Hello readers (if there are any). It's been awhile, no? Summer's been busy since July, with lots of stress and hair-pulling (nooo, my spiffy red hair!). Fortunately some good has come out of it, but I'll go into that in my regular blog, which I am writing entries for but have not been able to post yet. (Sorries.)
First: We had a Woot Gathering today! FINALLY! All my peeps were there, except Shini (dunno what happened to him) and Nikko (who still isn't really talking to me). Can you believe it's been almost six years?? On October 26, it will have been six years to the day that the Woot was created. ^_^ Anyway, I made a cake to celebrate the occasion; we all went and saw
POTC 2, and played Battle of the Sexes, and had a killer time. I love my peeps. <3
Second: an update on the progress of
Woot Pirates 2. After my initial spurt of ideas, I haven't been able to write much. The outline is mostly in my head, however, and I have a good idea of the main plot and the events that will happen along the way. Hopefully soon I will have more time with which to actually write!! O_o; I think it's good stuff, although this story probably won't be as madcap as the last one. It's actually harder to write comedically/satirically, did you know? Anyway.
Since the Woot Caribbean and the events of the Woot pirate chronicles deal largely with the kingdom of Gaerita, I've been doing some thinking about it and its future. For those of you who don't know, Gaerita (pronounced Gay-uh-REE-tah) is the largest of the kingdoms of Man on the Woot World, and since antiquity has been the foremost of all the civilizations of humanity - equivalent to the Roman empire in its heyday. It gained this status largely because of the intercession of strong magick in the form of an Elemental - Utsuru Shizuku, the Elemental Queen of Water. In the earliest time of Woot Earth, she fell in love with a mortal man, and had a child by him, and thus began one of the most powerful and enduring magickal bloodlines of the Woot World, which rules Gaerita to this day. The daughters of this line, especially, are mighty mages, and powerful queens, and under the influence of their magick the kingdom of Gaerita expanded and flourished.
Also, in olden days there were three seperate kingdoms on the coast and inland of this part of Woot Earth, Gaerita being one. This was in the Foundation Age and it was the time of Dragons. The dragon population experienced a growth spurt at this time and, inevitably, dragons and humans clashed. Harried by the much stronger, more magickal dragons, the humans of the three kingdoms devised a sort of magickal plague to kill off all the dragons, which becan me known as the Scourge. Ultimately, however, Gaerita refused to participate in the creation of the Scourge. When Caleil Dragon-Savior and the Ruler of Woot Earth managed to halt the Scourge and save the dragons, the other two kingdoms were disbanded and their lands given to Gaerita, making it the largest human kingdom in the land.
From the writings of the Elven ambassador Olondir of the Waning Age:
"It is my third day in the kingdom of Gaerita, which the people call Gaerita-of-the-Sea; and indeed these men and women carry the sea in their veins, its call in their blood and its whisper ever in their ears. They say it is the blood of Water Elementals which makes it so. It may well be true! Their city, though not entirely at harmony with its surrounds, has nonetheless a definite beauty and charm - white stone streets, and a strange blue stone quarried to the north which they use for decoration, statuary, and monuments. The city's pillars are fluted, its architecture delicate yet imposing. The Gaeritans are fond of open plazas and circles, each of which has its fountain in the center...At night they light the fountains, and the whole city shimmers with the shapes and shadows of leaping water. It is a strange effect, yet harmonious; these men know how to live with the concept of impermanence, living as they do on the whims of the sea. Tomorrow I am to view the great Magehall where they have established a university for the teaching of magick, and to climb up to the palace to greet the Queen. I shall wear the green of my clan, which will be pleasing against the white and the blue."Now it is the Silver Age. Gaerita continued to expand its holdings, but mostly by sea. Thanks to Shizuku's bloodline, the people of Gaerita have always had an affinity for water and the ocean. They quickly became one of the greatest naval powers in the Woot World, rivaled today only by the migratory Sea Elves. The bloodline of the Queens still holds sway in the land, but it is beginning to decline. Moreover, the Kingdom has become complacent and greedy, seeking to extend their power ever more over the other kingdoms of mankind and the dominions of the other races.
The storyline of
Woot Pirates 2 deals heavily with this sort of "new attitude" in Gaerita, which I equate with the attitude of empire-building in Europe in the 16-1700s. It concerns a fiendish ArchMage intent on seizing power, and a pair of monarchs who are largely concerned with the financial state of the realm and expanding their territory. Now, this parallel is somewhat necessary, in order to equate the Woot Caribbean with the actual Caribbean around the time of piracy. However, I try to put a unique spin on things as often as possible. Gaerita seems to be headed downhill, which saddens me; it's my Rome and Minas Tirith and empiric England all rolled into one. We can more or less consider it the cradle of (advanced) human civilization on Woot Earth, since I haven't up to this point really concerned myself with the kingdoms of Man. (It's often difficult, since Woot Earth isn't mapped. It really ought to be soon, I suppose.) It is the greatest triumph of humanity; concentrated here is the greatest magickal and artistic knowledge.
Which got me to thinking: it would make a great Atlantis/Numenor parallel.
If the Gaeritans got so arrogant and greedy that they defied my will, I could totally smite them into the sea. After all, they would have had a good run: from the time of the first kingdoms to now. That's a couple thousand years in Woot Time! And it's all thanks to the major boost from Shizuku. Also, if I collapsed Gaerita I wouldn't have it to use as my default kingdom of humans anymore, which would force me to create new things. ^^; The only problem is that the whole Atlantis thing: been done. Many times. I like the mytheme, but at the same time it seems a cop-out.
Another possibility I was playing around with was to create a parallel kingdom with another Elemental bloodline. Say, a Fire bloodline! Muahah. That would be fun to mess with; again, there are some problems. Namely, I don't want the Elementals getting too much of a foothold on Woot Earth. And I don't want to have to create a new half-Elemental, half-human race. That just messes with my established order. Once in Woot history seems quite enough, if it gives so much of an advantage. Although there are possibilities with Light and Dark bloodlines that would be interesting to play with...and this whole bloodline idea could play into the concept Shini and I have had for ages about an Elemental Champion.
So there are just some ideas I've been playing around with...
Give me your thoughts...