happy wbw! tell me a bit about the world of whispers! what is the culture of the country where it takes place compared to the culture of the firebreathers world? are there any tongue in cheek references to the two places being related that we the reader would understand but the characters wouldn't? whispers doesn't get enough love, so tell us all about it <3
happy wbw!!! :D
Whispers and Firebreathers actually take place in the same world!! The biggest difference between them is just that Whispers is in Emarye, where Firebreathers is mostly in the Maelands :D
(Map for reference:)
One other difference between them is that Whispers is set between several years to a decade before Firebreathers!! (probably, don’t quote me on that quite yet a;lsdjf)
There are several references to The Whispers (the crime ring) in Firebreathers!! Ember has actually considered getting help from them before, but didn’t, due to the threat of the debts being too much for them. Also, parts of the climax of Whispers will be mentioned, but unless you read both, you won’t understand them ;)
But!!! In terms of general culture, Emarye and Maelani/Sieril are very different places.
For one thing, Maelani is very densely populated, compared to Emarye, and the people there tend not to travel too far, because travel is fairly inaccessible to most. I mean, a lot of the railroads there have to either go really far out of their way to get around Godtree roots/prairie colonies/desert drifts etc., or avoid routes that would bring that entirely. So, people can be pretty wary of outsiders, and most everyone will have connections throughout the town they live, and if they disappeared, their paper trail would be traceable.
Meanwhile, Emarye has far fewer habitable zones, especially once you get past the southern mountains. A nice side effect of that, though, is the sheer intricacy of the railroads, and that means people travel more, so strangers are expected. And if a stranger just shows up one day in your small town and decides to stay, it’s not that weird. People can fake papers easily, or get on without any just fine.
And, in terms of differences on a country-like scale: Maelani has several different governments that choose to govern people and cities more than land, while still having centralized powers. So, for example, existing in an Ehlven city like Impalfahr will mean you have to follow city laws, but if you’re not an Ehlf, and you don’t live there full time, you’ll go through a non-Ehlven judicial or prosecution system if you break those laws in a significant way!
Emarye, on the other hand, works in a city-state format! So, each city is in control of the area around them, and the people in charge of that city make the laws there, but there’s no central governing force outside of that!
That’s part of why Fowden is Like That™ - the people in charge haven’t been particularly good in decades, and because of the laws they’ve thrown out over time, it’s become a bit of an easy base of operations for crime lords and outlaws.
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Thank you for the questions, Lila!!! And thank you for letting me rant about the ehlverse again a;sldkjfa;sldfj