O.K. here's the report on the Tractor and Bygone Rally last weekend.
I'm paying for it.
That's the simplest way of summing up the whole thing. Not only did I fail to make back the pitch fee which is always a serious disappointment but I haven't been truly without pain since. My left leg particularly is not giving me any rest, quite literately. I'm waking up several times every morning with my left hip cramping up and to say that it is making me more than a little tired is putting mildly.
This is the joy of living with Asperger Autism and having to try as hard as I can to sell stuff to become self employed. Standing around for six to eight hours a day HURTS but if I don't stand around for six to eight hours a day I'm going to have no chance of selling anything. This is the awful situation that my condition puts me in and the way that there are rumblings in the corridors of power, it is not going to get any easier for me.
However, on a good note, I managed to sell three more copies of my book, so that is three more readers out there, which in turn will hopefully feed into three more buyers in future years as my editor and I are working as hard as we can to polish up the second one. We managed to hammer down another dozen pages of the second chapter just yesterday so this chapter is going a lot faster than the first one did. I am hoping that if I can keep up the pace then I may be able to complete the second one before the original deadline set for next year.
If I can get it done sooner I maybe able to publish early. Any body looking for an extra Christmas present? I'm half joking as I doubt that I will be able to make that deadline but at the same time I can dream that I make that deadline.
In other news, work on 'Gloomlight', the RPG sci-fi gothic setting that I mentioned in my last post, has begun. The setting description was just beginning to flow from my pen when I realised that if I was going to have thirteen tribes of things that creep in the dark (O.K technique fourteen but one of them is so bestial that even the 'ugly faces' of the other thirteen don't recognise them as anything save monsters) then I need to start a list so that I could straighten out names, general geological location, basic history and attitudes to humans and the other tribes. That is the greatest part of being an author, making sure that all your continuity is in a straight line. If its not then, I'm afraid, you are a bad writer.
I have also managed to unearth my most recent painting and a moment of luck struck. We had a friend over who has offered to remodel the garden at a cut back price and when he saw me working on it he said 'I'd love to have that bit as a tattoo'. Hence, why I spent most of today tracing and re-sketching 'that bit' to make a tattoo design.
I have to admit that I'm not keen on tattoos myself, however, it is a market that I haven't explored and I'm wondering how one breaks into being a tattoo designer. Anybody have any ideas?
Thursday 25 June 2015
Tuesday 16 June 2015
Shifting Ends, Struggling And The Legal Deposit
I've been paying a lot more attention to the view counter on my blog and I've noticed that the hits are beginning to trail off on my posts about the planets of the Dynasty in my book, 'The Return of a Nagus' so it is time to cut that thread off for a while and think of something new to tell you lovely people out there. And that is the problem, my mind is doing one heck of a big blanker on me. I've described some of the main characters, described the main worlds and now I'm not sure were to go next.
I suppose it might work if I could take a break from my writing posts and do some about my painting but at the moment I am really struggling to scrap together the time to paint, which is ridiculous as it is nearly summer in the northern hemisphere so the longer days are here. I'm just snowed under with a list of jobs as long as my arm that seems to be growing every day. Not only do I have a bomb load of writing commitments that I have to keep up with, I'm also having to sort out selling off some of my stuff to make space so that my partner can stop living out of boxes and we can start cohabiting properly. Do you have any idea how long it takes to organise selling a collection of tabletop battle models over facebook? Especially, when you end up in a bidding war. It is not easy trying to decided which one to go with, especially when they are spread out over several different groups.
So the long and the short of it is that I have more projects on the go than I really know what to do with and more keep popping up every day, especially as my partner and I are meant to be starting on a Gothic, science fiction RPG (role play game setting) together. We are talking over loads of ideas but we need to sit down and start hammering out the details on paper so we can approach the publishing company my partner is already a licensee with, with an outline so we can see if the project has any legs. I think that it does as I'm really good at writing the 'fluff', my partner is excellent at the game mechanics and my sister is as goth as they come and can 'scribble out' black and white pencil designs that leave me breathless, in about a tenth of the time it would take me. However, she really needs an outline to work with so I really need to do some 'Sit! Stay!' commands to both myself and my partner and create her one.
This is the down side to being an author folks, sometimes you have that many ideas bouncing around inside your skull that you barely have time to scribble down some notes on them, let alone decide which media they are going to take life through. I am really interested in doing an RPG, especially with all the research going on into how much they help people on the Autistic spectrum but it is going to take some time to do and then there is breaking into the market. It may look easy when you look at the big companies like Dungeons and Dragons but when you are the new kid on the block, then it is full of bullies who will strike you down so they can step over your body on to the next pitch. It takes guts, determination and sheer stubbornness (O. K. maybe stupidity) to make the ever moving ends meet.
The good things that have happened recently, to balance the scales, has been that I now have a pitch at the Tractor and Bygones Rally (check out my up coming events page) and I have had the request for the legal deposit to the Edinburgh Library. It might sound strange, being happy that I'm having to give away five of my hardback books for free, but it means that SOMEONE in the big system of literature believes that my book is going to go far, so far that it is worth having six copies in total (I had already done the legal deposit to the library in London) safe in the vaults of the MAJOR libraries of this country to safe guard its existence for the rest of history. Of course I'm happy about that!
I suppose it might work if I could take a break from my writing posts and do some about my painting but at the moment I am really struggling to scrap together the time to paint, which is ridiculous as it is nearly summer in the northern hemisphere so the longer days are here. I'm just snowed under with a list of jobs as long as my arm that seems to be growing every day. Not only do I have a bomb load of writing commitments that I have to keep up with, I'm also having to sort out selling off some of my stuff to make space so that my partner can stop living out of boxes and we can start cohabiting properly. Do you have any idea how long it takes to organise selling a collection of tabletop battle models over facebook? Especially, when you end up in a bidding war. It is not easy trying to decided which one to go with, especially when they are spread out over several different groups.
So the long and the short of it is that I have more projects on the go than I really know what to do with and more keep popping up every day, especially as my partner and I are meant to be starting on a Gothic, science fiction RPG (role play game setting) together. We are talking over loads of ideas but we need to sit down and start hammering out the details on paper so we can approach the publishing company my partner is already a licensee with, with an outline so we can see if the project has any legs. I think that it does as I'm really good at writing the 'fluff', my partner is excellent at the game mechanics and my sister is as goth as they come and can 'scribble out' black and white pencil designs that leave me breathless, in about a tenth of the time it would take me. However, she really needs an outline to work with so I really need to do some 'Sit! Stay!' commands to both myself and my partner and create her one.
This is the down side to being an author folks, sometimes you have that many ideas bouncing around inside your skull that you barely have time to scribble down some notes on them, let alone decide which media they are going to take life through. I am really interested in doing an RPG, especially with all the research going on into how much they help people on the Autistic spectrum but it is going to take some time to do and then there is breaking into the market. It may look easy when you look at the big companies like Dungeons and Dragons but when you are the new kid on the block, then it is full of bullies who will strike you down so they can step over your body on to the next pitch. It takes guts, determination and sheer stubbornness (O. K. maybe stupidity) to make the ever moving ends meet.
The good things that have happened recently, to balance the scales, has been that I now have a pitch at the Tractor and Bygones Rally (check out my up coming events page) and I have had the request for the legal deposit to the Edinburgh Library. It might sound strange, being happy that I'm having to give away five of my hardback books for free, but it means that SOMEONE in the big system of literature believes that my book is going to go far, so far that it is worth having six copies in total (I had already done the legal deposit to the library in London) safe in the vaults of the MAJOR libraries of this country to safe guard its existence for the rest of history. Of course I'm happy about that!
Saturday 13 June 2015
Con Chou
Continuing on with the world description posts I decided to do Con Chou.
Con Chou
Though not the world on which most of the action takes place in 'The Return of a Nagus', nor the capital planet of the Dynasty Con Chou is a far reaching threat on the edge of many character's minds.
Con Chou is a mining world that has provided so much of the raw materials for the Dynasty for so long that it has become synonymous with its greatest industry. The Con Chou Mines is a honey comb world, riddled with tunnels and caverns created during the course of the hunt for both valuable and rarer minerals. As such it is rapidly becoming a very unstable world with cave-ins, sink holes and seismic activity increasing every year.
As such, laws have been passed so that no digging, either on the surface, or below ground, is permitted within a twenty mile radius of habitation. Not that there is much in the way of habitation on the Con Chou. Those that make their fortunes there, retire to one of the agriculture or pleasure worlds. As such there is very little in the way of habitation building on the surface of Con Chou, with the Governors Palace being the largest structure.
An hour spent on the surface of Con Chou reveals rapidly why those that can, leave as soon as they are able to. Centuries of heavy industry has left the atmosphere thick and the smell catches at the back of the throat with every breath. If there was a sea, it has long since dried away, or been drained for use in the mines. Everything edible consumed upon Con Chou is imported by Omega Class Freight Space Ships and when new supplies are order they are ordered by the ton.
There is a side trade that flourishes upon Con Chou, which while legal, also crosses the boundaries into the illegal.
Machinery is experience and difficult to replace. As such slavery is the preferred method of extracting the ores that the Dynasty so desperately wants. While there are laws dictating that the slaves are to be purchased from among the criminal elements of other planets and to safe guard the standard that the slaves are kept in, the Inspectors that are meant to double check that the regulations are being followed aren't that careful to follow through on their jobs. There is also the possibility for a 'donation' to be made to guarantee a favourable report.
The question of supply is even murkier, with records never actually quite adding up with the number of slaves purchased from other world and the actual number present. Many a space pirate captain knows exactly where he can unload his cargo of 'guests' for a rich price.
Most of the life that inhabits the Con Chou Mines is made up of the slaves and the Overseers at both guard them and make sure that the productivity of the Mines are up to quota. Though the slaves can out number the Overseers by as much as ten to one, rebellion is virtually unknown. There is the occasional slave that runs mad or a few that break lines and try to navigate the labyrinth of the mines to find a way back to the surface. The Overseers don't usually bother chasing the runners far, the mines themselves will either lead them into the arms of another out post or they die in the dark. The ones that go mad are put down with brutal efficiency. All Overseers carry a side arm and an electro-whip. Electro-whips are cruelly effective weapons, utilising an electric shock to reinforce the pain of the whipping. The shock can range from a mild sting to a burn that can vaporise flesh.
The one time in its history that the Con Chou Mines can under scrutiny was when it was the first open campaign of Narkre Victor and marked the start of the Dark Wars. Narkre's campaign was brutally swift and terrifying in its efficiency.
When they left, they left behind the dead, those that had surrendered and mounds of raw ore. All of the processed ore, all of the stockpiled food and every piece of usable equipment. What they couldn't take they burnt.
The other thing Narkre's force took on mass was the slaves. By the time the Imperial forces arrived there wasn't a single slave left on Con Chou and the fact that it was Narkre Victor's campaign there that revealed the conditions that the slaves were kept in is something that trouble the Rosinante to this day. Whether the slaves were later used as a meat shield or were willing fighters in Narkre Victor's army has never been decided.
Under Emperor Morgan, the Con Chou Mines have reverted to form but whether there are many years left in the ore beds remains to be seen. That is assuming that the world doesn't implode under its own weight first.
Con Chou
Though not the world on which most of the action takes place in 'The Return of a Nagus', nor the capital planet of the Dynasty Con Chou is a far reaching threat on the edge of many character's minds.
Con Chou is a mining world that has provided so much of the raw materials for the Dynasty for so long that it has become synonymous with its greatest industry. The Con Chou Mines is a honey comb world, riddled with tunnels and caverns created during the course of the hunt for both valuable and rarer minerals. As such it is rapidly becoming a very unstable world with cave-ins, sink holes and seismic activity increasing every year.
As such, laws have been passed so that no digging, either on the surface, or below ground, is permitted within a twenty mile radius of habitation. Not that there is much in the way of habitation on the Con Chou. Those that make their fortunes there, retire to one of the agriculture or pleasure worlds. As such there is very little in the way of habitation building on the surface of Con Chou, with the Governors Palace being the largest structure.
An hour spent on the surface of Con Chou reveals rapidly why those that can, leave as soon as they are able to. Centuries of heavy industry has left the atmosphere thick and the smell catches at the back of the throat with every breath. If there was a sea, it has long since dried away, or been drained for use in the mines. Everything edible consumed upon Con Chou is imported by Omega Class Freight Space Ships and when new supplies are order they are ordered by the ton.
There is a side trade that flourishes upon Con Chou, which while legal, also crosses the boundaries into the illegal.
Machinery is experience and difficult to replace. As such slavery is the preferred method of extracting the ores that the Dynasty so desperately wants. While there are laws dictating that the slaves are to be purchased from among the criminal elements of other planets and to safe guard the standard that the slaves are kept in, the Inspectors that are meant to double check that the regulations are being followed aren't that careful to follow through on their jobs. There is also the possibility for a 'donation' to be made to guarantee a favourable report.
The question of supply is even murkier, with records never actually quite adding up with the number of slaves purchased from other world and the actual number present. Many a space pirate captain knows exactly where he can unload his cargo of 'guests' for a rich price.
Most of the life that inhabits the Con Chou Mines is made up of the slaves and the Overseers at both guard them and make sure that the productivity of the Mines are up to quota. Though the slaves can out number the Overseers by as much as ten to one, rebellion is virtually unknown. There is the occasional slave that runs mad or a few that break lines and try to navigate the labyrinth of the mines to find a way back to the surface. The Overseers don't usually bother chasing the runners far, the mines themselves will either lead them into the arms of another out post or they die in the dark. The ones that go mad are put down with brutal efficiency. All Overseers carry a side arm and an electro-whip. Electro-whips are cruelly effective weapons, utilising an electric shock to reinforce the pain of the whipping. The shock can range from a mild sting to a burn that can vaporise flesh.
The one time in its history that the Con Chou Mines can under scrutiny was when it was the first open campaign of Narkre Victor and marked the start of the Dark Wars. Narkre's campaign was brutally swift and terrifying in its efficiency.
When they left, they left behind the dead, those that had surrendered and mounds of raw ore. All of the processed ore, all of the stockpiled food and every piece of usable equipment. What they couldn't take they burnt.
The other thing Narkre's force took on mass was the slaves. By the time the Imperial forces arrived there wasn't a single slave left on Con Chou and the fact that it was Narkre Victor's campaign there that revealed the conditions that the slaves were kept in is something that trouble the Rosinante to this day. Whether the slaves were later used as a meat shield or were willing fighters in Narkre Victor's army has never been decided.
Under Emperor Morgan, the Con Chou Mines have reverted to form but whether there are many years left in the ore beds remains to be seen. That is assuming that the world doesn't implode under its own weight first.
Wednesday 10 June 2015
Murr
Continuing on in the series of blog posts detailing the various settings for my stories, I decided to go with the world of Murr, which is the setting for most of the action in 'The Return of a Nagus'.
Murr
An agricultural world with a climate much like Earth's own, although slightly warmer and drier. Murr is tectonically further along than Earth, its continents have drifted all the way around the globe and are now, once again becoming one land mass.
As such it is a mostly mountainous world, with even the farming grass lands being comprised of rolling hills. There is not a truly flat nature piece of land any where upon Murr and the architecture is strongly built, with anti earthquake technology in the more 'developed' areas and favouring extremely thick strong walls in the more 'basic' settlements.
The think walls of the native built dwellings also provide a natural form of climate control, with the stone keeping out the excess heat during summer and keeping in the warmth during winter. Although Murr's climate is generally temperate the winters can be absolutely savage.
There is a small tropical belt, which the native Irnans leave untouched as the futile soil is actually very thin and once the trees are cleared, it loses its nutrients at a fearful rate as it is not being renewed by the leaf fall.
The Irnan people are short, but well proportioned, with strong limbs and a slightly tilted forward stance. They are lemur-like in ancestry and have foxy faces and short soft fur. Their fingers are very dexterous and they are swift learners.
Skylon
By Pre-Morgan Imperial Protocols Murr should not be counted among the Dynasty's planets, having not even experienced its first Industrial Revolution. However, it was initially contacted by pirates who needed a planet away from Authority's Sights and with a native population that could not fight back. It is not the first planet to suffer this fate and unfortunately is unlikely to be the last. The pirates soon realised that they had an extra source of income right on their door step, so to speak and turned slavery, rounding up the native population for sport and exporting them for profit.
Ultimately it was this 'business' which lead to the discovery of what was happening on Murr. The Dynasty Congress eventually gave the Rosinante the permission to cleanse the infestation of pirates from Murr. However, many Irnans had already been 'deported' and understandably the Irnan's wished for the return of their brothers and sisters. However, they did not wish for any further erosion of their way of life.
Under the Dynasty-Murr Agreement the pirates settlement was formalised into the city of Murr and distinct walls built around it to limit its expansion. Within the limits of those wall Skylon is a space port city that is not much different from any other in the Dynasty. Beyond those walls the way of life of the Irnans continues, with the pace of change bringing the 'modern' world more slowly to its people and the movement of Outworlders limited.
However, it is not the last time that Skylon played host to the more degenerate people of the Dynasty.
The Pirate's Palace
Original the mansion of the Lord Governor of Skylon and emissary of the Irnan's to the Congress, the Pirate's Palace became the home of a nest of pirates and slavers in the years before the Dark Wars. It was cleared of its illegal occupants by a newly elevated Rosinante Templar, Elkin Uniroyal, who became an almost mythical figure among the Irnans for coming to their rescue when all others seemed indifferent to their plight. However, Elkin Uniroyal had acted without the permission of the Congress and was put on probation for his actions and the fact that he felt no remorse for doing so. He vanished only a few months before Narkre Victor rose to challenge the Dynasty and many believed that he had been killed by the Nagus in the time before Narkre felt strong enough to challenge the Dynasty directly. Whether this is the truth remains to be seen.
The Monasteries
Outside of Skylon, the Irnans dwell in the most part in Monasteries. Each is a self sustaining committee, watched over by a Matron, who can be either male or female. Usually the eldest Irnan in the Monastery, the Matron is selected for their age, wisdom and knowledge. The Matron is normally the head healer in the Monastery and/or its head archivist. The Monasteries themselves are the depositories of all the knowledge that the Irnan race has ever discovered and the place that the 'found' Irnan's are brought to. Most Matrons are skilled as 'Mind Healers' as well as healers of the body.
It is from the Monasteries that the 'Searchers' are sent out to discover the 'Lost'. The 'Lost' are Irnans that were stolen from their kin and Searchers are special trained to go out among the people's of the Dynasty to find them and if possible, return them to their kin. More often than not, it is more a mission to discover proof of their deaths so that the relatives can begin the mourning rites to send the deceased's spirit on to the next world.
All that come to the Monasteries with peaceful intentions are welcome to stay as long as they like. The Irnans are a peaceable people and would much rather be left along to continue being farmers and such like.
Northend
The one exception to the peaceable demeanour of the Irnan Monasteries is the Monastery of Northend. Located some where in the mountains where the northern end of the continent pocks up into Murr's Arctic circle, the Irnans of Northend practise the fighting arts that have been used against their people for so long. Shunned by the other Monasteries, who believe that to use such skill will one day lead to becoming what torments them, the Wardens of Northend choose uncertain damnation over certain extinction. As if in sympathy for their dark purpose, the fur of the Wardens tends towards the sable end of the spectrum and their are of dowry personality.
Whether they are soldiers just in practise or whether they have killed is unknown. Either way it will be an unlucky pirate who ever comes across the Wardens of Northend.
Murr
An agricultural world with a climate much like Earth's own, although slightly warmer and drier. Murr is tectonically further along than Earth, its continents have drifted all the way around the globe and are now, once again becoming one land mass.
As such it is a mostly mountainous world, with even the farming grass lands being comprised of rolling hills. There is not a truly flat nature piece of land any where upon Murr and the architecture is strongly built, with anti earthquake technology in the more 'developed' areas and favouring extremely thick strong walls in the more 'basic' settlements.
The think walls of the native built dwellings also provide a natural form of climate control, with the stone keeping out the excess heat during summer and keeping in the warmth during winter. Although Murr's climate is generally temperate the winters can be absolutely savage.
There is a small tropical belt, which the native Irnans leave untouched as the futile soil is actually very thin and once the trees are cleared, it loses its nutrients at a fearful rate as it is not being renewed by the leaf fall.
The Irnan people are short, but well proportioned, with strong limbs and a slightly tilted forward stance. They are lemur-like in ancestry and have foxy faces and short soft fur. Their fingers are very dexterous and they are swift learners.
Skylon
By Pre-Morgan Imperial Protocols Murr should not be counted among the Dynasty's planets, having not even experienced its first Industrial Revolution. However, it was initially contacted by pirates who needed a planet away from Authority's Sights and with a native population that could not fight back. It is not the first planet to suffer this fate and unfortunately is unlikely to be the last. The pirates soon realised that they had an extra source of income right on their door step, so to speak and turned slavery, rounding up the native population for sport and exporting them for profit.
Ultimately it was this 'business' which lead to the discovery of what was happening on Murr. The Dynasty Congress eventually gave the Rosinante the permission to cleanse the infestation of pirates from Murr. However, many Irnans had already been 'deported' and understandably the Irnan's wished for the return of their brothers and sisters. However, they did not wish for any further erosion of their way of life.
Under the Dynasty-Murr Agreement the pirates settlement was formalised into the city of Murr and distinct walls built around it to limit its expansion. Within the limits of those wall Skylon is a space port city that is not much different from any other in the Dynasty. Beyond those walls the way of life of the Irnans continues, with the pace of change bringing the 'modern' world more slowly to its people and the movement of Outworlders limited.
However, it is not the last time that Skylon played host to the more degenerate people of the Dynasty.
The Pirate's Palace
Original the mansion of the Lord Governor of Skylon and emissary of the Irnan's to the Congress, the Pirate's Palace became the home of a nest of pirates and slavers in the years before the Dark Wars. It was cleared of its illegal occupants by a newly elevated Rosinante Templar, Elkin Uniroyal, who became an almost mythical figure among the Irnans for coming to their rescue when all others seemed indifferent to their plight. However, Elkin Uniroyal had acted without the permission of the Congress and was put on probation for his actions and the fact that he felt no remorse for doing so. He vanished only a few months before Narkre Victor rose to challenge the Dynasty and many believed that he had been killed by the Nagus in the time before Narkre felt strong enough to challenge the Dynasty directly. Whether this is the truth remains to be seen.
The Monasteries
Outside of Skylon, the Irnans dwell in the most part in Monasteries. Each is a self sustaining committee, watched over by a Matron, who can be either male or female. Usually the eldest Irnan in the Monastery, the Matron is selected for their age, wisdom and knowledge. The Matron is normally the head healer in the Monastery and/or its head archivist. The Monasteries themselves are the depositories of all the knowledge that the Irnan race has ever discovered and the place that the 'found' Irnan's are brought to. Most Matrons are skilled as 'Mind Healers' as well as healers of the body.
It is from the Monasteries that the 'Searchers' are sent out to discover the 'Lost'. The 'Lost' are Irnans that were stolen from their kin and Searchers are special trained to go out among the people's of the Dynasty to find them and if possible, return them to their kin. More often than not, it is more a mission to discover proof of their deaths so that the relatives can begin the mourning rites to send the deceased's spirit on to the next world.
All that come to the Monasteries with peaceful intentions are welcome to stay as long as they like. The Irnans are a peaceable people and would much rather be left along to continue being farmers and such like.
Northend
The one exception to the peaceable demeanour of the Irnan Monasteries is the Monastery of Northend. Located some where in the mountains where the northern end of the continent pocks up into Murr's Arctic circle, the Irnans of Northend practise the fighting arts that have been used against their people for so long. Shunned by the other Monasteries, who believe that to use such skill will one day lead to becoming what torments them, the Wardens of Northend choose uncertain damnation over certain extinction. As if in sympathy for their dark purpose, the fur of the Wardens tends towards the sable end of the spectrum and their are of dowry personality.
Whether they are soldiers just in practise or whether they have killed is unknown. Either way it will be an unlucky pirate who ever comes across the Wardens of Northend.
Friday 5 June 2015
Englansia
Alright, after the break of the last few weeks it's time to get back to work on the setting blogs for 'The Return of a Nagus' and I decided that first up should be...
Englansia
Capital planet of the Dynasty, seat of the Imperial Palace and location of the Congress, Englansia is the hub on which the rest of the Dynasty spins. In short, if something is rotten in Englansia then you can rest assured that the rest of the Dynasty is none too healthy.
It is a temperate Terrain planet but most of Englansia's land space has been given over to one massive city than is almost as tall as it is wide. The sea however has been protected under stringent laws to prevent the oxygen collapse of the atmosphere and the algae colonies are carefully managed to ensure that the carbon dioxide to oxygen levels are kept in balance. The algae blooms are also harvested to produce the food source (properly dyed and flavoured) for the planets poorer classes and there are plenty of those.
Like many cities over time Englansia has stratified into regions. Some of these are name, some are not, it often depends if there is a notable feature within the district.
The Imperial Palace
Not only the home of the living Emperor or Empress, the Imperial Palace is the seat of the government. As such it sprawls over a much large area than many would expect and there are members of the staff that barely realise that they are working in the Imperial Palace. Though the discussions take place in the Congress Dome, it is the thousands of bureaucrats and paper shufflers that infest the more hidden corridors and chambers of the Imperial Palace that make sure that the motions get passed, procedure is observed, taxes are paid, orders are given, cases reviewed and the hundred and one other things that insure that a government and all its civic processes are well oiled and running smoothly. Probably enough plac-paper is run through these halls every day to reconstruct the Alexan Library, the place that was said to contain all the data of the nine worlds of Gaia (a dim and distant myth/memory of the Alexandrian Library).
Although technically a notable feature, the Imperial Palace is so large that it counts as a region in its own right.
The Congress Dome and Boulevard
Not far from the Imperial Palace is the Congress Dome and Boulevard. Though the Boulevard was originally just the kilo-click wide street leading up to the Congress Dome, the name has been spread out to include the surrounding area.
The Congress Dome itself is the centre of the Dynasty's government, to sit in one of its magnolia seats is the culmination of decades of hard work, campaigning, endurance, skill and sometimes not a little corruption. It is one of the duties of the reigning monarch to try and recognise the symptoms of this corruption and weed it out as much as possible. Sometimes that has been a harder task than others as now all the movers and shakers, makers and breakers appear within the central chamber. Though this great room is where business is officially conducted, many an alliance and proposed has been broken by a well timed aid scurrying though the corridors without. Careful who you talk to in this place and be even more careful of what you say.
The Boulevard itself is, as mentioned earlier the kilo-click wide approach to the Congress Dome. Since ages past the Monarch has been paraded down this avenue at their coronation and the members of the Congress travel it every day on the way to the great debates. Spread out either side of this grand street is the residences of the Congress members, more grand houses than can be easily counted, especially as many of them are hidden behind high walls and hedges for security. From whom is never stated but it appears that being a Congress member is a nervous profession. That or the politicians don't want to meet those that they represent by accident.
The Muse
The up market entertainment venue of Englansia, where the dining is fine, the artworks professional, the galas quite fantastic and careers in acting can be made or broken on a single well time critique. Anyone who is any one comes to The Muse, whether that is to see or be seen is the real question.
The Imperial Englansia University
The Centre of study of the whole city and one of the most exclusive venues of learning in the whole Dynasty. If you have a diploma from here then just about any door in the Dynasty is open to you. This labyrinthine structure has departments of study so complex that they deserve to be the subjects of extensive studies in their own right. Everything from history to geology, weather patterns to cloth patterns is studied some where within these halls. It is even rumoured that there is a department of the study of tea leaves and another devoted to the development of crypto-zoology, the study of mythical beings in the hope of either proving their existence or discovering the creatures on which they were based.
The Royal College of Medicine and Healing
Much more exact and focused is the Royal College of Medicine and Healing. Not only the hospital of Englansia, it is also the most prominent central of medical research and anatomical study in the Dynasty. Every discovered sentient species has at least one representative within its walls and it contains medical data for billions. However, there is a darker aspect to this place of caring. Although medical treatment is supposed to be available to all, Englansia's only major hospital is situated farthest from the slum tracks and termite blocks of the planets poorest. Whether this was a mistake of the cities development or deliberate, none can say and most don't want to.
The Rosinante Academy
The training ground and home of the Rosinante. Once admired as the centre of the greatest force for good within the Dynasty, it was destroyed under Emperor Morgan and the Rosinante proclaimed outlaws. Since then the Academy has been left as a fire blackened shell and whether any can revitalise it to its former glory remains to be seen.
The Englansia Interplanetary Space Port
The only way to travel off world, the Interplanetary Space Port has a strangle hold on import and export as the only space port on Englansia. As such it sees the movement of tourists, business people, freight and immigrants. As such it is at the centre of the largest area of industry on Englansia; all those space craft need maintenance. Beyond the industrial area is the largest district of termite blocks of the city as manual labour is still seen as the realm of those too unfortunate, lazy or just plain stupid to improve themselves.
The Alteplano Mountain Range
One of the few areas of land space still undeveloped, most of the mountain range is owned by the rich, powerful and famous. There is a public park or two and the whole is one of the last places any of the original wildlife of Englansia survives. All of the creatures are small and most of them are rodents but there has been recorded discoveries of one species of primate and a long bodied, low slung predator reminiscent of a ferret or weasel of Old Earth. So far the primates have proven to be untameable, dying rapidly in captivity, normal of heart failure. It appears they cannot adapt to being taken from their native habitat. The predator on the other hand has no fear of sentient species and has a curious, almost friendly demeanour to those that treat it well. There is a captive breeding program being started as nothing seems to be able to suppress its instinct to hunt the rodents that can cause severe damage to the cities electrical systems and it can more quickly enter the areas of infestation than people can and with less damage of property.
There are also rumours of the Alteplano Devil as bat winged, long necked, horse headed creature with an ape like body. Despite all academics dismissing its existence as a fanciful myth there are nearly always a couple of reports of it every year.
The Slums
Like any major city Englansia has its share of displaced persons and immigrants who discover the streets are not covered in gold. For every dream that becomes reality within the Muse a hundred more are broken upon the many stages of Englansia. In the end all the desperate, broken and the lost wind up in the Slums. The stink of these quarters and districts is more than physical and darkness, both as in the lack of light and the Darkness of the Renegades, gathers thick in the corners. Not a place to visit after nightfall and watch your step during the day.
Englansia
Capital planet of the Dynasty, seat of the Imperial Palace and location of the Congress, Englansia is the hub on which the rest of the Dynasty spins. In short, if something is rotten in Englansia then you can rest assured that the rest of the Dynasty is none too healthy.
It is a temperate Terrain planet but most of Englansia's land space has been given over to one massive city than is almost as tall as it is wide. The sea however has been protected under stringent laws to prevent the oxygen collapse of the atmosphere and the algae colonies are carefully managed to ensure that the carbon dioxide to oxygen levels are kept in balance. The algae blooms are also harvested to produce the food source (properly dyed and flavoured) for the planets poorer classes and there are plenty of those.
Like many cities over time Englansia has stratified into regions. Some of these are name, some are not, it often depends if there is a notable feature within the district.
The Imperial Palace
Not only the home of the living Emperor or Empress, the Imperial Palace is the seat of the government. As such it sprawls over a much large area than many would expect and there are members of the staff that barely realise that they are working in the Imperial Palace. Though the discussions take place in the Congress Dome, it is the thousands of bureaucrats and paper shufflers that infest the more hidden corridors and chambers of the Imperial Palace that make sure that the motions get passed, procedure is observed, taxes are paid, orders are given, cases reviewed and the hundred and one other things that insure that a government and all its civic processes are well oiled and running smoothly. Probably enough plac-paper is run through these halls every day to reconstruct the Alexan Library, the place that was said to contain all the data of the nine worlds of Gaia (a dim and distant myth/memory of the Alexandrian Library).
Although technically a notable feature, the Imperial Palace is so large that it counts as a region in its own right.
The Congress Dome and Boulevard
Not far from the Imperial Palace is the Congress Dome and Boulevard. Though the Boulevard was originally just the kilo-click wide street leading up to the Congress Dome, the name has been spread out to include the surrounding area.
The Congress Dome itself is the centre of the Dynasty's government, to sit in one of its magnolia seats is the culmination of decades of hard work, campaigning, endurance, skill and sometimes not a little corruption. It is one of the duties of the reigning monarch to try and recognise the symptoms of this corruption and weed it out as much as possible. Sometimes that has been a harder task than others as now all the movers and shakers, makers and breakers appear within the central chamber. Though this great room is where business is officially conducted, many an alliance and proposed has been broken by a well timed aid scurrying though the corridors without. Careful who you talk to in this place and be even more careful of what you say.
The Boulevard itself is, as mentioned earlier the kilo-click wide approach to the Congress Dome. Since ages past the Monarch has been paraded down this avenue at their coronation and the members of the Congress travel it every day on the way to the great debates. Spread out either side of this grand street is the residences of the Congress members, more grand houses than can be easily counted, especially as many of them are hidden behind high walls and hedges for security. From whom is never stated but it appears that being a Congress member is a nervous profession. That or the politicians don't want to meet those that they represent by accident.
The Muse
The up market entertainment venue of Englansia, where the dining is fine, the artworks professional, the galas quite fantastic and careers in acting can be made or broken on a single well time critique. Anyone who is any one comes to The Muse, whether that is to see or be seen is the real question.
The Imperial Englansia University
The Centre of study of the whole city and one of the most exclusive venues of learning in the whole Dynasty. If you have a diploma from here then just about any door in the Dynasty is open to you. This labyrinthine structure has departments of study so complex that they deserve to be the subjects of extensive studies in their own right. Everything from history to geology, weather patterns to cloth patterns is studied some where within these halls. It is even rumoured that there is a department of the study of tea leaves and another devoted to the development of crypto-zoology, the study of mythical beings in the hope of either proving their existence or discovering the creatures on which they were based.
The Royal College of Medicine and Healing
Much more exact and focused is the Royal College of Medicine and Healing. Not only the hospital of Englansia, it is also the most prominent central of medical research and anatomical study in the Dynasty. Every discovered sentient species has at least one representative within its walls and it contains medical data for billions. However, there is a darker aspect to this place of caring. Although medical treatment is supposed to be available to all, Englansia's only major hospital is situated farthest from the slum tracks and termite blocks of the planets poorest. Whether this was a mistake of the cities development or deliberate, none can say and most don't want to.
The Rosinante Academy
The training ground and home of the Rosinante. Once admired as the centre of the greatest force for good within the Dynasty, it was destroyed under Emperor Morgan and the Rosinante proclaimed outlaws. Since then the Academy has been left as a fire blackened shell and whether any can revitalise it to its former glory remains to be seen.
The Englansia Interplanetary Space Port
The only way to travel off world, the Interplanetary Space Port has a strangle hold on import and export as the only space port on Englansia. As such it sees the movement of tourists, business people, freight and immigrants. As such it is at the centre of the largest area of industry on Englansia; all those space craft need maintenance. Beyond the industrial area is the largest district of termite blocks of the city as manual labour is still seen as the realm of those too unfortunate, lazy or just plain stupid to improve themselves.
The Alteplano Mountain Range
One of the few areas of land space still undeveloped, most of the mountain range is owned by the rich, powerful and famous. There is a public park or two and the whole is one of the last places any of the original wildlife of Englansia survives. All of the creatures are small and most of them are rodents but there has been recorded discoveries of one species of primate and a long bodied, low slung predator reminiscent of a ferret or weasel of Old Earth. So far the primates have proven to be untameable, dying rapidly in captivity, normal of heart failure. It appears they cannot adapt to being taken from their native habitat. The predator on the other hand has no fear of sentient species and has a curious, almost friendly demeanour to those that treat it well. There is a captive breeding program being started as nothing seems to be able to suppress its instinct to hunt the rodents that can cause severe damage to the cities electrical systems and it can more quickly enter the areas of infestation than people can and with less damage of property.
There are also rumours of the Alteplano Devil as bat winged, long necked, horse headed creature with an ape like body. Despite all academics dismissing its existence as a fanciful myth there are nearly always a couple of reports of it every year.
The Slums
Like any major city Englansia has its share of displaced persons and immigrants who discover the streets are not covered in gold. For every dream that becomes reality within the Muse a hundred more are broken upon the many stages of Englansia. In the end all the desperate, broken and the lost wind up in the Slums. The stink of these quarters and districts is more than physical and darkness, both as in the lack of light and the Darkness of the Renegades, gathers thick in the corners. Not a place to visit after nightfall and watch your step during the day.
Tuesday 2 June 2015
Status Report - Blasted Exhausted
Well we made it back from the UK Games Expo alive and slightly richer. Not a lot richer mind you, between printing expenses and the stand and the hotel, there wasn't a lot left over. However, I haven't completely emptied my bank account to do it and enough people bought my book that it will hopefully swiftly recover. If any one ever tells you that writing or art is a get rich quick solution then laugh in their faces because they are either lying, ridiculously ignorant (at which point sarcasm is the best remedy) or a total imbecile.
However, I have been well reminded that autism, be that the full grown thing or Asperger Syndrome, is not a disease that one can recover from, it is a life long condition that rears its ugly head the moment that you are either trying your best to enjoy yourself or need to control yourself the most.
I do not think that I possess a muscle in my upper back and shoulders at this moment in time that do not feel that I have been repeatedly pushed over in a Games lesson. Yes that did used to happen to me in school, usually the pushing was done by someone who had spent the morning convincing me that they were my friend and that when they pushed me over it was 'just a laugh' and that 'I couldn't take a joke'. Then people wonder why Narkre Victor is such a frakked up character, how do you think I dealt with being betrayed all the time? I had to do something or go bat shite crazy, probably bat shite crazy with a knife, or maybe just my fists.
I did manage to keep the Screaming Girl (my name for the Autistic side of my nature) under control for the duration of the trip and managed to talk with those that came asking questions. I even managed to engage a fair number of people who where in the process of walking past the stand. You'll be surprised what a 'hello, feel free to browse' does. Anyone would think that I was laying out the crown jewels, the way most people wouldn't pick the books up to have a read of the back.
However, I paid and am still paying for maintaining my mask of normalcy. To start with one of my symptoms of my condition is a misaligned hip. Not only does that mean that I have to work extra hard not to be so clumsy that, when I was at school, the teachers could explain away the bruises as my own work rather than the presents of my classmates but it also means that my hips, knees, ankles and feet have all grown out of alignment. Even with insoles from the gate clinic, which I will admit I wear through them fairly fast, walking or standing for any length of time leaves me in enough pain that I have to fight not to start screaming. I know exactly why they flog you on the soles of your feet in some countries, you don't actually have to do a lot of damage to the feet to make the person wish that they had never been born, let alone wish they did what they have done.
By the end of three days standing behind a stall (people don't notice you if you sit down) the pain was tracking all the way up into the small of my back and my feet felt like they had been battered and deep fried. No, seriously deep fried. They actually burnt.
That, strangely enough, has been the swiftest of my aches to go. The aches in my upper back, shoulders and neck have yet to depart. They have resisted rubbing, hot and cold treatment and standing under a scolding hot shower at high pressure. Then there is the fact that Screaming Girl is riding extremely high in my head. Just this morning I missed the bus for work and she clambered into the drivers seat. Thankfully these days her first instinct is to head for safety and since I was only at the end of the road I made it home toot sweet. It still took me about ten minutes to pry her out of the driving seat and retake control. I haven't had that long a reboot time in ages.
I'm guessing that until Screaming Girl has had enough time to settle down and stop clambering all over the inside of the car I'm going to have to put up with the aches and pains in my back and shoulders. I just wish the car in question wasn't my body.
However, I have been well reminded that autism, be that the full grown thing or Asperger Syndrome, is not a disease that one can recover from, it is a life long condition that rears its ugly head the moment that you are either trying your best to enjoy yourself or need to control yourself the most.
I do not think that I possess a muscle in my upper back and shoulders at this moment in time that do not feel that I have been repeatedly pushed over in a Games lesson. Yes that did used to happen to me in school, usually the pushing was done by someone who had spent the morning convincing me that they were my friend and that when they pushed me over it was 'just a laugh' and that 'I couldn't take a joke'. Then people wonder why Narkre Victor is such a frakked up character, how do you think I dealt with being betrayed all the time? I had to do something or go bat shite crazy, probably bat shite crazy with a knife, or maybe just my fists.
I did manage to keep the Screaming Girl (my name for the Autistic side of my nature) under control for the duration of the trip and managed to talk with those that came asking questions. I even managed to engage a fair number of people who where in the process of walking past the stand. You'll be surprised what a 'hello, feel free to browse' does. Anyone would think that I was laying out the crown jewels, the way most people wouldn't pick the books up to have a read of the back.
However, I paid and am still paying for maintaining my mask of normalcy. To start with one of my symptoms of my condition is a misaligned hip. Not only does that mean that I have to work extra hard not to be so clumsy that, when I was at school, the teachers could explain away the bruises as my own work rather than the presents of my classmates but it also means that my hips, knees, ankles and feet have all grown out of alignment. Even with insoles from the gate clinic, which I will admit I wear through them fairly fast, walking or standing for any length of time leaves me in enough pain that I have to fight not to start screaming. I know exactly why they flog you on the soles of your feet in some countries, you don't actually have to do a lot of damage to the feet to make the person wish that they had never been born, let alone wish they did what they have done.
By the end of three days standing behind a stall (people don't notice you if you sit down) the pain was tracking all the way up into the small of my back and my feet felt like they had been battered and deep fried. No, seriously deep fried. They actually burnt.
That, strangely enough, has been the swiftest of my aches to go. The aches in my upper back, shoulders and neck have yet to depart. They have resisted rubbing, hot and cold treatment and standing under a scolding hot shower at high pressure. Then there is the fact that Screaming Girl is riding extremely high in my head. Just this morning I missed the bus for work and she clambered into the drivers seat. Thankfully these days her first instinct is to head for safety and since I was only at the end of the road I made it home toot sweet. It still took me about ten minutes to pry her out of the driving seat and retake control. I haven't had that long a reboot time in ages.
I'm guessing that until Screaming Girl has had enough time to settle down and stop clambering all over the inside of the car I'm going to have to put up with the aches and pains in my back and shoulders. I just wish the car in question wasn't my body.
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