#uberwald

[pratchettquotes]

"Let me see if I've got this right," said Vimes. "Uberwald is like this big suet pudding that everyone's suddenly noticed, and now with this coronation as an excuse we've all got to rush there with knife, fork and spoon to shovel as much on our plates as possible?"

"Your grasp of political reality is masterly, Vimes. You lack only the appropriate vocabulary."

Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant

[somewhere-south-of-neutral]

You guys are all aware that Uberwald is Transylvania translated from Latin to German, right?

If not, this has been a Pratchett Pun PSA

[jadedragoness]

Bonk

I've decided to work on learning Russian, using Duolingo, as you do, when i learned how the word for wolf looks like in Cyrillic.

My Discworld (and English reading) infected brain, screeched to a halt.

....

Wait. Wait a damned minute. I know that word.

...did Terry Prachett make a hidden joke about Bonk meaning WOLF (if it was in Cyrillic to English readers)... in a freaking book about WEREWOLVES?!!! THAT HAS A TON OF RUSSIAN REFERENCES?!?!?!?!

Sir! Sir! Sir Terry Pratchett... you bastard (respectfully) and not the camel! How in the blazes are you doing this? I've been reading Discworld for nearly three decades at this point. How do you still manage to flatten me with surprise at hidden jokes like this! How?!

Argh.... and this is one of the many, many reasons, Discworld is worth reading, rereading, and then reading yet again.

[dimity-lawn]

Young Vetinari: No mother otter don’t eat that salmon

Otter cubs: Oh mein Gott zees is ein fish full of eggenroe!

[morgaine2005simblr]

Uberwald: Head of State & Nobility

To learn more about my regional system, click here!

To learn more about Uberwald, click here!

Head of State: Vladdy Daddy The Count of Uberwald

Count Vladislaus appears to be a toothless hereditary monarch like the kings and queens of Tredonia. But reality is a bit more complicated.

On paper, the Counts of Uberwald have a simple succession of system of absolute primogeniture. The current count, after all, is (theoretically) the fourth of his name. But the Counts of Uberwald have always been strangely similar in a way that goes beyond family resemblance. They have never liked to go out in daylight, have always been gifted pipe organ players, and have always had strikingly angular faces with gray-toned skin, white hair, and pale eyes.

The people joke that their count is a vampire. The Uberwald Council knows very well that yes, Count Vladislaus is indeed a vampire who has spent several generations pretending to be his own descendant, and while they’d like to change the laws to make this state of affairs legal, they’re not sure how to do so without alarming the populace. Count Vladislaus himself is tight-lipped about the matter in public, but his intimates report that he finds the whole thing quite amusing.

Another facet of Uberwald’s Noble ranks that non-Uberwaldians find strange is this: the ranks themselves are somewhat lowly (with the region’s Nobles taking on ranks like “keeper of the cellars” and “person in charge of filling the cups” with a straight face) as well as out of order. A Vornic, or an officer in charge of justice, is four levels below a Cupar, or the person in charge of filling the cups at the royal table. Yet when one reflects that the very long-serving Head of State is a Vampire, suddenly everything makes sense.This is not the only way that the government of Uberwald is not exactly as it appears from outside. Elections in Uberwald are free and fair; citizens’ rights are respected; and the count never interferes with the Council’s choice of a Prime Minister. Indeed, the count never expresses any political opinion in public and only rarely discusses politics in private. But every Prime Minister swiftly finds that the count has certain legislative priorities and projects that will be respected … or else. Prime Ministers who refuse to entertain the count’s gentle hints often find themselves needing to resign for reasons of ill health, with anemia and memory issues being the chief complaints.

Noble Titles

Quick key: Gender-differentiated titles will be listed in this order: Masculine | Feminine | Neutral. Titles for children and spouses of an office-holder will be directly under the office title.

These titles were all adapted from medieval Romanian titles, so an explanation is included in parentheses for each title.

Level 1: Bogatyr | Bogatrina | Bogatrum (Knight)

The Honorable

Level 2: Spatar | Spatrina | Spectrum (Second-in-command of the army)

The Honorable

Level 3: Dregator | Dregatrina | Dregatrum (General title for court officials)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 4: Vornic | Vornicina | Vornicum (Officer in charge of justice)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 5: Clucer | Clucerina | Clucerum (Person in charge of the court household and servants)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 6: Sluger | Slugerina | Slugerum (Person in charge of meat supplies for the court)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 7: Chelar | Chelarina | Chelarum (Person in charge of cellars and food stores)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 8: Cupar | Cuparina | Cuparrum (Person in charge of filling the cups at the high table)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 9: Boyar | Boyarina | Boyarum (A lord)

Lord | Lady | Lordem

Level 10: Count | Countess | ?? (Vlad)

Viscount | Viscountess | ???

[vivid-and-void]

Refined an older work with colorpencils.

[chinesegal]

When I compared Discworld vampires to the ones in Vampire: the masquerade on reddit, I received the response that "Discworld's vampires wouldn't fit in VtmB, but the same is true the other way around (for one thing, Granny would hunt them down and obliviate them.)"

And while I agree, one part of me does wonder about what kind of potential there is in a crossover where a vtm vamp does enter the DW world and somehow finds a way to survive there, how they would interact with the inhabitants and how life in such a different place would change them.

Many vtm vampires aren't evil for no reason-there are many factions that have developed philosophies and moral systems which are very different from what normal humans consider to be "good" or "normal". For example, the Path of Metamorphosis forbids being concerned about mortals or heeding the needs of others, and commands you to alter your physical form.

The Kuei-Jin are Vtm's take on vampires from Asian folklore. mixed with horror films and anime. They are created created when the souls of people sent to hell escape into the mortal world and possess their own bodies, and now have to "redeem" themselves from their past sins in various ways, from refining their powers to following various philosophies called Dharma.

Uberwald is based off Hammer horror movies, and I thought it would've been wonderful if Pratchett was into Asian horror films too and chose to include asian-inspired vampires into his story.

If there is one person who could succesfully pull off a story which pokes fun at the "Asian vs the West" culture clash trope it would be the late pterry (GNU).

The Howl of the Devil-Tiger are Kuei-Jin whose ideology is inflicting pain for the greater good-they see pain as cleansing, and using the analogy of a doctor who removes necrotic tissue, they keep Creation healthy by acting as vigilantes who punish evil-doers, but are also sadomasochists who enjoy inflicting pain on themselves too.

[miss-shotover]

Discworld hot (?) take:

Inigo Skimmer is kinda sexy. Rest in peace you spooky little ✨ scholarship boy. ✨