Prince Vanieron
Member
- Messages
- 8
So, I’ve been tinkering with Arvalion lately, and wanted to tap into the community more for this project so it’s more lasting and has a lot more interaction with people for a different avenue when it comes to writing stories.
Concept & History: Arvalion is a sea-kingdom theocracy where the kingship is held eternally by their chief deity, the Sea-King/ a chaotic good/chaotic neutral deity of the sea whose descendants are said to be the Sea Elves whose fleets of house boats and city-vessels ply the archipelago south of Cortos. Arvalion was founded when a band of humans who venerated the Sea-King over the standard Cortosi religion fled to the island and over years and years intermingled with the Sea-Elves, eventually forming a new nation on one of the largest islands in the archipelago. The island is divided into Princedoms ruled by hereditary princes of any gender, while a High Prince is selected based on the strength of the Sea-Blood, which is part divine/part innate/part evolved magical ability to better survive on the ocean, as the High Prince acts as both a political ruler and the primary priest. However, the High Prince doesn’t necessarily have to come from the nobility either, but anyone who has the strongest connection to the sea when their predecessor dies.
The Sea-Elves, meanwhile, are organized around their city-rafts and house boats in a parallel form of society within Arvalion, outside the feudal/Byzantine structure of the Princedoms, but working closely together with their landward kin. However, with so much intermingling, the native people of Arvalion are almost entirely half-elven to some degree or another, although there is no discrimination or prejudice against other species in either the Sea-Elves or Arvalion.
Themes/Inspiration/Style: So, the three main thematic and stylistic inspirations are Númenor/Dol Amroth, the Byzantine Empire, and the islands that Ged first works on in Wizard of Earthsea, with some Atlantis thrown in as well. So cities of white and silver stone and elegant ships as well as lots of island travel, and a lifestyle that revolves around the ocean.
Thematically, it’s more of a noblebright type setting than anything else, rather than GoT style politics or super gritty militarism like the Black Company books. More about wonder, chivalry, exploration, and life on a warm, and relatively to very mild, island archipelago.
Vision: So, there are two main aspects of Arvalion. The first is the landward side of things, with religious knightly orders, a strong emphasis on maritime trade and shipbuilding, and beauty, as well as hunting down the slavers and pirates that might try to prey on the archipelago. The place for mariners, sailing fleets, trade expeditions, chivalry, and the like, as well as delving into ideas and concepts of religion, magic, and the like.
The second aspect is that of the Sea-Elves for a lower-scale, slightly more wondrous perspective on storytelling, and envisioning a different style of living that truly is entirely ocean-centered and ocean-reliant. This is the one that's less developed than the other, but I've had some ideas that I'm tinkering with.
And...?
So, I'm looking for other people who find this idea intriguing and exciting and want to be involved in developing this further and establishing it a bit more. Lots of routes to take- nobles, sea-elves, ship captains, traders, knights and soldiers as well, as well as just people living their ordinary lives, which can be a lot of fun to flesh out in this sort of environment as well.
Concept & History: Arvalion is a sea-kingdom theocracy where the kingship is held eternally by their chief deity, the Sea-King/ a chaotic good/chaotic neutral deity of the sea whose descendants are said to be the Sea Elves whose fleets of house boats and city-vessels ply the archipelago south of Cortos. Arvalion was founded when a band of humans who venerated the Sea-King over the standard Cortosi religion fled to the island and over years and years intermingled with the Sea-Elves, eventually forming a new nation on one of the largest islands in the archipelago. The island is divided into Princedoms ruled by hereditary princes of any gender, while a High Prince is selected based on the strength of the Sea-Blood, which is part divine/part innate/part evolved magical ability to better survive on the ocean, as the High Prince acts as both a political ruler and the primary priest. However, the High Prince doesn’t necessarily have to come from the nobility either, but anyone who has the strongest connection to the sea when their predecessor dies.
The Sea-Elves, meanwhile, are organized around their city-rafts and house boats in a parallel form of society within Arvalion, outside the feudal/Byzantine structure of the Princedoms, but working closely together with their landward kin. However, with so much intermingling, the native people of Arvalion are almost entirely half-elven to some degree or another, although there is no discrimination or prejudice against other species in either the Sea-Elves or Arvalion.
Themes/Inspiration/Style: So, the three main thematic and stylistic inspirations are Númenor/Dol Amroth, the Byzantine Empire, and the islands that Ged first works on in Wizard of Earthsea, with some Atlantis thrown in as well. So cities of white and silver stone and elegant ships as well as lots of island travel, and a lifestyle that revolves around the ocean.
Thematically, it’s more of a noblebright type setting than anything else, rather than GoT style politics or super gritty militarism like the Black Company books. More about wonder, chivalry, exploration, and life on a warm, and relatively to very mild, island archipelago.
Vision: So, there are two main aspects of Arvalion. The first is the landward side of things, with religious knightly orders, a strong emphasis on maritime trade and shipbuilding, and beauty, as well as hunting down the slavers and pirates that might try to prey on the archipelago. The place for mariners, sailing fleets, trade expeditions, chivalry, and the like, as well as delving into ideas and concepts of religion, magic, and the like.
The second aspect is that of the Sea-Elves for a lower-scale, slightly more wondrous perspective on storytelling, and envisioning a different style of living that truly is entirely ocean-centered and ocean-reliant. This is the one that's less developed than the other, but I've had some ideas that I'm tinkering with.
And...?
So, I'm looking for other people who find this idea intriguing and exciting and want to be involved in developing this further and establishing it a bit more. Lots of routes to take- nobles, sea-elves, ship captains, traders, knights and soldiers as well, as well as just people living their ordinary lives, which can be a lot of fun to flesh out in this sort of environment as well.
