The Complete Provincial History of E&P - first draft just

This is my first go, and it’s going to take a while…

J

The Chronicle of E&P:

Given that E&P has a story with as much flesh as Tyrum, I have taken it upon myself to do a bit of world building. I know that people have done bits in the past and there’s some ideas I’ve borrowed. If any of these ideas are yours, please shout, you are very welcome to claim due credit.

Just a quick pre-amble – I’m not re-inventing the fantasy wheel – Western fantasy literature is dominated by Tolkien and much of what we consider ‘facts’ about elves and dwarves etc are due to his incredible contribution to our culture. I’m going to keep broadly in line with the archetypes that he championed and these are already evident in E&P – Elves are graceful, wise and a bit arrogant, Dwarves are rough and ready and like mining and ale, orcs and goblins are warlike, humans are a bit of everything. There are also various nods to Samurai, ancient Greek mythology and horror monsters such as vampires and werewolves.

My other fantasy influences include, Wheel of Time, Warhammer, Narnia, Disc World, Arthurian and Anglo-Saxon legend, classical mythology.

One final brief note is in relation to ‘cultural appropriation’. SG have included characters representing various ethnic backgrounds, which is great; I’m going to include everyone in my description of the world, but I’m well aware that as a Caucasian European, we tend to write well for characters that we are familiar with and do a pretty rubbish job when it comes to other cultures (films like Great Wall and The Last Air Bender are two that I’m aware got criticised for this). So if you have any comments on improving this aspect, that would be very welcome.

So without further ado, please dive in.

Provincial Geography:

Corellia:

The main human centre of culture and power. Correllia is a classic western fantasy city, a blend of traders, vagabonds, nobles and soldiers. The Corellian Empire is beset by enemies and is receives constant demands for assistance from its allies.

The Imperial army is well trained and equipped, ably led by Elena, Captain of the Guard. The Imperial Knights and strikers both guard the city and keep the peace across the land. Debate rages back and forth about whether the Correllian army should be deployed on masse to confront the forces of the Dark Lord, an idea championed by Sonya, while less hawkish knights, like Gunnar, would prefer to dig in and build up the defence network closer to home.

For those with means and emissaries of the Empire, travel across the provinces is provided by the Summon Gates. These arcane and magical machines enable near instantaneous travel across vast distances. Their workings are no longer fully understood and on rare occasions they connect to enigmatic other worlds – Avalon, Olympia and those not yet discovered.

Rathwood:

As a protectorate of Correllia, Rathwood has been exploited for its natural resources and in return, expects its mighty neighbour to honour its alliance and defend its borders. Relations between the two have soured and the druids, Elder ents and glade spirits of the forest have started taking matters into their own hands, stirred up by Brienne. Berden, a former Ravager Archer of Correlia, now leads the Rebel Sharpshooters, picking off insurgent goblins and helping themselves to Imperial goods in order to fund their campaign.

Western Windermer:

The last stronghold of the dwindling Elven race holds out against the plague of ratmen that now infest this former paradise. While dour veterans such as Caedmon speak of a heroic last stand against the tide of evil, younger warriors like Lianna have forsaken their rigid upbringing to travel the world and sell their skills to highest bidder.

Slopes of Ogron:

The hardy dwarves of the Ogron Mountains maintain an uneasy truce with both Elvish Windemer and the Corellian Empire, but trade disputes threaten the peace. The trade routes between Corellia and the human settlements at Isgilham and Skyfheim have attracted the attention of goblins and the Tritonic Waterfolk, bringing unwelcome trouble to the cavern kingdom of the dwarves.

Isgilham:

The rugged Norsemen of Isgilham maintain their great halls and villages despite the constant threat of the Wildefrost warriors and prowling wolves. Led by Lord Thorne, the people of Isgilham cut a living from fishing in the howling bay and trading the pelts of frost wolves and runic bears. Warriors, Karil and Toril, lead their forces against the Frost Commanders whenever Ulmer’s scryings prophesy victory. On a historical note, Isgilham is the home of the Boar races and the first culture to use ham as a currency.

Ruins of Skyfheim:

Once a mighty kingdom, Skyfheim was ravaged during the last great Undead invasion a generation ago. Now it’s echoing ruins are abandoned, save for the agents of The Guild. The machinations and motives of The Guild are unknown, it’s secrets closely guarded by its knights and mages. The last great tower of Skyfheim is protected by its resolute warden Prisca while rumours persist that the Quintus is locked inside, his crazed mind bent on unlocking the working of the Summon Gates. With the rise of darkness threatening the civilised word, Rigard leads his knights to the borders of Shaguadin in a quest to unlock the mystery behind the vampiric sorcery of the undead.

Shaguadin:

Humanity has been purged from this cesspool of undead. The land is a mat of twisted thorns and lurking spectres. Only the brave rangers still venture here, striking down the shambling corpses of the former population.

Shaguad Desert:

Amongst the warring nomads, the great city of Dragonia stands alone in the dunes, blasted by the sandstorms. Kelile and Shaarkot have Cast the Bones and the portents are dark. Dawa and the rangers bring back tales from the north of walking corpses and strange monsters but there are troubles at home too, giant scorpions burst from the sand to consume travellers and dire vultures pick the bones of the fallen. Occasionally, ships bearing the ensign of Musashi dare to sail the Deep Spire sound and bring exotic food and tall tales. Last year, one such ship arrived on the last hawk moon autumn, bearing a lone young warioress. She was adopted into the house of Azar; her origins are unknown but her sword bears the crest of the House of Cypria.

Cloudloft:

The noble warriors of Musashi guard their high walled fortresses from the strange Oni demons of this mountainous region. Relations have been cordial between the men and women of Cloudloft and the Panda folk of the Misty Highlands, their forces often joining in battle to guard the pass of Umbar from the Darkling threat. Despite their victories, and the leadership of General Li, the foot-soldiers are hard pressed and emmisaries have crossed the seas to the Shores of Windermer to ask that Corellia and its allies answer the call for aid.

Morgovia:

What can be said of this dread land that challenges the sanity of heroes? Here, the forces of life are reversed and the reanimated warriors of ancient times walk the shattered streets. The house of Cypria presides over this land of shades and guards it’s borders, for even the dead have no love of the dark lord. At the heart of Morgovia lies its greatest mystery, for it is said that once in a generation, the death bound Lord and Lady of the house of Cypria with bear a living child.

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Way to go on painting the background picture of E&P… Which, do we even know what the “world” that encompasses all the lands/provinces here is called? I am sure the world picture can take a very long time to come up with. Also, I am so glad you’ve acknowledged that Great Wall / TLAB are not going to be great references when it comes to Asian culture… Hollywood has the knack of making them smell like Hollywood.

The hero Musashi is certainly modeled after the designs for the Ronin Swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, a famous Japanese household name… His duel with Sasaki Kojirou was probably one of his most famous feats recorded. The design of Li Xiu here seemed to have taken some inspiration from either the movie Red Cliff, or the Great Wall, where able female generals clad in suits of armors are as common-place as their male counterparts. Chao, I can definitely see taking influences from character designs in Red Cliff or other films about ancient China.

Keep up the good work and can’t wait to see more. @JonahTheBard.

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Love it! Thanks for the creativity and dedication…hats off

Awesome! They should make a heading just for you.

@Rook is this a possibility?

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The heading is Community Content, and there are a few notable authors, poets and creative types who have kept us entertained there since the beginning.

All hail @JonahTheBard, long may she reign! :grin:

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That’s very kind. I’ll try to keep it up until it becomes a chore to write or a chore to read.

Keeps the grey matter busy, so I’m enjoying being involved.

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If you can find them, Char wrote wonderfully enlightening stories about individual characters and the provinces we play in. I think you would really enjoy them.
I admire your work and thank you for sharing the lucious fruits of your busy mind.

Thanks Azure, I will return to this one day.

And yes, I have discovered Char. I’m glad to follow in those illustrious footsteps :blush:

This is why l stopped writing. Lol
This is best read with that earworm Jingle Bells running :santa:t5:

Grinchy Goblin Santa’s
Wield enchanted orbs.
To resurrect the Gremlins
And wipe you from the board.

(Chorus)
Frosty paws, frosty paws running through the snow.
Wolves disguised with reindeer horns and noses all aglow.

(verse 2)
Goblin troops in Santa hats
With deadly candy canes
Fight beside a Cyclopes
To crush your heroes brains.

Frosty paws, frosty paws running through the snow
Wolves disguised with reindeer horns
and noses all aglow.

Yeti’s wearing mittens
Slashing at your team.
His winter Chieftain partner is
A nightmare Christmas dream.

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Why did you stop writing Azure?! That’s splendid, humourous and witty :smile:

@JonahTheBard what a great story, skillfully woven with a Tolkienesque twist but with added myth and mythology from other cultures. Well done!

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Hey there, @JonahTheBard. From the most recent avatar shops it looks like there is already a name for the Season 1 landscape and it is: Karemdol, and doing a search term on the forum indicates there is already mention of it. You could probably incorporate that into your story.

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