I've been fielding a lot of questions by email and DM on the various books of the Hill Cantons (Slumbering Ursine Dunes, Fever-Dreaming Marlinko, Misty Isles of the Eld) and the setting in general. Its been fun digging out old dog-eared notebooks, coffee-stained maps and the like to remember what exactly went down in Lady Szara's Bathe in the Blood of Servants charity ball, what lies across the World Canal, where the kuduks live, etc.
(Ten-Minute Guide to the Hill Cantons here.)
So how about we open up the floor for a few days. Is there anything you'd like to know about the Hill Cantons? Any elaborations or clarifications from the books, setting, or blog? Projects old and new?
Any idle words of mine to pounce on?
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| crappy players map from the campaign |
Can I license it for an alt-country kids on bikes project? No idea where that goes but it feels essential.
ReplyDeleteYES. How did you peer into the darkness that is my soul?
DeleteAwesome. Either a lucky swing or everything that rises eventually converges. No plan yet (just saw the AMA and jumped) but what I'm calling "alt-country" heavy on my mind lately, figure why not try it out with your folks. Details as soon as I figure some out.
DeleteApart from The Brothers With Another Mother, what does the Sun Lord Cult look like in Marlenko? There's a brief reference in the 'marrying off' event on the chaos index; plus the stuff in the HCC supplement... but I need more. Ok, I _want_ more.
ReplyDeleteHow do they utilise paladins?
How do they respond to current heresies?
What are a clerics duties?
What are it's principle conflicts?
In Marlinko Canton Sun Lord worship is nominally the state religion as it is throughout the Hill Cantons and the Overkingdom. That said the city has a (well-deserved) reputation for apostasy and heresy. Reverence for your contrada and its patron god rate way higher and for those who don't various heretic cults like the lodges who worship Habeka the Lady and the Blood Jesus are more prominent. There is a quite venerable giant Sundome Temple on the major boulevard heading east but its flock is elderly and sparse.
DeleteYou can find a lot more about the Sun Lord in general in the Hill Cantons Cosmology or here: http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2013/06/religion-and-hill-cantons-part-one-sun.html
Re: your specific questions,
1. Paladins. Holy warriors cluster in the "Hero-Cults" a cross between knightly orders and mystery cults. Some of which are written up here: http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2015/09/hero-cults-of-hill-cantons.html
2. Heresy and intense theological dispute are pretty rife and relative to our world more tolerated (generating a lot of intense and sometimes riotous intellectual debate but nothing like the inquisitions, massacres, etc of our world).
3. Clerical duties are more lax than say the early modern Catholic Church but do involve a great deal of academic study, exposing of skin (sunbathing) in mediation, and berating parishoners.
Oh, that's absolutely wonderful! Thank you. One other thing, just in case: are union's existence considered a threat to the social fabric, or are they corrupt upholders of the status quo? Do strikes happen? Are they a challenge to the Rada of Marlenko? Are there anything resembling political parties? How does one gain a seat in the Rada?
DeleteSorry, I know I'm pursuing it...
Oops, 'pursue' should be 'pushing'.
DeleteI've been reading a bunch of your old posts about the Hill Cantons over the last few days -- really enjoyable! (I will definitely be in the market for a complete edition when you publish it.)
ReplyDeleteThe thing that first caught my eye (in the description of Misty Isles of the Eld) was the term "acid fantasy" -- not something I'd come across before, which surprised me a bit, as a reader and writer of weird fantasy. I've heard of acid westerns, but not acid fantasy. It put me in mind of post-modern, "trippy" fantasy from the 70s like Corum and Viriconium, but I'm not really sure that's how you're using it. Could you elaborate on where the term came from and what it means to you in the context of the Hill Cantons? Thanks!
Caleb
Is there anything notable about the customs of Hy-Brazos besides their being 80's commodities traders/corporate raiders who drink too much mares' milk and enjoy a good city sacking?
ReplyDeleteCan you direct me towards the anarcho-syndicalist communes in the Hill Cantons?
ReplyDeleteIs it true that female bear warriors tow, charge, and command the siege cannons?
ReplyDelete