies were in danger of getting damaged. Without much daylight left, I set the boys to work on a large fire. My heart holds hope that the Sultry Lass is not far behind, and hopefully our light may guide its way.

In the morning I shall gather a party to march, to see if I can find our location, and find some sign of my lost ship.

Larim Greyson (Day 55)

It's been two days since the Lass went down. We did everything we could to save her, but there just weren't enough of us. Bless Captain Harrison and his kin. He did the honorable thing and went down with the Lass, giving up his place in the life boat to Old Man Kressel and his grand-daughter. To be honest, though, I'd rather have the captain back, at least he had a bit of common sense. Not like Lieutenant Atwood. How he became an officer, I'll never understand. He wouldn't listen when I tried to suggest that we rope ourselves to the other life boat. Said that'd just make it harder on whoever was rowing. Don't know how many were on that boat, but we lost her last night, disappeared into the darkness. And now he's got us rowing due north.

Tried to tell him we needed to head east, point our bow into the morning sun. Figured that'd be the best way to make landfall, but he wouldn't listen to that either. He's gonna be the death of us all unless . . . but that'd be mutiny. Still . . .

Besides Old Man Kressel and his grand-daughter, there's me, the Lieutenant, Hiram (the cook) and Jasper one of the newer deck-hands.. He's a boy, really, this being his first voyage and all. But he's giving it his all, rowing hard when it's his turn. Even if we're going the wrong way, between Jasper, Hiram and myself, we're making pretty good progress. It'd be better if Atwood would dirty his hands a little, but he thinks himself above such things.

Hiram talked Becca (Old Man Kressel's grand-daugher) into giving up a bit of her frilly thread and lace and managed a hook out of a lantern handle, but without bait, I don't think he's going to catch anything. And even if he does, we don't have any way to cook it. If we don't find land soon, none of us are going to make it.

Ernst Sputage – Carpenter

They're such butchers of fine woods. I watched them drag timbers ashore to burn. What a crime. They start with the largest timbers of course and then leave them in the light of the fires to dry. These are the same idiots who will come to me to help them find timber!

They seem scared of the night though. Apparently, Randall's whole family has gone off into the darkness and not returned. Some say they heard screaming.

[loogie]

Thanks Sig, I'll try to work him in, that quote might just work quite well when they are attacked.

I guess I should elaborate on the world somewhat. My world is mainly one large continent, at least thats all thats planned for now. In the couth is a civilized land of Men, almost entirely explored and conquered. Demi human races are rare in the land, there are a few orcs and goblins in the land. Dwarves and Elves are all but non existant in the south, of myth and legend.

The land of man is divided from the north by a very large mountain range, with very few harsh and treaterous passes. Few have ventured forth and returned, the most famous of which is the monk Herringale. Long dead now, Herringale's texts are all that remains of his travels, but he described with pictures and words the varous wonderous creatures, and many precious resources of the north. His quest took him through the mountain pass, which many have attempted to recreate, but many have perished.

With crowding of the land, many of its factions are looking to be the first to claim land on this new territory, and gain a quick monopoly on its resources. While there are works in progress creating safe passage through the mountain ranges, my story will follow the path by sea, as an expedition is thrown into the seas clutches, and eventually lands in the north, where they found one of the first northern settlements, Port Herringate. Taking homage from the monk who was the first to find the place, the Lord saw fit to name his capitol city after him.

This new land is indeed rich with resources, humongous trees and precious minerals. My main influences for this land is the canadian wilderness, so there are many trees and vast plains. winters are harsh and summers are warm. Another big influence i wish to work in is the videogame monsterhunter. in this game you make all you equipment from resources and animals. It relies heavily on hunting prey, and havesting its parts. while i do not wish it to be of the same scale, I do want to see harvesting as a major role.

Elves and dwarves are more common here, but will not appear for a long time. I hope to introduce a race of orcs soon, not innately evil as is the norm, but tribal and fierce, like the norse of old. A tribe of them will come to the cities aid when they are attacked by a number of raptor like dragons. thet provide some much needed guidance on this strange land.

so far thats it.. again c&c more then welcome, i'm flying by the seat of my pants here.

Oh yeah, magic is rare in the south, the enlightened are the only few with the ability to use it. It will be based on an element system, fire, water, earth, air, and a firth, called by many names. life, spirit, magic are all good examples.

all life is energy, and through energy we gain power. channeling your bodies energy will allow you to manipulate it, creating magic. out of life, the energy is released in the 4 elemental forms. so when a body releases it, it must take one such form. the energy works on a give or take basis, therefore life becomes death quite easily.

Not everyone can channel energy innately, and in most cases a persons power is limited... but in the new land new forms of magic use will appear.

phew! that turned into a rant, but came out quite nicely.

[loogie]

I feel I didn't quite give sig a sincere thanks for his contribution. I never even thought about accepting community members entrys before, but I think its a great idea. If you wish to have a character included in the current lineup, post a description or quote like sig has, and I will add them to the roster.

I will give you some more information about the expedition, so that you'll get a better idea about what you have to work with.

The expedition itself was launched from a large port in the south, yet to be named... It consisted of 3 large ships, 2 cargo vessels, and one large frigate (the flagship, the daisy may)

On board were around 55 people, splitting it up 20,20 in the cargo ships, and 15 in the flagship(Several will be lost with the missing ship the Lass, while some will survive, the majority will die). The majority of which were professionals, a few soldiers, hunters carpenters, shipwrights, blacksmiths, etc... With a handfull of serfs to do the dirty work.

I will keep a running list of named members of the city, so lets start it now.

Memorable Expedition Characters
Lord Arthien, lead of the expedition
Algrim, soldier
Larim Greyson, seaman
Samson Peters, forrester and fletcher
Ernst Sputage, carpenter

[Gamerprinter]

I feel I didn't quite give sig a sincere thanks for his contribution.

Her contribution.

GP