"Tales of Leinyere" Story Event: Official Support Thread

[yibala2]

Orc tribes?

I'm not clear on where the orc tribes are. Notes say there's one possible tribe in Western Zhowak, but it seems I've seen posts suggesting orc tribes in the east as well.

Originally I assumed the six warring tribes would all be adjacent, but I suppose that isn't t necessary.

Has anyone else placed orc tribes for their story?

-Yib

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

I'm not clear on where the orc tribes are. Notes say there's one possible tribe in Western Zhowak, but it seems I've seen posts suggesting orc tribes in the east as well.

Originally I assumed the six warring tribes would all be adjacent, but I suppose that isn't t necessary.

Has anyone else placed orc tribes for their story?

-Yib

I’m planning to take Zhowak off the map before the event goes live, but right now it’s there as a placeholder. Most of the stories people are writing take place around the year 5500 ADA (After the Destruction of the Ancients), but the orc tribe of Zhowak was destroyed, its people scattered, in about 4500 ADA, at the end of the story I’m writing about it. They were at least partially nomadic, anyway.

I’m assuming most of the other orc tribes roam the plains west of the Mountains of Mourn, but maybe Blind_Justice can clarify?

I can move Zhowak and Melima if the orcs are on the Eastern half of the continent…

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

Has anyone else placed orc tribes for their story?

I will have an attack by orcs in my story set in The Marches, but I don't plan to dive too deeply into the orcs' background. It's just to give my story some character development via action scene. They're probably just a nomadic band of raiders, but if anyone else puts an orc tribe in The Marches, I might sponge a few details off of them.

 

[yibala2]

I will have an attack by orcs in my story set in The Marches, but I don't plan to dive too deeply into the orcs' background. It's just to give my story some character development via action scene. They're probably just a nomadic band of raiders, but if anyone else puts an orc tribe in The Marches, I might sponge a few details off of them.

It looks like orcs will be on one or the other side of the Marches, if they are nomadic and plains-based. The east side might make more sense for your story, since there is a large city to the west of the Marches.

I can work with them on either side.

So the orcs were historically powerful and not divided into factions until just before the 'modern' time of 5500. Which makes it sound as if there's a story behind Lu'Horagh's death. Maybe her demise was engineered by outsiders.

That suggests a pretty constant state of hostilities, or at least the threat thereof. Just in the last five years it's been hostilities between orc factions.

I think my story will take place wherever orc territory is, and at a small human settlement on the edge of it, somewhere humans have managed to co-exist with the orcs for at least a generation or two.

-Yib

 

[Rustyoznail]

Just staking a claim for a bit of land for my story. It's set around 5500 ADA (modern times)

Heading west from Giltan's Port to the Mournful River (the one running north out of the Mountains of Mourn) is all productive farmland feeding the port. It's relatively peaceful. Once you get about 200 miles west of the river it can get a bit rough.

- Also a question about magic. I'm making an assumption that some people have the ability to use elemental magic such as fire and water. Could the average person learn it, or maybe buy a charm that awakens a basic ability?

Also - any suggestions on a way to quench that ability in an area. I'm thinking of having a steam powered vehicle that uses elemental fire to boil the water, but it drives into a protected area that reduces the fire to a small coal and the passengers become stranded. The method can be intentional or unintentional.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Also - any suggestions on a way to quench that ability in an area. I'm thinking of having a steam powered vehicle that uses elemental fire to boil the water, but it drives into a protected area that reduces the fire to a small coal and the passengers become stranded. The method can be intentional or unintentional.

Ooh, maybe there's a way to corrupt Aether Rock from Mistmere so that it acts as kind of a black hole for magic, just bleeding off any magical energy or output?

 

[Rustyoznail]

Ooh, maybe there's a way to corrupt Aether Rock from Mistmere so that it acts as kind of a black hole for magic, just bleeding off any magical energy or output?

Open to ideas. I just need the vehicle to stop working near a farm. The simple thing would be for it to just break down, but where's the fun in that?

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Open to ideas. I just need the vehicle to stop working near a farm. The simple thing would be for it to just break down, but where's the fun in that?

• Corrupted Aether Rock creates Anti-Magic field
• Troublesome goblins threw a literal wrench in the works to raid the vehicle
• An as-yet-undescribed race acts as a natural magic dampener, and either stowed away or crossed paths with the vehicle
• An antagonistic mage casts enough cold magic to counteract the elemental fire
• A passenger, trying to be helpful, casts extra fire spells which overheat the mechanism and melt something important
• An as-yet-unnamed god (the god of not cheating in life?) has divinely blessed certain areas of the continent such that magic is much less effective there
• Some mages create fire spells by gathering as much heat as possible from an area, and a coincidental battle nearby saps the heat from the vehicle, snuffing out its self-sustaining heat cycle
• One of the passengers possesses a magic-absorption amulet for protection, and it gets too close to the engine

Just some ideas...

 

[Voboy]

I will have an attack by orcs in my story set in The Marches, but I don't plan to dive too deeply into the orcs' background. It's just to give my story some character development via action scene. They're probably just a nomadic band of raiders, but if anyone else puts an orc tribe in The Marches, I might sponge a few details off of them.

I'm in the Marches too, and IIRC I'm 300 years or so before you?

Orcs are coming into my story as well, from Windscour along the Eastern skirts of the Mountains of Mourn. They don't need to be FROM Windscour; might make more sense if they're from the mountains, or better yet Bleakfall. My characters are going to repel them, but I don't see any reason why raids can't continue for a few more centuries as they gain a foothold or two in the area. I'd given no thought to any Orcish details as yet.

A note for the rest of you: I'm not terribly sure where my story is placed timewise, except that it's a few centuries before Loqui's... I'd given it no thought at all, to be honest. Anyone know when my story's taking place? Lol.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I like the magic-absorption amulet idea. It's similar to what I was thinking but on a smaller scale. I was thinking farmers set up a boundary around their house and barn to reduce the chance of raiders setting them on fire. Not effective against fire arrows though...

 

[AspernEssling]

Smitten

My first story, 'Smitten', will involve a human from Portoa shipwrecked near the Blasted Tree (NW corner of map). He will be captured/rescued by a band of orcs, refugees from the fall of Zhowak/Zhowaki. I'm on Chapter three.
I'll do my best to remain consistent with other people's stories; any inconsistencies can hopefully be explained by the fact that my orcs have been cut off for quite some time.
The story will also include a link to the earliest days of the Ducky of Varna - humans, thinly spread, interacting with a number of other races. I hope to write a second story about the petty intrigues there.
Are we posting these stories as Leinyere - sci-fi fantasy - or interracial?
AspernEssling

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Are we posting these stories as Leinyere - sci-fi fantasy - or interracial?
AspernEssling

I would assume most stories would fit best under SFF, but it's your story, so if you want to submit somewhere else, do it! Just include the phrase "Tales of Leinyere" in the "Notes" field and use “Leinyere” as a story tag

 

[yibala2]

Hillcrest in the NE Marches

Here's what I am proposing for my story background, set in the Northeast corner of the Marches in 5500 A.D. I'm not sure when Lu'Horagh's reign began, but I think this can work however long she held sway over the orcs. I don't think any of this is inconsistent with anything other writers have posted thus far. Let me know if it is!



Grigor Wallams (Marchlord, 5491- ) is a typical Marchlord, greedy and grasping. He rules the realm of Hillcrest, at the northeast corner of the Marches, which borders on the plains and northern woodlands. The seat of Wallams’ power is the town of Hillcrest, high in the foothills, but he also governs several small forestry and farming villages – some 5-10 thousand people in total.

However, Wallams is also a descendant of the Great Wallamous, a sorcerer believed to have been dead for almost 200 years. Wallamous ruled Hillcrest and won the allegiance of a tribe of neighboring orcs. During Wallamous’ reign, the nearby orcs and Hillcrest observed the Treaty of Great Wallamous, a pact of non-aggression and cooperation between the orcs and the human realm governed by the sorcerer’s descendants. The Treaty was rejected by the orcs under the leadership of Lu’Horagh. The Pikeskulls, one of the six successor tribes of the God-Queen, and the tribe that dominates the plains just east of the Marches, respect no peace with humans. But with the secession of the Red Tusks from the Pikeskulls, Yakka Boarsback, (Red Tusk Warlord, 5496-) has revived the pact.

As a result, a lively trade exists between the two communities, providing the Red Tusk orcs with coin and sophisticated craftwork from the Marches, and the Hillcrest humans with the leather, truffles, and cured and smoked meats from the orcs. An annual festival, Smashfest, is held either in Hillcrest or one of the orc hillforts celebrating the treaty. Smashfest is best known for hog exhibitions and sports like shattersack (orc rugby), wrestling, boxing, axe-throwing, and full-contact footraces. Even before the pact was renewed, some human women (and men) were attracted to the savagery and supposed sexual prowess of the orcs. Such humans are known derisively by orcs as “quag whores”. (The Orcish slang term for humans, “quag”, likens humans to peat bogs – soft and squishy underfoot, and a source of endless messy entanglements.) Still, there are always a smattering of half-orcs in Hillcrest and amongst the orcs of the highlands.

Observing the pact serves the interests of both leaders. Yakka is a crafty ruler who sees the strategic advantage of protecting his rear to face off against the Pikeskulls. Lord Wallams, on his part, can subtly threaten his neighbors with his orc alliance. He uses his orc backing to press his claim to become Lord of the Marches (The “Big Cheese”). Other Marchlords look suspiciously upon Hillcrest whenever orc raiding parties manage to infiltrate far enough into the mountains to attack villages and traveling merchants. Most common folk under Yakka and Wallams - both human and orc - harbor a great deal of racial prejudice, but also see advantages to cooperation and peace.

By 5500, the Pikeskulls, caught between the well-defended upstarts in the hills and other hostile neighboring tribes on the plains, have become increasingly desperate to crush the Red Tusks.

-Yib

 

[Voboy]

Here's what I am proposing for my story background, set in the Northeast corner of the Marches in 5500 A.D. I'm not sure when Lu'Horagh's reign began, but I think this can work however long she held sway over the orcs. I don't think any of this is inconsistent with anything other writers have posted thus far. Let me know if it is!



Grigor Wallams (Marchlord, 5491- ) is a typical Marchlord, greedy and grasping. He rules the realm of Hillcrest, at the northeast corner of the Marches, which borders on the plains and northern woodlands. The seat of Wallams’ power is the town of Hillcrest, high in the foothills, but he also governs several small forestry and farming villages – some 5-10 thousand people in total.

However, Wallams is also a descendant of the Great Wallamous, a sorcerer believed to have been dead for almost 200 years. Wallamous ruled Hillcrest and won the allegiance of a tribe of neighboring orcs. During Wallamous’ reign, the nearby orcs and Hillcrest observed the Treaty of Great Wallamous, a pact of non-aggression and cooperation between the orcs and the human realm governed by the sorcerer’s descendants. The Treaty was rejected by the orcs under the leadership of Lu’Horagh. The Pikeskulls, one of the six successor tribes of the God-Queen, and the tribe that dominates the plains just east of the Marches, respect no peace with humans. But with the secession of the Red Tusks from the Pikeskulls, Yakka Boarsback, (Red Tusk Warlord, 5496-) has revived the pact.

As a result, a lively trade exists between the two communities, providing the Red Tusk orcs with coin and sophisticated craftwork from the Marches, and the Hillcrest humans with the leather, truffles, and cured and smoked meats from the orcs. An annual festival, Smashfest, is held either in Hillcrest or one of the orc hillforts celebrating the treaty. Smashfest is best known for hog exhibitions and sports like shattersack (orc rugby), wrestling, boxing, axe-throwing, and full-contact footraces. Even before the pact was renewed, some human women (and men) were attracted to the savagery and supposed sexual prowess of the orcs. Such humans are known derisively by orcs as “quag whores”. (The Orcish slang term for humans, “quag”, likens humans to peat bogs – soft and squishy underfoot, and a source of endless messy entanglements.) Still, there are always a smattering of half-orcs in Hillcrest and amongst the orcs of the highlands.

Observing the pact serves the interests of both leaders. Yakka is a crafty ruler who sees the strategic advantage of protecting his rear to face off against the Pikeskulls. Lord Wallams, on his part, can subtly threaten his neighbors with his orc alliance. He uses his orc backing to press his claim to become Lord of the Marches (The “Big Cheese”). Other Marchlords look suspiciously upon Hillcrest whenever orc raiding parties manage to infiltrate far enough into the mountains to attack villages and traveling merchants. Most common folk under Yakka and Wallams - both human and orc - harbor a great deal of racial prejudice, but also see advantages to cooperation and peace.

By 5500, the Pikeskulls, caught between the well-defended upstarts in the hills and other hostile neighboring tribes on the plains, have become increasingly desperate to crush the Red Tusks.

-Yib

I like it. I'm going to steal references to shattersack.

For consistency's sake, just remember that March folk tend to refer to time periods by whoever was the Big Cheese for the year, sort of like how the Romans did it. For perspective, I'm setting my story about seven years after the Year of Lord Harrowes III and about fifteen years after the Year of Duke Dubwin.

Those are essentially meaningless; I don't plan to talk about specifics. But it might lend a more organic touch if we use some of the same references.

 

[yibala2]

I like it. I'm going to steal references to shattersack.

For consistency's sake, just remember that March folk tend to refer to time periods by whoever was the Big Cheese for the year, sort of like how the Romans did it. For perspective, I'm setting my story about seven years after the Year of Lord Harrowes III and about fifteen years after the Year of Duke Dubwin.

Those are essentially meaningless; I don't plan to talk about specifics. But it might lend a more organic touch if we use some of the same references.

I can do that for sure, with time references. Anyone who is writing the Marches around 5500, we should try to get our Big Cheese years to be consistent.

If you like, I envisioned shattersack as being played with a ball-sized leather sack filled with sand and stringy fibers on top that might suspiciously resemble human hair but would probably be something sturdier. The stringy bits are for gripping the sack. Basically its just a free for all, where the offensive team tries to run the sack through the goal and the defense tries to stop them and take the sack away. Bludgeoning weapons optional.

Of course, rules would vary over time and locality...

-Yib

 

[Voboy]

I can do that for sure, with time references. Anyone who is writing the Marches around 5500, we should try to get our Big Cheese years to be consistent.

I'm not sure I'd worry about it that much. Like I said, my story is pretty stand-alone; anyone who wants to mention the Orc Incursions during the Year of Lord Swiffledick, for example, is more than welcome.

My initial notion when I envisioned the Marches is that everything about them is relatively small-scale. Little principalities in a little part of the continent, with little squabbles and concerns that, though important to the lordlings, are totally unknown and unimportant even as nearby as the Port, whose inhabitants probably view the March folk as backward savages.

Too, let's be honest: we could spend hours working out the precise chronology of the different lords' years, and it would all be perfectly consistent internally, but the odds of any readers actually noticing are slim. In case they do, I think mentioning some of the same lords (without being too specific) is plenty. We do owe our readers our best work regardless, but a vague and informal calendar preserves an air of timelessness that, I think, is attractive.

 

[yibala2]

Climate?

I'm not sure I'd worry about it that much. Like I said, my story is pretty stand-alone; anyone who wants to mention the Orc Incursions during the Year of Lord Swiffledick, for example, is more than welcome.

Oh, I see your point, now. Consistency about form, not substance. Okay.

On another issue, there was an earlier question about climate. Since the South is cold, - close to the Pole, I would guess - my assumption is that this is a temperate climate.

So it would snow in the winter? The Windscour was described as hot, but that leaves a lot open. The Gobi is hot in the summer and frozen in the winter. The Australian deserts are generally above freezing all year.

I'm basically wondering if anyone cares whether it snows in the lower altitudes around the Marches.

-Yib

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Oh, I see your point, now. Consistency about form, not substance. Okay.

On another issue, there was an earlier question about climate. Since the South is cold, - close to the Pole, I would guess - my assumption is that this is a temperate climate.

So it would snow in the winter? The Windscour was described as hot, but that leaves a lot open. The Gobi is hot in the summer and frozen in the winter. The Australian deserts are generally above freezing all year.

I'm basically wondering if anyone cares whether it snows in the lower altitudes around the Marches.

-Yib

Based on the distances on the map, assuming a planet roughly Earth's size, I think it would make sense for it to snow a little bit in the winters in the marches, and I think you're right that the Windscour would be cold in the winter. It would probably rarely snow, if ever, up on the northern coast. Maybe I'm wrong, though! Or maybe this planet is a different size?

 

[Voboy]

Bring the snow!

The Marches are hilly, with plenty of valleys and lots of higher peaks dotted here and there. Latitude is vaguely North American, so the entire area would be subjected to seasonal snow, with altitude determining a lot about how severe it is.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

I woul like to claim the Northen lands. Start at the North end of the marshes there appears to be a river that runs from the Marshes East to the sea. That River and everything North will be named soon. I have characters need to work some things out.

Head of State is an immortal water Nymph
Best Friend is daughter of the King of the MerFolk
A dragon swore a blood oath to her and is her confidant & protector. There is also a were-wolf shaman and her pack of wolves.

The land is peaceful and welcomes all. They live in harmony with nature. Any who come to invade are quickly turned into Dragon/wolf turds.

There is an ancient story about an evil ruler who sent a massive army to invade. The army was returned to him medium well and the King can still be heard screaming in the dragons stomach.

Most denizens are sell swords & soliders who are tired of fighting and want peace. More to come.

 

[Voboy]

I woul like to claim the Northen lands. Start at the North end of the marshes there appears to be a river that runs from the Marshes East to the sea. That River and everything North will be named soon. I have characters need to work some things out.

Head of State is an immortal water Nymph
Best Friend is daughter of the King of the MerFolk
A dragon swore a blood oath to her and is her confidant & protector. There is also a were-wolf shaman and her pack of wolves.

The land is peaceful and welcomes all. They live in harmony with nature. Any who come to invade are quickly turned into Dragon/wolf turds.

There is an ancient story about an evil ruler who sent a massive army to invade. The army was returned to him medium well and the King can still be heard screaming in the dragons stomach.

Most denizens are sell swords & soliders who are tired of fighting and want peace. More to come.

I like. And I can definitely reference it. I have a jaded ex-mercenary in the Marches who'd love to talk about retiring to a place like that.

 

[Voboy]

I've added a section at the bottom of Nouh Bdee's NOTES doc that covers money. As my story develops, I've needed to invent names for gold coins and such. Clearly, everyone's free to manage their story's economy as they see fit, but if you want to use common terms for internal consistency in the Marches, it goes like this:

Gold coins: Quartos
Silver coins: Pennies
Copper coins: Coppers

There's more detail on the Notes doc, using a loaf of bread, a horse, and whore as relative economic indicators.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I've added a section at the bottom of Nouh Bdee's NOTES doc that covers money. As my story develops, I've needed to invent names for gold coins and such. Clearly, everyone's free to manage their story's economy as they see fit, but if you want to use common terms for internal consistency in the Marches, it goes like this:

Gold coins: Quartos
Silver coins: Pennies
Copper coins: Coppers

There's more detail on the Notes doc, using a loaf of bread, a horse, and whore as relative economic indicators.

Thanks. I'll use that for my salesbeings who are based in Giltan's Port.

The autocart will cost a bit over two quartos. It's going to be a hard sell to a farmer.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

One of my submissions is going to be a short story-poem, The Wayward Princess, by the fictional Leinyeran author D. Proudpen, just in case anyone else wants to reference them or their works. I have made no decisions about their race, gender, age, or anything else about them, so go wild. The poem itself has some raunchy content.

 

[PoisonPen33]

Hey - I don't think I'll be able to write my story due to work ramping back up. I'll try, but if you could take it off the story list, I'd appreciate it. If things change, I'll let the thread know!

Good luck! This looks like a fun world!