Moe Lane's Blog, page 902
July 6, 2020
From the Fermi Resolution Worldbook: parts from the Gazetteer.
Trying to spread this around to get maximum eyeballs. This is going to be from the updated Gazetteer section.
Patreon!Name: Imperium Orci
General Location: Texas and northern Mexico
Type of Government: Constitutional Empire
Capital: Saint Anthony (San Antonio, Texas)
Dominant Species: Orcish, Human
Grand Alliance: Yes (core member)
The Universal Dominion wanted orc slave armies, and they got them. Then the Dominion wanted those armies to look just like Roman legions, and they got those, too. At some point, a Dominion Supreme Archmage decided that her pet legions should ape Roman customs – while failing to realize that those customs at various times included things like civics, ethics, and Christianity. When the orcs changed sides in 2835, it permanently ended the Dominion’s dreams of perpetual conquest.
The Imperium Orci, ruled from the city of Saint Anthony (more popularly known as the City of Seven Flags), is probably now the single most powerful individual state in North America. It is a constitutional monarchy in the Imperium itself, and a benign imperial overlord in its southern client states: ‘Emperor’ is a lifetime position chosen from a member of the Imperial family, but the Senate is democratically elected and powerful. Politics is organized around the great gens, or families, while the Catholic Church (only recently reunited with Ancient Rome) enjoys patronage that is just one step below that of a state church.
Humans are a minority in the Imperium, but not by much. The Imperial dynasty is orcish, but humans are well-represented in the nobility and the upper classes. Humans also provide the Imperial legions with most of its cavalry and mages; orcs make for superb infantry, but have little inherent talent for horsemanship.
The current Emperor has sworn by God and Saint Antonio Margil de Jesús that he will grind the Universal Dominion’s jeweled Throne Of The World underneath his sandaled feet.
Name: Imperium Orci client states and minor allies
General Location: Southern Mexico
Type of Government: Varies
Capital: Varies
Dominant Species: Human
Grand Alliance: Yes
Once the Imperium Orci joined the Grand Alliance, it smoothly shifted from conquering outright southern Mexico to merely dominating it. Most of the remaining independent warlords were happy enough to come to an accommodation with the Imperium; those few that did not were typically swiftly toppled, and replaced with someone with more sense. Their descendants are now mostly kings who largely squabble with each other, to the extent that they think that they can get away with it. Unlike Deseret, the Imperium frowns on violent squabbling, but the Pax Orci provides enough stability and prosperity to permit the dubious luxuries of assassinations, thievery, and general skulduggery.
While the Imperium’s allies and clients have joined it in the War, their contribution is mostly in the form of well-paid specialized units (cavalry and mages). The real value of these states in the war is that they are far from the front lines and can provide reliable war materials, at a reasonable price. And while the client states may readily enough fulfill their obligation to send troops to fight a war somewhere in the frozen North, they are otherwise indifferent to the course of that War.
Name: Kentucky Free State
General Location: Kentucky
Type of Government: Democracy
Capital: Old Louisville
Dominant Species: Human
Grand Alliance: Yes (Core Member)
The Kentucky Free State made a stab at claiming the mantle of the First Republic, but that claim was never taken seriously even inside its borders. It does retain the quirk of being a democracy without an executive: Kentucky’s politics can be perplexing, as traditionally the country is run by the Congressman shouting the loudest during any one particular session. This has not stopped the Free State from expanding eastward to the Atlantic, or generally prospering. The population is still mostly human, but it has always had a noteworthy elvish population and is now attracting increasing numbers of dwarves.
Every politician in the Free State is absolutely committed to two things: destroying the Universal Dominion, and annexing as much land as Kentucky can grab. They are already starting the process of formally taking over Dominion territory.
Name: New California
General Location: Baja
Type of Government: Monarchy
Capital: Cinderella (San Felipe)
Dominant Species: Human
Grand Alliance: No
The ruling class of New California can almost-accurately trace its ancestry directly from the luckiest and strongest of the Southern California refugees fleeing southward away from the chaos of the Discovery, taking over the old Baja states in the process. It is today a enlightened hereditary monarchy with a strong feudal component. The local culture is remarkably archaic, with a fascination for the trappings of the Old Americans that borders on the obsessional.
New California is typically called ‘the Magic Kingdom’ for its strong reliance on mages: the country attracts an increasing number of elves and dwarves interested in ‘unconventional’ forms of magic. The magic-worshiping religion of Agni found its first adherents here; the magical iceberg Mt. Jeannie is Agni’s holiest fane.
New California is officially neutral in the war against the Universal Dominion, but most of its nobility and virtually all of its mages have served at least one hitch in the Grand Alliance.
July 5, 2020
Video of the Day, Never Give An Order You KNOW Will Be Disobeyed edition.
LA county banned firework displays this year.
It’s literally like something out of a movie.
The New THE OLD GUARD Netflix trailer.
THE OLD GUARD Loads up on Netflix on July 10th. Ever notice how none of the bad guys ever seems to think stuff like this through? “Hey! I’m an amoral, power-hungry mortal that needs to get a bunch of immortal warriors to do something for me! Whoops! They don’t want to do it! Better get control of ’em and make ’em do it anyhow, because I betcha NOBODY’S EVER TRIED THIS BEFORE.”
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Then again, who wants to watch a movie about a bunch of immortal warriors being approached for a job, refusing it — and then getting paid a big, fat retainer to fly to the Riviera for three months while never checking social media? Yeah, I guess nobody wants to watch that. Although it’d make for one heck of a sex comedy. They still make those, right?
07/05/2020 Report, various things.
I did a surprising number of things today, actually.
The pre-order store is now closed on Backerkit. Sorry, folks, but it’s time to wrap it all up. You can still get FROZEN DREAMS on Amazon.Bought a mess of postage for mailing out the books. My wife and I spent some time experimenting with packaging and whatnot; we think that a combo of bubble envelopes and plastic wrap should do to get the books out safely.My wife also worked out how we’ll be lettering the books. I still need to come up with a good signature for these. Pick it now, hey?The books will start going out, hopefully, in the next week or so. Domestic first, then international. Then it will be done, except for the people who haven’t filled out their surveys.FILL OUT YOUR SURVEY, IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY.And then it’s time to get on with the FERMI RESOLUTION RPG. Current count is 26,900/37,800. Some of the work is up here.
So, not an unproductive day.
Patreon Microfiction: ‘To-Do List .’
SM Stirling once noted that it’s something completely different than insanity when the voices in your head are telling you things that are true. Or at least useful. ‘To-Do List’ lives in that headspace.
Patreon!July 4, 2020
Books of the Week: The Darkness series.
I’m rereading Harry Turtledove’s Darkness series. It’s basically the retelling of World War II through a fantasy lens, with a lot of linguistic and anthropological jokes crammed in. Turtledove might be getting a little, ah, cranky at times lately, but this is good stuff. Worth checking out.
07/04/2020 Progress Report, FERMI RESOLUTION RPG: 26,400/37,800.
Not as much as I would have liked, but I got some pieces done. Case in point: I’m adding thumbnails of cities in the Fermi Resolution worldbook. Here are a few samples: feel free to go over and take a look at ’em (they’re public), let me know if the format’s missing anything.
The Indie Author Project.
Got tipped to this project by Blodwedd Mallory* (see also here). Basically, what’s happening here is that I submit an EPUB to these guys, and then they shop ’em to public libraries. It’s a non-exclusive license, so I keep the rights to sell the book on my own. I would not make very much off of it, I think, but I would get something and it does get FROZEN DREAMS out there for people to read, and maybe even buy for themselves (the program includes a Buy Now button in all of this). Besides, I figure getting into the libraries is a smart long-term strategy.
Moe Lane
*She writes authorized but unofficial books that are set in the universe of Secret World Legends MMO; I have discovered that this is a lot harder than it looks. If that sounds interesting, check her books out!
