Lancton

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Dec 142011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

Lancton lies on Pelaria’s southern border with the Wild Territory. It is the last line of defense against an incursion of the Wild. Befitting its military background, Lancton’s emblem is not surprisingly, the lance.

You would expect a military outpost to be a grim and serious place. And while the townsfolk do take their roles as defenders of the peace seriously, Lancton is a surprisingly jovial place to visit. My take on it, is that when you are continually faced with the threat of danger and death, you learn to embrace life to the fullest while you can.

In that light, with the notable exception of Sixtus, Lancton has more festivals than any other town in the land. They celebrate just about anything you can imagine there. My personal favourite is Spoon Day, where they celebrate the creation of the spoon. The traditional meal for Spoon Day, soup of course. Sure it may be silly, but oh, the soup is sublime!

While they never fail to warn visitors of the dangers of travelling near the border, Lancton is a welcoming place. No fur is turned away from its gates…at least from the Pelarian side. Furs trying to gain access from the Wild side however, will not receive as warm a welcome.

Carja’s Notes:

As I was drawing the map of Pelaria, I thought there should be more towns. That’s why I added the town that would eventually become Lancton. My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall that I came up with the lance bit AFTER I came up with the name, rather than the other way around as you would expect. Prior to writing this entry, the lance emblem was the only thing I’d decided on about the town.

Sixtus

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Dec 142011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

Sixtus is the capital city of Pelaria. Its name is of course a nod to the Six, to whom we owe everything as furs. It is founded on the site where the Six first rallied their animal brothers and sisters against the threat of man.

The Palace of the King was built in the northern quadrant. The king still lives there, but when King Pepetus decreed that Pelaria should move towards a council government, the Palace was opened up to the general population as a kind of cultural museum. Only the upper levels, where the king actually lives are closed off.

In addition to being the seat of government, Sixtus is also the cultural capital of Pelaria. Museums, libraries, art galleries, you name it, Sixtus has it. The Academy, the school of higher learning, is also based in Sixtus, although there are smaller branches spread across theland.

As one would expect from the largest city in the land, you can find anything and everything in Pelaria. Although the Coven makes its official home in Northend, they conduct extensive business in Sixtus as well.

With so much going on in Sixtus, it only makes sense that it is the place I call home. I will periodically return to Sixtus for long stretches between travels to make use of its libraries to research my stories.

Carja’s Notes:

Sixtus was originally going to be called Unity. It’s a name I was going to use in another project of mine. It made more sense though that the furs in Pelaria would name their capital city after the Six Heroes that started the Awakening.

The Mouse Wing

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Nov 162011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

The Mouse Wing is an organization of brave mice who fly over Pelaria on the backs of birds. They are mostly  responsible for patrolling the farming community of Sunnyvale. Given their small size, mice can ride on the backs of birds as they fly over land. Normally, these are Wild birds, but one or two Avian have been spotted amongst the Mouse Wing. Though the Avian are Awakened and capable of independent thought, it still falls to their mouse rider to guide them as Avian are too unpredictable to be counted on on their own. Once they spot danger, the mice of the Mouse Wing will report to the nearest ranger station. The rangers will then deploy to handle the situation. Without the Mouse Wing, the rangers would spend almost all their time patrolling and would often be unavailable should a situation arise when they’re not near.

Excerpt from Zoë of the Mouse Wing:

Most of the birds were of the Wild. They had been tamed by the members of the Wing and lived in symbiosis with them. The mice took care of the birds and in exchange, the birds let the mice ride them. Birds naturally like to fly so it was a good deal. Some birds, like Popkin, were enlightened. They called themselves the Avian and they joined the Mouse Wing for the same reasons the mice did…to help their fellows.

Carja’s Notes:

The Mouse Wing came about as I was thinking about the different groups and organizations that might inhabit Pelaria. It’s not difficult to see that it exists as a direct homage to the excellent comic series, Mouse Guard.  Never mind that some birds feed on mice, these are awakened mice we’re talking about.

The Order and the Wild

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Nov 092011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

When the Six Heroes recruited furs to help them in their crusade to control Man, there were the animals that could learn (sometimes called the Awakened) and those who couldn’t. Those who could formed The Order. The symbol of the Order is a Tree with six branches (one for each of the Six Heroes).

The Order is also the name of the government of Pelaria. In the days when Pelaria was young, the land was ruled over by a monarch chosen from the clans of the Six Heroes. This tradition came to an end when King Pepetus decreed that Pelaria should be officially governed by The Order, a council of six furs who had long served as advisors to the monarch anyway. The goal of The Order is the advancement of all furs, not just the Awakened, though their policies more often favour the Awakened over the Wild.

The animals who couldn’t or wouldn’t learn the lessons of the Six Heroes were labelled the Wild. Not surprisingly, the Wild have no symbol, as the very concept is lost on them.

The Wild is made up of two subsets, those who live in peace with the Order and those who don’t.  Those who do, live in dens and packs throughout Pelaria, while some even allow themselves to be domesticated by the Awakened. Those who don’t have been pushed back beyond Pelaria’s borders to the Wild Territories. These are the wildest of animals who will not hesitate to attack another fur. Because of their violent tendencies, their population remains low as they fight amongst themselves.

Some of the more advanced members of the Wild have begun to organize their Wild kin and some unscrupulous furs of the Order have even taken to supporting their cause. This represents a growing threat to the Order. However, it is commonly accepted that overt action taken against the violent subset of the Wild could lead to conflict with the more peaceful subset who could view this as the first step in wiping out the Wild completely.

Northend

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Oct 262011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

Northend, as its name suggests, lies to the north. It is a port town east of the Burroughs.

The best advice I can give to travellers heading to Northend is to turn around and go someplace else. It is not a place for the faint of heart. However, anything can be had in Northend…for a price. The Order long ago left Northend to its own devices. The Coven moved in and now rules over the town, operating more openly than anywhere else in Pelaria.

Over the years I have amassed enough friends in low places that I feel relatively safe walking the streets of Northend. Anybody not so fortunate would be well-advised to keep a paw on their coin purse. This is a lesson I learned the hard way when I once visited Northend and had my pocket picked by a young kitten named Sass. I suppose I should count myself fortunate that it had taken that long for myself to be initiated.

The police force in Northend, like just about everything else, is controlled by the Coven and serves those who can afford their rates. Those who can and do pay are well protected. A crook who runs a scam or heist on a fur who has paid his dues to the police force will most likely not witness too many more sunrises.

Northend is a place furs go to disappear…unless of course they’re trying to hide from the Coven. Very few questions are asked in Northend and those who do ask them openly are immediately viewed with suspicion. This can be somewhat of a catch 22 when you’re trying to purchase contraband or hire someone shady, but a liberal application of shinies to paw tends to solve most problems…unless somebody has paid more than you.

Carja’s Notes:

The Age of Animus is a work in progress. For example, even though the map of Pelaria was created a little over a year ago, the idea of Northend being “a wretched hive of scum and villainy” didn’t come about until two months ago when I was trying to come up with ideas to differentiate the towns in Pelaria in Kerfuffle Shuffle (a card game I’m working on). Sass wasn’t from Northend until last week when I was writing Ardebast’s journal entry on her.

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