"Now remember, sonny, this isn't The Capitol. So be sure to put on your best Paladin Face." Aaron, my mentor for this... mission? puts a hand on my shoulder and starts pushing me towards the tavern.
"Uh, yeah! I get that things are probably run differently out here. I promise not to like, wince or anything. If uh... they only have... bear meat or something?" I can't for the life of my think of what a Paladin Face even looks like.
He shakes his head, "No no, I get that you're a polite boy. That's why I'm tellin' you this!" He yanks me closer, my plate armor bumping noisily against his, almost drowning out what he mumbles secretively in the vicinity of my ear. "I'm sayin' that you and I are the only real law that this place has seen in months, Mark! We're The Capitol out here, so keep your eyes peeled and say something if you see something!"
"Something?" I try to pull away a pinch from his hissing in my ear. "I thought we were here just to check on their Purelight crystal?"
"Sure, but that's just the end goal. The reason. As a representative of The Capitol though? You should always be on watch." He smacks my back, making me grateful as always that I have my armor on. "Now, Paladin Face!" He steps between me and the tavern door.
I stare at him blankly for a moment. I eventually muster a squint as well once I notice he seems to be waiting for more of... something.
"Good enough. You'll learn, sonny." He turns and lurches the door open, stomping into the tavern.
I am LATE to the party, but you know, timing is everything and nothing. I filled a couple and made my own, don’t hesitate to try it out and tagging me in the results! The template was made by @cogesque and is here. The background I drew tonight.
These are common themes across all my current fantasy WIPs, The Banished, Firestorm Peacemaker, and Counting Down. (I didn’t include the dragon one because that is a tiny baby wip still.)
[Bingo sheet of five times five squares on a dark background. Reading left to right and top to bottom as follows. Row 1. Magic has colors. Soulmates and soul-bonds. Meddling deities. Telepathy. Romance. Row 2. Complex world-building. Myth equals religion. Queer protagonists. Magical beings. “You belong here”. Row 3. Politics and society. Sentient nature. Free choice. War. Sibling fights. Row 4. Distinct traditions. Balance and harmony. Journeys. Why me. Change and acceptance. Row 5. Maps that don’t work. Teacher and student. Frustration is a big mood. Obligations. Happy endings.]
Tagging for the wips: @concerningwolves @adorhauer @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables Let me know if you want to be added/removed
An art trade I did with a mutual of mine, @itsjesscapade! She makes lots of wonderful art and videos, and I finally gained the courage to reach out like all those shy-mutuals-tumblr-posts talk about. X]
If you like this piece, you should see what she drew for me! (that's where I'll add the link once it's up. Click it so my future self's efforts aren't in vain)
Do the children of your world go to school? At what age do they begin to learn? How long are they educated for? What do they learn? - What is the coolest plant in your world? - What does the food supply process look like in your world?
Ohhhhhhh, NICE! Thank you! o(^◇^)o I’m going to be answering these with Firestorm Peacemaker, one of my fantasy wips in mind, and this is probably going to be lengthy..
School and education
Yes, children go to school, but in different ways and degrees in the two societies primarily present.
The Shandar are mainly nomadic tribes scattered through their lands, except for the winter solstice when they gather in the Sun Keep for anything between 2 to 6 months. Their children are all taught by tribe elders the months they are away from the Keep, but taught communally while they are in the Keep. This helps make sure the tribes all have access to the same knowledge, and the friendships the children form of course makes the bonds between the tribes stronger. Knowledge is taught largely through practice when possible and no area is considered of limits. Magic is taught to anyone with the gift and if someone wishes to learn about it, they are welcome, gift or not. Poverty is not something present in the tribes, neither are orphans, which means every child is taught.
The Enniate are farmers and settlers. Their society system is much more segregated and school is not available nor affordable everywhere. The Order controls, under the King’s decree, what is and isn’t taught, and magic is considered both a privilege and a threat. A child showing an aptitude for magic or even demonstrations of a gift, will be given or taken to the Order for schooling.
The Shandar begin teaching their children from the earliest years, around 3 to 4 years old, whereas the Enniate schools start at 6 to 7 years old (but only if the parents pay for it).
The length and content/scope of education differs greatly.
Enniate civilians are typically taught for 5 to 7 years, with the primary focus on the fundamentals of reading, writing and counting, and their myths and legends and the deities. After these years most are expected to work at around 13 years old, unless exceptional ability is shown in some area. Then they are taken for further schooling in the capital. Skills such as farming, cooking, crafting, or any other trade, are expected to be learnt at home or under the tutelage of a master artisan. The Enniate (more specifically the nobility and the Order) believe nature is a wild-thing that must be tamed and controlled and that their villages and towns are safe havens from natural chaos.
The Shandar believe that learning is never over and a life-long experience. However, expected schooling is finished whenever a student/child can prove they have grasped the fundamentals of reading, writing, and counting; have an adequate knowledge of their body and of nature; have the specific knowledge of how to survive in their tribe’s primary living area, including cooking and mending skills as well as general way-finding; and finally, are well-versed in their myths and legends, the deities, and why they live like they do (structure of society).
Both societies have doctors and masters in counting or writing or smithy or horsemanship, but any Shandar would be able to read or tell you how to live with nature or help you set a fracture.
Coolest plant
Ohh, tough one! I would say that the moon-nest, a messy vine that stores the beams of the moon and always glows faintly silver. It is poisonous at it is, but has incredibly potent healing properties if you know how to handle it.
Food supply process
The Enniate are farmers, mainly. They grow all kinds of crops, from sweet sugar beets and fruits in the suit, to hardy rye and potatoes in the north. There is active trade between farmers, various villages, and towns. A farm is expected to be able to carry itself if necessary.
The Shandar are mostly gatherer-hunters, but they also keep livestock. They rely on the lands and move around as nomads, and trade whenever they cross paths or during the winter gatherings. Any overabundance is stored for the winter months at the Sun Keep.
There are elements of either tribe in the other, but these are their main ways.
I saw a post about dragons and I just need to scream a little.
So I have a wip in which dragons dance in mirror circles in their humanoid forms when they propose to a mate and while the mating magic is strong, every touch between them will leave behind gold color, like paint. These changes turn permanent when the magic is confirmed and accepted by both parties, which means they can be left in deliberately obvious places if desired. The dance starts with stepping in circles closer and closer, then progressively touching feet, then ankles, legs, shoulders, hands, and locking arms, and finally holding each other as it finishes. It is sealed by a kiss or a verbal promise, whichever is most preferred.
The ice-dragon Naevkar the Sharp, Queen-to-be, has to choose a mate as soon as possible, or their clan will start to decline, without both new young (draglings) and leadership.
Illror the Tender, a Fire-dragon, knows he isn't a good choice no matter how much he would like to be, and instead pulls away from the colony.
Doesn't mean his twin or his friends will let him.
So I'm sitting in a tavern with my boss and I had hopped that getting our orders taken would get him to calm down, but...
"Mark! Did you SEE the knockers on that barmaid?" Aaron says out loud about the hostess not 3 seconds after she stepped away.
"I mean, she was right here talking to me, too. I don--"
"I'm telling you, Mark!" he steamrolls, "Everything out here is purpose-picked to keep you from thinking about anything but carnal desires! Just imagine how much contraband you could hide between those!"
"I wasn't distracted, though! I was just trying to or--"
"Why'd you ask for milk then?" He puts on his "test face" at record speed. The gleam in his eye tells me he thinks he already knows my answer.
I fumble for my healer's gauntlet to find a different image to concentrate on. "Well YOU were the one that asked if she 'serves it fresh behind the bar,' dude." I try my hardest to hold eye contact with him.
My accusatory glare glances off him, apparently, because he breaks into a smile before laughing boisterously and reaching across the table to punch me in the shoulder (thank you armor) instead of cussing me out for insubordination. "You're gonna be a better knight than me one day with a pure heart like that, sonny."
I grip my gauntlet one last time, thumbing the crystal on the back of it. I'm increasingly jealous of Hailey's job of getting the cart to the inn, even if it would mean a later dinner. I hope I'm nothing like him.
"So what kind of Implement are you workin' to manifest?"
"I, uh... I thought it was like... Up To Purlight to decide what the implement will be?"
He waves a hand as if tamping the thought away. "Yeah, yeah, that's like... how it works, but unless you get some kind of vision or something about what it's gonna be, you still have to get to it with your own efforts. It's gotta be you who wields it, after all."
"I guess that makes sense. I'm just... still waiting for the right inspiration to hit? I made so much progress so quickly on this plate armor that I kind of figured this was the right tool to start with. But it just already feels so... done? Finished?"
Aaron nods. "Yeah, your teacher told me about that. I bet you're just too caught up in your head about the ''''''''ThEoRy'''''''' of it all. You're a Paladin, for Light's sake! not some stuffy book worm who's gonna make a like... abacus that uh... floats or some shit?"
"Peter's Following Slide Rule was pretty nifty, though." He kept leaving it in the strangest places before he manifested it as his Implement. I, on the other hand, couldn't bear to leave the dorms without my armor.
"Yeah sure, but armor that makes you float sounds more goofy than anything else. You can't be a front-line defender from up in the air, either." Aaron strokes his mustache in thought. "Have you thought about maybe adding something to the pauldrons for this? I noticed it's shape is kind of... bottom-heavy. Maybe embracing some manly shoulders would strike you with some inspiration." He moves his hands in a point-down triangle shape.
"Like I said, the armor just seems so 'done.' There's already so much Purelight infused into the material that trying to bind new material to it the same way just doesn't seem to take." Also pauldrons that give me a 3-foot shoulder span would look stupid, I say to myself in my own head.
"Huh. Well maybe you'll be the first to make that Egg Shape some sort of brand. Purlight works in mysterious ways." Aaron shrugs.
