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The (first part of the) promised babble-post for no good reason on one of my original universes. Of which I have rather a lot, mostly just for me to play with and amuse myself, not from any serious intention to write any of them. Which ... I probably ought to change, at some point in my life. *grins* But for now, here are some notes on the one I've been having most fun with recently, the Southwark:
Southwark Babble Post, Part the First
Southwark is an original fantasy universe of mine, which over the course of my playing in it, has gone through various permutations, and evolved into two distinct timelines, separated by the choice of action of one character. *grins* It's nearly less about a coherant story to me at this point, than it is about the differences between the timelines, and the way that one (admittedly very major) change has absolutely massive effects on the main characters and their world. Which ... if I ever actually do something with it, may actually have to be a structural choice, a plot point ... *muses*
Setting:
Southwark is set in one corner of a much larger world (which I have very little idea of, beyond certain facts). At some point, I really ought to draw a map. And, you know, work out the proper names of countries and things. Heh. But the basics are:
The story is set in the kingdom of Southwark, a peninsular kingdom on the southern end of a continent, which is rather precariously balanced between two much larger powers divided on largely racial lines. The first is the Empire, to the north and west, separated from Southwark by a narrow sea. The Empire is largely elven (-ish, I've never come to a real decision on whether to call them that, since the only thing they have in common with elves is the ability to use magic, and increased durability (which is a plot point, because of how they do it)). The second power is an unnamed country to the east, which is largely human, and is currently waging a lot of wars with the Empire at various points across the continent to the north. This country shares one open border with Southwark, to the north east, and a closed border from that point following a range of mountains along the northern edge of the kingdom.
Southwark, balanced between them, is important for two main reasons. The first is that it has control over the sea-lanes to the south that would allow the largely naval Empire to attack ... I should really name the country. Call it Sunland, for now. But, if Southwark were to ally openly with the Empire, they open a sea route to attack Sunland, which Sunland really doesn't want to happen, and the Empire really does. Therefore, envoys of both countries have been prodding at the kingship of Southwark for a couple of generations, now, and a few other, less salubrious tactics on the side, too. A lot of Southwark's power and trade opportunities have traditionally come from playing the two off each other, but that has become increasingly dangerous over the past few decades.
The other reason, though this is less a reason and more an excuse, is that Southwark has a mixed population, the legacy of a colony of imperial elves in the northern part of the kingdom many, many generations ago. There is significant internal tension between the human kingship of Southwark, and the semi-autonomous elven royalty of the colony province, which has only gotten worse the past few generations as pressures from the outside powers have increased, almost flaring into civil war on a number of occasions, and the last time only avoiding it by giving the elven province legal autonomy on all save matters of foreign policy.
Then, roughly nine years ago, one character, an Imperial player of some power, made one of two decisions, to commit a crime (a highly, highly illegal form of magic - though a different form in each timeline, depending on needs), either against a member of his own ruling family, or that of the Southwark (depending on the timeline), and the very precarious peace between the three powers and two races gets ... well, rather shredded.
The Two Timelines:
Continuity 1: In this continuity, the decision was to commit a crime against one of the Imperial Royal Family, the Red General. To cut him off from his magic, and send him as a slave to one of the more anti-elven lords in the Southwark. The aim, more or less, was to a) set the Empire in open conflict with Southwark once the crime and the location of the Red General was discovered, and pretty much to force an invasion, so that the Empire would gain control of the kingdom, and thus the sea lanes, by basic conquest in retaliation for a heinous crime against their own, and b) rid the perpetrator of a powerful internal enemy at the same time. By making it look like the Southwark had opened hostilities, it was hoped that they would win justified support from the Empire's other allies, and make it less likely that Sunland could directly respond or enter the war on Southwark's behalf.
At the same time in Southwark itself, King Adrian's low-level but pervasive distrust of anything elven begins to steadily erode both relations with the Empire, and the internal relations between the elven province and the throne. Over the next few years, it becomes apparent that the King is actively supporting raids by neighbouring lords on elven lands, and a number of vicious racial attacks are carried out with his apparent approval, culminating three years later with the supposed assassination of the elven king himself. The slow war of attrition then breaks out into open civil war, with a wide no man's land gradually developing around the southern edge of the elven province, and a considerable amount of Southwark's military forces tied into controlling the boundary.
The main plot of the story in this timeline kicks off eight years after our start-point (five from the start of the civil war) with the death of the old Southwark King, and the succession of the Blue Prince to the throne, which causes delegations from various powers to be sent to greet the new king, and the stage to be set for the dramatic discovery of the enslaved Imperial General, at a time when the Southwark is in internal turmoil and thus less able to resist the planned invasion. Things go slightly against plan, though, when the lord holding the general captive is waylaid on the way to the capital by Southwark's own elven forces, and the enslaved general is 'rescued' first by the elves, then from them in turn by the commander of Southwark's human armies.
Aware of the plot to invade that got him cursed in the first place, aware of the architect behind it, but also dealing with a number of years enslaved by those due to be invaded, the Red General is caught up in both the internal civil war and the looming approach of his own armies to avenge a crime that was never the Southwark's fault. With the succession throwing the kingdom into turmoil, what he chooses to do, his interactions with the newly crowned Blue Prince, with the elven Summer Prince, and with the Lord Badger, commander of Southwark's armies, will decide the fate of a kingdom, and the empires surrounding it.
Continuity 2: In this continuity, the decision was made to instead curse a member of the Southwark royal family. Two members, in fact: the wife and son of the already anti-elven King Adrian, killing the wife and prematurely ageing the son, the Blue Prince, who will later be known as Grey Prince because of this. The assassination is set up to look like the work of a delegation of Southwark elves, and the King, in the resultant fit of grief and vengeance, initiates the full scale slaughter of the elven royal family at Riverton, directly plunging the kingdom into one of the most vicious civil wars in its history. The apparent aim of this plot is to drive the king to such lengths that the Southwark elves, in desperation, will call to the Empire, their nearest elven allies, for aid, and thus invite Imperial control over the Southwark. Again, in such a way that the Sunland cannot openly move to the Southwark's defense without seeming to support what can genuinely be called atrocities.
The main plot of this timeline again picks up eight years later, with the death of King Adrian and the succession of the now-Grey Prince, but in this timeline there is considerable backstory detailing the civil war and in particular the actions of the Lord Badger, which have caused, for a number of reasons, a reluctance on the part of the Summer Prince to actually do what he was supposed to and call for Imperial aid. As a result of this, the plans have forcibly shifted, and the Grey Prince himself is kidnapped, supposedly by Sunlanders, and 'rescued' by the Red General in an effort to force the Southwark to the Empire's aims.
Not two months later, in the midst of the troubled ascension of the Grey Prince to the throne, the Summer Prince is kidnapped in turn, this time legitimately by Sunlanders, under the mistaken impression that the original assassination of Adrian's family was done by Southwark elves, and hoping to kick off another round of massacres between the two sides, so that the human faction within Southwark will call for Sunland aid. This is largely forced in counterpoint to the perceived fact that the Grey Prince is now little more than his Imperial rescuer's puppet, and is aimed at causing mutiny on the part of the supposedly anti-elven Lord Badger and the armed forces.
Stuck in the middle of this, this time it's the Lord Badger's actions, his interactions with the Red General, who may know more of the plot than he lets on, with the supposedly puppet Grey Prince, and with the Summer Prince, against whom he has waged eight years of war, that will decide the fate of the kingdom, and its relations with the surrounding powers.
And I think I should leave it there for now (do some actual work, perhaps ;P), but I might come back later and have a look at the main characters, too. Heh. Why, I'm not sure, since this is almost purely for my own benefit, but howandever ...
Any opinions, on this big messy world I've made? *grins* It does keep me nicely distracted at times, you know. I should probably do something with it ...
Southwark is an original fantasy universe of mine, which over the course of my playing in it, has gone through various permutations, and evolved into two distinct timelines, separated by the choice of action of one character. *grins* It's nearly less about a coherant story to me at this point, than it is about the differences between the timelines, and the way that one (admittedly very major) change has absolutely massive effects on the main characters and their world. Which ... if I ever actually do something with it, may actually have to be a structural choice, a plot point ... *muses*
Setting:
Southwark is set in one corner of a much larger world (which I have very little idea of, beyond certain facts). At some point, I really ought to draw a map. And, you know, work out the proper names of countries and things. Heh. But the basics are:
The story is set in the kingdom of Southwark, a peninsular kingdom on the southern end of a continent, which is rather precariously balanced between two much larger powers divided on largely racial lines. The first is the Empire, to the north and west, separated from Southwark by a narrow sea. The Empire is largely elven (-ish, I've never come to a real decision on whether to call them that, since the only thing they have in common with elves is the ability to use magic, and increased durability (which is a plot point, because of how they do it)). The second power is an unnamed country to the east, which is largely human, and is currently waging a lot of wars with the Empire at various points across the continent to the north. This country shares one open border with Southwark, to the north east, and a closed border from that point following a range of mountains along the northern edge of the kingdom.
Southwark, balanced between them, is important for two main reasons. The first is that it has control over the sea-lanes to the south that would allow the largely naval Empire to attack ... I should really name the country. Call it Sunland, for now. But, if Southwark were to ally openly with the Empire, they open a sea route to attack Sunland, which Sunland really doesn't want to happen, and the Empire really does. Therefore, envoys of both countries have been prodding at the kingship of Southwark for a couple of generations, now, and a few other, less salubrious tactics on the side, too. A lot of Southwark's power and trade opportunities have traditionally come from playing the two off each other, but that has become increasingly dangerous over the past few decades.
The other reason, though this is less a reason and more an excuse, is that Southwark has a mixed population, the legacy of a colony of imperial elves in the northern part of the kingdom many, many generations ago. There is significant internal tension between the human kingship of Southwark, and the semi-autonomous elven royalty of the colony province, which has only gotten worse the past few generations as pressures from the outside powers have increased, almost flaring into civil war on a number of occasions, and the last time only avoiding it by giving the elven province legal autonomy on all save matters of foreign policy.
Then, roughly nine years ago, one character, an Imperial player of some power, made one of two decisions, to commit a crime (a highly, highly illegal form of magic - though a different form in each timeline, depending on needs), either against a member of his own ruling family, or that of the Southwark (depending on the timeline), and the very precarious peace between the three powers and two races gets ... well, rather shredded.
The Two Timelines:
Continuity 1: In this continuity, the decision was to commit a crime against one of the Imperial Royal Family, the Red General. To cut him off from his magic, and send him as a slave to one of the more anti-elven lords in the Southwark. The aim, more or less, was to a) set the Empire in open conflict with Southwark once the crime and the location of the Red General was discovered, and pretty much to force an invasion, so that the Empire would gain control of the kingdom, and thus the sea lanes, by basic conquest in retaliation for a heinous crime against their own, and b) rid the perpetrator of a powerful internal enemy at the same time. By making it look like the Southwark had opened hostilities, it was hoped that they would win justified support from the Empire's other allies, and make it less likely that Sunland could directly respond or enter the war on Southwark's behalf.
At the same time in Southwark itself, King Adrian's low-level but pervasive distrust of anything elven begins to steadily erode both relations with the Empire, and the internal relations between the elven province and the throne. Over the next few years, it becomes apparent that the King is actively supporting raids by neighbouring lords on elven lands, and a number of vicious racial attacks are carried out with his apparent approval, culminating three years later with the supposed assassination of the elven king himself. The slow war of attrition then breaks out into open civil war, with a wide no man's land gradually developing around the southern edge of the elven province, and a considerable amount of Southwark's military forces tied into controlling the boundary.
The main plot of the story in this timeline kicks off eight years after our start-point (five from the start of the civil war) with the death of the old Southwark King, and the succession of the Blue Prince to the throne, which causes delegations from various powers to be sent to greet the new king, and the stage to be set for the dramatic discovery of the enslaved Imperial General, at a time when the Southwark is in internal turmoil and thus less able to resist the planned invasion. Things go slightly against plan, though, when the lord holding the general captive is waylaid on the way to the capital by Southwark's own elven forces, and the enslaved general is 'rescued' first by the elves, then from them in turn by the commander of Southwark's human armies.
Aware of the plot to invade that got him cursed in the first place, aware of the architect behind it, but also dealing with a number of years enslaved by those due to be invaded, the Red General is caught up in both the internal civil war and the looming approach of his own armies to avenge a crime that was never the Southwark's fault. With the succession throwing the kingdom into turmoil, what he chooses to do, his interactions with the newly crowned Blue Prince, with the elven Summer Prince, and with the Lord Badger, commander of Southwark's armies, will decide the fate of a kingdom, and the empires surrounding it.
Continuity 2: In this continuity, the decision was made to instead curse a member of the Southwark royal family. Two members, in fact: the wife and son of the already anti-elven King Adrian, killing the wife and prematurely ageing the son, the Blue Prince, who will later be known as Grey Prince because of this. The assassination is set up to look like the work of a delegation of Southwark elves, and the King, in the resultant fit of grief and vengeance, initiates the full scale slaughter of the elven royal family at Riverton, directly plunging the kingdom into one of the most vicious civil wars in its history. The apparent aim of this plot is to drive the king to such lengths that the Southwark elves, in desperation, will call to the Empire, their nearest elven allies, for aid, and thus invite Imperial control over the Southwark. Again, in such a way that the Sunland cannot openly move to the Southwark's defense without seeming to support what can genuinely be called atrocities.
The main plot of this timeline again picks up eight years later, with the death of King Adrian and the succession of the now-Grey Prince, but in this timeline there is considerable backstory detailing the civil war and in particular the actions of the Lord Badger, which have caused, for a number of reasons, a reluctance on the part of the Summer Prince to actually do what he was supposed to and call for Imperial aid. As a result of this, the plans have forcibly shifted, and the Grey Prince himself is kidnapped, supposedly by Sunlanders, and 'rescued' by the Red General in an effort to force the Southwark to the Empire's aims.
Not two months later, in the midst of the troubled ascension of the Grey Prince to the throne, the Summer Prince is kidnapped in turn, this time legitimately by Sunlanders, under the mistaken impression that the original assassination of Adrian's family was done by Southwark elves, and hoping to kick off another round of massacres between the two sides, so that the human faction within Southwark will call for Sunland aid. This is largely forced in counterpoint to the perceived fact that the Grey Prince is now little more than his Imperial rescuer's puppet, and is aimed at causing mutiny on the part of the supposedly anti-elven Lord Badger and the armed forces.
Stuck in the middle of this, this time it's the Lord Badger's actions, his interactions with the Red General, who may know more of the plot than he lets on, with the supposedly puppet Grey Prince, and with the Summer Prince, against whom he has waged eight years of war, that will decide the fate of the kingdom, and its relations with the surrounding powers.
And I think I should leave it there for now (do some actual work, perhaps ;P), but I might come back later and have a look at the main characters, too. Heh. Why, I'm not sure, since this is almost purely for my own benefit, but howandever ...
Any opinions, on this big messy world I've made? *grins* It does keep me nicely distracted at times, you know. I should probably do something with it ...
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