#avenoth

[stevensavage]

Steve's Book Roundup!

I write a lot and have quite a few books.  So now and then I post a roundup of them for interested parties!

The Way With Worlds Series

This is what I do a lot of – writing on worldbuilding!.  You can find all of my books at www.WayWithWorlds.com! 

The core books of the series will help you get going:

Way With Worlds Book 1 – Discusses my philosophy of worldbuilding and world creation essentials.

Way With Worlds Book 2 – Looks at common subjects of worldbuilding like conflicts in your setting, skills for being a good worldbuilder, and more!

When you need to focus on specifics of worldbuilding, I have an ever-growing series of deep dive minibooks.  Each provides fifty questions with additional exercises and ideas to help you focus on one subject important to you!

The current subjects are:

Sex and Reproduction

Magic and Technology

Food and Culture

Religion

Worldbuilding Checkups

Characters

Superheroes

Organizations

Cities

Fashion

News

Gods and Deities

Conspiracies

Calendars and Holidays

History and Records

Natural Disasters

Man-Made Disasters

Misinformation, Disinformation, Propaganda

Disaster Response

Fiction

Take a typical fantasy world – and then let it evolve into the information age.  Welcome to the solar system of Avenoth, where gods use email, demons were banished to a distant planet, and science and sorcery fling people across worlds . . .

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet – Two future teachers of Techno-Magical safety find trying to earn their credentials hunting odd artifacts backfires when they’re hired to put some back . . . on a planet where gods go to die!

A School of Many Futures - The crew is back, and finding having secrets and keeping them isn't the same thing! Unfortunately they also find "very normal" is a cover for "anything but" . . .

Creativity

I’m the kind of person that studies how creativity works, and I’ve distilled my findings and advice into some helpful books!

The Power Of Creative Paths – Explores my theories of the Five Types of Creativity, how you can find yours, and how to expand your creative skills to use more Types of Creativity.

Agile Creativity – I take the Agile Manifesto, a guide to adaptable project development, and show how it can help creatives improve their work – and stay organized without being overwhelmed.

The Art of The Brainstorm Book – A quick guide to using a simple notebook to improve brainstorming, reduce the stress around having new ideas, and prioritize your latest inspirations.

Chance’s Muse – I take everything I learned at Seventh Sanctum and my love of random tables and charts and detail how randomness can produce inspiration!

Think Agile, Write Better – Use Agile techniques to write better, faster, and with less stress!  Using a series of small, specific tips you can find what works for you so you can get back to writing – with a whole new mindset!

Careers

Being a “Professional Geek” is what I do – I turned my interests into a career and have been doing my best to turn that into advice.  The following books are my ways of helping out!

Fan To Pro – My “flagship” book on using hobbies and interests in your career – and not always in ways you’d think!

Skill Portability – A quick guide to how to move skills from one job to another, or even from hobbies into your job.  Try out my “DARE” system and asses your abilities!

Resume Plus – A guide to jazzing up a resume, sometimes to extreme measures.

Epic Resume Go! – Make a resume a creative act so it’s both better and more enjoyable to make!

Quest For Employment – Where I distill down my job search experiences and ways to take the search further.

Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers – An interview-driven book about ways to leverage cosplay interests to help your career!

Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers – My second interview-driven book about ways to leverage fanart to help your career!

Convention Career Connection – A system for coming up with good career panels for conventions!

Culture

Her Eternal Moonlight – My co-author Bonnie and I analyze the impact Sailor Moon had on women’s lives when it first came to North America.  Based on a series of interviews, there’s a lot to analyze here, and surprisingly consistent themes . . .

My Sites

www.StevenSavage.com – My personal website, with my blog and latest updates.

www.InformoTron.com – My press site, with the links to my books and some extra goodies!

www.SeventhSanctum.com – My random inspiration website, with generators for all sorts of stories, characters, and more!

[metalby]

La Bocca Della Verita [Avenoth]. 2016. Bandcamp, Spotify, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube. Twitter(metalone).

上記[Avenoth]は1stアルバム．日本盤もベルアンさんからリリース, MAR172684. 2023-07には2ndアルバム[[Un​]​connected]をリリース，KakeReco, DiskUnion.

[babyawacs]

@thewarzonewire #patriot #aa #to #ukraine  theyh avenothing else effective : .@nato @nato how effective gamechanging are followupsystems themore based on patriots theless  or components limited  @msc

@thewarzonewire #patriot #aa #to #ukraine  theyh avenothing else effective : .@nato @nato how effective gamechanging are followupsystems themore based on patriots theless  or components limited @msc

@thewarzonewire #patriot #aa #to #ukraine theyhavenothing else effective : .@nato @nato how effective gamechanging are followupsystems themore based on patriots theless or components limited @msc I am Christian KISS BabyAWACS – Raw Independent Sophistication #THINKTANK + #INTEL #HELLHOLE #BLOG https://www.BabyAWACS.com/ Inquiry PHONE / FAX +493212 611 34 64 Helpful? Pay. Support.…

[massimomoscatellidrums]

Ed eccola qui la locandina ufficiale del prossimo concerto .. il 21 maggio vi aspettiamo numerosi

[harryhogweed]

#NowPlaying Avenoth by La bocca della verita

[the-dm-diet-steve-blog]

One more for tonight....Avenoth. I gave DCUO a try and its actually pretty fun. Not sure if I’m going to keep this char or improve on him with someone different, but I had to go Sinestro Corps with him...what can I say? I'm a sucker for bad guys.

[stevensavage]

Trope Friction

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve's Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

I was discussing tropes in a meeting of my fellow writers, and a thought came to mind.  Often when we writers discuss tropes it’s do we use them or not.  I realized that sometimes the value of the trope is something to bump up against.

Let me give an example.

In my Avenoth series, there is a sorceress, Marigold Rel-Domau.  Marigold is not your typical weedy magic user, she’s a 6’7” spell-flinger who works out and is willing to mix fisticuffs and sorcery.  The trope of the non-physical magic user was one I enjoyed running up against.  I thought about how using magic doesn’t give any reason not to engage in physical improvement and gives many reasons to hit the weight room.

In my thinking, her career involved troubleshooting dangerous occult and high-tech situations with her partner.  Marigold wielded gravity and kinetic magic, but being practical, she knew she needed more than one tool in her toolbox.  Sometimes punching someone is easier.  Sometimes it’s easier to break something with your hands than to try to leverage a spell.  She also had never gotten flying down so running proved to be a very important thing to perfect.

It could have been just a joke, but by the time I was done, I added to the world and the character.  Marigold, a constant planner in the vein of, well, me, would think that way.  So much came out of taking a trope and utterly inverting it.

Bouncing off the trope sent me higher – as well as leading to a wonderful metaphorical arc in the second book.

But the contrast is something that can draw a reader in.  At first, it may seem to be humorous in breaking a trope – a lot of humor is a kind of inversion or violation.  But the reason something doesn’t fit tropes gives you something to work on, turns the contrast into character, and makes the tale deeper.

Friction can slow things down – but it can also light a match and set ideas on fire.

Tropes may be fun to explore and deconstruct, and that’s a subject writers go on about at length.  But I think we as writers should spend some time looking at how we can use a trope by running up against it.  The friction of expectations can create sparks of inspiration in the author – and fascination in the reader.

So what trope are you sick of, and what appears when you break it open . . .

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[stevensavage]

Steve's Book Roundup 3/7/2023

I write a lot and have quite a few books.  So now and then I post a roundup of them for interested parties!  However, I think as I'm taking 2023 easy and doing a few less blog posts, I'll make this quarterly or whenever I add a new book.

The Way With Worlds Series

This is what I do a lot of – writing on worldbuilding!.  You can find all of my books at www.WayWithWorlds.com! 

The core books of the series will help you get going:

Way With Worlds Book 1 – Discusses my philosophy of worldbuilding and world creation essentials.

Way With Worlds Book 2 – Looks at common subjects of worldbuilding like conflicts in your setting, skills for being a good worldbuilder, and more!

When you need to focus on specifics of worldbuilding, I have an ever-growing series of deep dive minibooks.  Each provides fifty questions with additional exercises and ideas to help you focus on one subject important to you!

The current subjects are:

Sex and Reproduction

Magic and Technology

Food and Culture

Religion

Worldbuilding Checkups

Characters

Superheroes

Organizations

Cities

Fashion

News

Gods and Deities

Conspiracies

Calendars and Holidays

History and Records

Natural Disasters

Man-Made Disasters

Misinformation, Disinformation, Propaganda

Disaster Response

Fiction

Take a typical fantasy world – and then let it evolve into the information age.  Welcome to the solar system of Avenoth, where gods use email, demons were banished to a distant planet, and science and sorcery fling people across worlds . . .

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet – Two future teachers of Techno-Magical safety find trying to earn their credentials hunting odd artifacts backfires when they’re hired to put some back . . . on a planet where gods go to die!

A School of Many Futures - The crew is back, and finding having secrets and keeping them isn't the same thing! Unfortunately they also find "very normal" is a cover for "anything but" . . .

Creativity

I’m the kind of person that studies how creativity works, and I’ve distilled my findings and advice into some helpful books!

The Power Of Creative Paths – Explores my theories of the Five Types of Creativity, how you can find yours, and how to expand your creative skills to use more Types of Creativity.

Agile Creativity – I take the Agile Manifesto, a guide to adaptable project development, and show how it can help creatives improve their work – and stay organized without being overwhelmed.

The Art of The Brainstorm Book – A quick guide to using a simple notebook to improve brainstorming, reduce the stress around having new ideas, and prioritize your latest inspirations.

Chance’s Muse – I take everything I learned at Seventh Sanctum and my love of random tables and charts and detail how randomness can produce inspiration!

Careers

Being a “Professional Geek” is what I do – I turned my interests into a career and have been doing my best to turn that into advice.  The following books are my ways of helping out!

Fan To Pro – My “flagship” book on using hobbies and interests in your career – and not always in ways you’d think!

Skill Portability – A quick guide to how to move skills from one job to another, or even from hobbies into your job.  Try out my “DARE” system and asses your abilities!

Resume Plus – A guide to jazzing up a resume, sometimes to extreme measures.

Epic Resume Go! – Make a resume a creative act so it’s both better and more enjoyable to make!

Quest For Employment – Where I distill down my job search experiences and ways to take the search further.

Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers – An interview-driven book about ways to leverage cosplay interests to help your career!

Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers – My second interview-driven book about ways to leverage fanart to help your career!

Convention Career Connection – A system for coming up with good career panels for conventions!

Culture

Her Eternal Moonlight – My co-author Bonnie and I analyze the impact Sailor Moon had on women’s lives when it first came to North America.  Based on a series of interviews, there’s a lot to analyze here, and surprisingly consistent themes . . .

My Sites

www.StevenSavage.com – My personal website, with my blog and latest updates.

www.InformoTron.com – My press site, with the links to my books and some extra goodies!

www.SeventhSanctum.com – My random inspiration website, with generators for all sorts of stories, characters, and more!

[stevensavage]

Steve’s Book Roundup February 2023!

I write a lot and have quite a few books.  So now and then I post a roundup of them for interested parties!

The Way With Worlds Series

This is what I do a lot of – writing on worldbuilding!.  You can find all of my books at www.WayWithWorlds.com! 

The core books of the series will help you get going:

Way With Worlds Book 1 – Discusses my philosophy of worldbuilding and world creation essentials.

Way With Worlds Book 2 – Looks at common subjects of worldbuilding like conflicts in your setting, skills for being a good worldbuilder, and more!

When you need to focus on specifics of worldbuilding, I have an ever-growing series of deep dive minibooks.  Each provides fifty questions with additional exercises and ideas to help you focus on one subject important to you!

The current subjects are:

Sex and Reproduction

Magic and Technology

Food and Culture

Religion

Worldbuilding Checkups

Characters

Superheroes

Organizations

Cities

Fashion

News

Gods and Deities

Conspiracies

Calendars and Holidays

History and Records

Natural Disasters

Man-Made Disasters

Misinformation, Disinformation, Propaganda

Disaster Response

Fiction

Take a typical fantasy world – and then let it evolve into the information age.  Welcome to the solar system of Avenoth, where gods use email, demons were banished to a distant planet, and science and sorcery fling people across worlds . . .

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet – Two future teachers of Techno-Magical safety find trying to earn their credentials hunting odd artifacts backfires when they’re hired to put some back . . . on a planet where gods go to die!

A School of Many Futures - The crew is back, and finding having secrets and keeping them isn't the same thing! Unfortunately they also find "very normal" is a cover for "anything but" . . .

Creativity

I’m the kind of person that studies how creativity works, and I’ve distilled my findings and advice into some helpful books!

The Power Of Creative Paths – Explores my theories of the Five Types of Creativity, how you can find yours, and how to expand your creative skills to use more Types of Creativity.

Agile Creativity – I take the Agile Manifesto, a guide to adaptable project development, and show how it can help creatives improve their work – and stay organized without being overwhelmed.

The Art of The Brainstorm Book – A quick guide to using a simple notebook to improve brainstorming, reduce the stress around having new ideas, and prioritize your latest inspirations.

Chance’s Muse – I take everything I learned at Seventh Sanctum and my love of random tables and charts and detail how randomness can produce inspiration!

Careers

Being a “Professional Geek” is what I do – I turned my interests into a career and have been doing my best to turn that into advice.  The following books are my ways of helping out!

Fan To Pro – My “flagship” book on using hobbies and interests in your career – and not always in ways you’d think!

Skill Portability – A quick guide to how to move skills from one job to another, or even from hobbies into your job.  Try out my “DARE” system and asses your abilities!

Resume Plus – A guide to jazzing up a resume, sometimes to extreme measures.

Epic Resume Go! – Make a resume a creative act so it’s both better and more enjoyable to make!

Quest For Employment – Where I distill down my job search experiences and ways to take the search further.

Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers – An interview-driven book about ways to leverage cosplay interests to help your career!

Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers – My second interview-driven book about ways to leverage fanart to help your career!

Convention Career Connection – A system for coming up with good career panels for conventions!

Culture

Her Eternal Moonlight – My co-author Bonnie and I analyze the impact Sailor Moon had on women’s lives when it first came to North America.  Based on a series of interviews, there’s a lot to analyze here, and surprisingly consistent themes . . .

My Sites

www.StevenSavage.com – My personal website, with my blog and latest updates.

www.InformoTron.com – My press site, with the links to my books and some extra goodies!

www.SeventhSanctum.com – My random inspiration website, with generators for all sorts of stories, characters, and more!

[stevensavage]

Steve’s Book Roundup

I write a lot and have quite a few books.  So now and then I post a roundup of them for interested parties!

The Way With Worlds Series

This is what I do a lot of – writing on worldbuilding!.  You can find all of my books at www.WayWithWorlds.com! 

The core books of the series will help you get going:

Way With Worlds Book 1 –     Discusses my philosophy of worldbuilding and world creation essentials.

Way With Worlds Book 2 – Looks     at common subjects of worldbuilding like conflicts in your setting, skills     for being a good worldbuilder, and more!

When you need to focus on specifics of worldbuilding, I have an ever-growing series of deep dive minibooks.  Each provides fifty questions with additional exercises and ideas to help you focus on one subject important to you!

The current subjects are:

Sex and     Reproduction

Magic and     Technology

Food and Culture

Religion

Worldbuilding     Checkups

Characters

Superheroes

Organizations

Cities

Fashion

News

Gods and Deities

Conspiracies

Calendars and Holidays

History and Records

Natural Disasters

Man-Made Disasters

Misinformation, Disinformation,     Propaganda

Fiction

Take a typical fantasy world – and then let it evolve into the information age.  Welcome to the solar system of Avenoth, where gods use email, demons were banished to a distant planet, and science and sorcery fling people across worlds . . .

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet –     Two future teachers of Techno-Magical safety find trying to earn their     credentials hunting odd artifacts backfires when they’re hired to put some     back . . . on a planet where gods go to die!

A School of Many Futures     - The crew is back, and finding having secrets and keeping them isn't the     same thing! Unfortunately they also find "very normal" is a     cover for "anything but" . . .

Creativity

I’m the kind of person that studies how creativity works, and I’ve distilled my findings and advice into some helpful books!

The Power Of Creative Paths –     Explores my theories of the Five Types of Creativity, how you can find     yours, and how to expand your creative skills to use more Types of     Creativity.

Agile Creativity – I take the     Agile Manifesto, a guide to adaptable project development, and show how it     can help creatives improve their work – and stay organized without being     overwhelmed.

The Art of The Brainstorm Book     – A quick guide to using a simple notebook to improve brainstorming,     reduce the stress around having new ideas, and prioritize your latest     inspirations.

Chance’s Muse – I take     everything I learned at Seventh Sanctum and my love of random tables and     charts and detail how randomness can produce inspiration!

Careers

Being a “Professional Geek” is what I do – I turned my interests into a career and have been doing my best to turn that into advice.  The following books are my ways of helping out!

Fan To Pro – My “flagship” book     on using hobbies and interests in your career – and not always in ways     you’d think!

Skill Portability – A quick     guide to how to move skills from one job to another, or even from hobbies     into your job.  Try out my “DARE” system and asses your abilities!

Resume Plus – A guide to     jazzing up a resume, sometimes to extreme measures.

Epic Resume Go! – Make a resume     a creative     act so it’s both better and more enjoyable to make!

Quest For Employment – Where I     distill down my job search experiences and ways to take the search     further.

Cosplay,     Costuming, and Careers – An interview-driven book about ways to     leverage cosplay interests to help your career!

Fanart,     Fanartists, and Careers – My second interview-driven book about ways     to leverage fanart to help your career!

Convention Career Connection     – A system for coming up with good career panels for conventions!

Culture

Her     Eternal Moonlight – My co-author Bonnie and I analyze the impact     Sailor Moon had on women’s lives when it first came to North     America.  Based on a series of interviews, there’s a lot to analyze     here, and surprisingly consistent themes . . .

My Sites

www.StevenSavage.com – My personal     website, with my blog and latest updates.

www.InformoTron.com – My press     site, with the links to my books and some extra goodies!

www.SeventhSanctum.com – My     random inspiration website, with generators for all sorts of stories,     characters, and more!

[stevensavage]

Steve's Book Roundup

I write a lot and have quite a few books.  So now and then I’m going to post a roundup of them for interested parties!

The Way With Worlds Series

This is what I do a lot of – writing on worldbuilding!.  You can find all of my books at www.WayWithWorlds.com!

The core books of the series will help you get going:

Way With Worlds Book 1 – Discusses my philosophy of worldbuilding and world creation essentials.

Way With Worlds Book 2 – Looks at common subjects of worldbuilding like conflicts in your setting, skills for being a good worldbuilder, and more!

When you need to focus on specifics of worldbuilding, I have an ever-growing series of deep dive minibooks.  Each provides fifty questions with additional exercises and ideas to help you focus on one subject important to you!

The current subjects are:

Sex and Reproduction

Magic and Technology

Food and Culture

Religion

Worldbuilding Checkups

Characters

Superheroes

Organizations

Cities

Fashion

News

Gods and Deities

Conspiracies

Calendars and Holidays

Fiction

Take a typical fantasy world – and then let it evolve into the information age.  Welcome to the solar system of Avenoth, where gods use email, demons were banished to a distant planet, and science and sorcery fling people across worlds . . .

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet – Two future teachers of Techno-Magical safety find trying to earn their credentials hunting odd artifacts backfires when you’re hired to put some back . . . on a planet where gods go to die!

Creativity

I’m the kind of person that studies how creativity works, and I’ve distilled my findings and advice into some helpful books!

The Power Of Creative Paths – Explores my theories of the Five Types of Creativity, how you can find yours, and how to expand your creative skills to use more Types of Creativity.

Agile Creativity – I take the Agile Manifesto, a guide to adaptable project development, and show how it can help creatives improve their work – and stay organized without being overwhelmed.

The Art of The Brainstorm Book – A quick guide to using a simple notebook to improve brainstorming, reduce the stress around having new ideas, and prioritize your latest inspirations.

Chance’s Muse – I take everything I learned at Seventh Sanctum and my love of random tables and charts and detail how randomness can produce inspiration!

Careers

Being a “Professional Geek” is what I do – I turned my interests into a career and have been doing my best to turn that into advice.  The following books are my ways of helping out!

Fan To Pro – My “flagship” book on using hobbies and interests in your career – and not always in ways you’d think!

Skill Portability – A quick guide to how to move skills from one job to another, or even from hobbies into your job.  Try out my “DARE” system and asses your abilities!

Resume Plus – A guide to jazzing up a resume, sometimes to extreme measures.

Epic Resume Go! – Make a resume a creative act so it’s both better and more enjoyable to make!

Quest For Employment – Where I distill down my job search experiences and ways to take the search further.

Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers – An interview-driven book about ways to leverage cosplay interests to help your career!

Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers – My second interview-driven book about ways to leverage fanart to help your career!

Convention Career Connection – A system for coming up with good career panels for conventions!

Culture

Her Eternal Moonlight – My co-author Bonnie and I analyze the impact Sailor Moon had on women’s lives when it first came to North America.  Based on a series of interviews, there’s a lot to analyze here, and surprisingly consistent themes . . .

My Sites

www.StevenSavage.com – My personal website, with my blog and latest updates.

www.InformoTron.com – My press site, with the links to my books and some extra goodies!

www.SeventhSanctum.com – My random inspiration website, with generators for all sorts of stories, characters, and more!

[stevensavage]

THOSE IMPORTANT DAYS IN OUR STORIES

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I was discussing Serdar’s upcoming worldbuilding-intense novel Unmortal.  It’s a setting with many stories, but his philosophy is one novel a setting, so he told the most important story to tell.  I commented offhandedly, “In a 1000 years find the most important day.”

What story do you tell in a world is a powerful question.

We usually build worlds for a reason because we have some idea of what story to tell.  But if you’re a heavy worldbuilder (like myself), questions arise as you write the first story or plot the next.  You have to ask “what is the story worth telling?”

Without spoiling my plans, my Avenoth novels originally focused on college students and faculty in a techno-mystical world.  Without spoiling my plans, my initial plot was not as interesting as asking how did we get here.  In a way, I ended up writing prequels to a novel that may never be – exploring what kind of people teach in a world of internet-using gods and mystic technology.

The second novel, “A School of Many Futures,” was a similar experience.  Originally the story was a mix of murder mystery and parody of conventions and trade shows.  It would see my collection of hyper-competent but oddball heroes try to shepherd a group of students through rolling chaos at a giant convention.  It was amusing, but the story was just “an idea,” and it didn’t have reason to exist.

As two of the characters are freelance teachers, the notes that became “A School of Many Futures” fit far better.  It fit my themes, fit the characters, and let me further explore the themes mentioned above.  It also fit my greater goals of deconstruction, and it was a pleasure to take on the “magical school adventure” trope.

What about my unused ideas?  My extensive notes have been used in a world guide for readers and may be used in an RPG.  Avenoth is a large setting that plays with tropes – perfect for a game.  Your unused ideas may find similar life in other places.

As writers, we must remember our audience only has so much time, and we have so much time to write.  Asking “what is the story worth telling?” is a question we can’t avoid.

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[stevensavage]

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet: Names

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Let's get to know more about the setting of my upcoming novel, A Bridge To The Quiet Planet.  It’s out late this fall but you can find out about the world now . . .

Names

The various countries and regions of Telvaren have had many naming traditions over the years. Many of them still exist in one form or another, even if in honorifics. However, certain naming trends dominate the culture.

A person one meets on Telvaren or its associated worlds may have a name like Scintilla Ferr-Orbil or Marigold Rel-Domau. The name of most citizens is in three parts:

First Name

The first name is almost always an object, phenomena, or thing with some meaning to the parents, family, culture, or community. The sources of these vary widely, and most everyone has a “why I got this name” story, some of which aren’t humiliating.

Common sources are:

Family traditions, often on certain objects – plants, stones, weapons, etc.

Meaningful items – An author may name a child “Papyrus,” a doctor may name a child “Remedy.”

An occurrence of birth – A child born during a storm may be named “Rain” or “Lightning.”

Items relevant to an important god – A child born to a worshipper of Ivonau, the god of magic, might be called “Rune” or “Grimoire.”

Last Names

The second paired names are matrilineal. The first is the matrilineal name of the mother, the second the matrilineal name of the father.

Thus:

Marogld Rel-Domau is the daughter of mother Lyric Rel-Kaber and father Key Domau-Jobal.

Scintilla Ferr-Orbil is the daughter of mother Joyful Ferr-Bistrain and Thunder Orbil-Mizra

Most people refer to each other by both last names, though it’s not unacceptable to merely use the maternal name in casual conversation.

Name Variants

There are still variants on this common name that occur for certain reasons:

Traditional first names. Some people or families use names in older languages, family traditions, or due to regional trends. This you may meet someone with a name like Gyra Trell-Ozmi whos family uses old traditional names (in this case Northern ones)

Traditional last names. This is far rarer, but a rare and decreasing amount of people have single last names due to regional or family tradition. This is usually seem in Central and at times Western regions, but is also known on the world of Lindhaem. An example of a very traditional name would be Shalen Vynne – though there is some potential confusion . . .

Estrangement. Some people due to estrangement from one side of a family or other reject the last name of one of their parents and go with a single name. This is seen as a complete disownment of that family and would be considered a massive insult. An example would be Beacon Rindle – whose use of modern first names with a single last name hints at estrangement.

The Origin Of Modern Naming

The current way of naming children is not new – it originated from the common Western and Southern way of naming children. This had spread to some Central and Norther regions. What made it far more popular was the War and then popular culture.

Having a way to easily refer to people’s lineage was made necessary during the devastation of The War. Simply treating last names as a way to track both sides of the family was remarkably convenient, and became popular in the evolving Government and Military – the Military was especially enthused about it for the sake of ease.

The establishment of The Government and a relatively unified culture among the future Great Cities helped further this naming tradition. The various cities that became The Great Cities had a great deal of cultural and economic commerce anyway, and in some ways had more common culture than their countries. The Network in its Second and Third forms also propigated common culture.

Finally, true popular, global culture evolved in the last one hundred years. A few major Great Cities – most notably Sabillion, but also the Theopolis of Triad True and the academic powerhouse of Brightguard – had an outsides influence on culture. This also spread common naming ideas making them more common.

- Steve

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[stevensavage]

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet - Religion

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Let's get to know more about the setting of my upcoming novel, A Bridge To The Quiet Planet.  It’s out late this fall but you can find out about the world now . . .

Religion

Religion on modern Telvaren and it's colonies is a practical affair due to the simple matter that aeons of worship, theology, magic, science, and a few confused holy wars and philosophical battles have led to religion becoming an organized, well-understood part of culture.  It's there, it has its purpose, and if you want to actually read up on it there's extensive books, theses, and scientific papers that can bore you into knowledge.

At it's core, religion essentially accepts that the gods are real (which is easy when they tell you they are) and that humanity and they benefit from the interaction.  There's several hundred gods at last count so there's plenty of gods to interact with, though they're not always on the same side, or in agreement, or understandable.  But in the end, religion provides mutual benefit, as found by aeons of work and a few centuries of recovering from the devastating event simply called The War.

Gods

Gods predate humanity.  They are conceptual creatures, a face on the abstract forces and powers of the world and of life itself.  The variable nature of reality, often called magic, seems to play a role in this, but the simplest way people are taught to think about it is that life can evolve from anything - even abstract concepts or non-living natural forces.

The gods are the masks the world puts on, life that evolves "over" the abstract.

The evolution of humanity, of thinking creatures able to conceive and dream, and conceptualize was a boon for the gods.  Human minds and emotions manifested the abstract forces of life and thought more than anything else; their ideas and thoughts enriched the lives of the gods and helped them grow and become more aware.  Metaphorically (and to an extent, accurately), humanity is the environment gods live in; creatures of life and death, industry and war, thought and art.

It's considered by many Evolutionary Theologians to be similar to how dogs and humans affected each other's evolution, though no one is sure who's the dog and who's the human in the relationship.  The Sixth Sage is noted as saying the dogs probably got insulted by this comparison, which is a very popular saying among dog owners and seen on many t-shirts by people thinking they're witty.

Gods and Humans co-evolved, with the humans providing a rich environment for the gods, and the gods happily lending their power and insights to people.  Out of this evolved worship and rituals and holidays to keep gods and humans in sync.

It is said that gods could indeed exist without humanity, and all evidence indicates this is true.  But their lives would be like living in an arid desert; you can live, but that's all you can do.  The War is said to have terrified the gods and helped re-shape their relationships with humans and each other.

Religion

Religious practices are viewed practically, but they also vary extremely with god, families, neighborhoods, and regions - gods and humans tend to take different views of "what works."  Usually this is close to, but not always the same, and when you throw a few hundred gods into the mix it's confusing.

There are enormous efforts, especially post-Reformation, to ensure organized religion is even more organized.  This sometimes actually works, but it also means there are endless meetings and sessions and attempts to codify works.  There are always newly discovered holy text that may seem revolutionary to humans, but to a god are just something they "wrote down" and they didn't think of the culture-changing impact.  The great Theopolis of Triad True is constantly abuzz with work, and boasts a bureaucracy that would make even the great historical mages of Phoenix Ascendant jealous - albeit jealous in an organized manner.

Among all this attempt to codify everything from clerical titles (which are known to change every few years) to agreements with the gods, the front line of human-god relations are clerics.

Clerics

"Cleric" is the catch-all term for a person who is in contact with a specific god, voluntarily, and has an ongoing relationship with them.  A Cleric is officially recognized by their god and their Church (or Temple, or whatever title) as being a direct line to the god in question.

Clerics provide advice from holy texts and occasionally the gods themselves.  They provide prophecy from the gods - which has only increased as Network usage has expanded and the gods took to email centuries ago.  They also provide blessings, channeling some of a gods power to the faithful.

However, Clerics also provide a service to the gods in that they are their connection to humans.  Clerics help the gods understand humanity and stay in touch with the world.  This part of the relationship is not always understood by other humans.

Clerics often have a variety of powers granted them by the god, sometimes without the god actually thinking much about it.  These are classified as:

Aspect: Almost all Clerics develop a talent or ability that reflects the sphere of their god.  A Cleric of the goddess of war may have supernatural tactical sense, a Cleric of the god of scheduling may have precognition, and so on.  These Aspects usually have to be called upon consciously, and though in theory unlimited, some "turn off" at odd moments if a cleric strays too far from their god's plans.

Glamour: Though Clerics hate this title, most Clerics have the ability to inspire people with certain emotions related to their gods - sometimes without thinking.  It is called "Inspiration" by most Clerics, but popular opinion has left them stuck with "Glamour."

Exorcism: All Clerics in theory can release some of their gods raw power to disrupt demons, malicious spirits and ghosts, and other anomolies.  Few actually use it - it's basically the spiritual equivalent of putting a lighter in front of hairspray, turning a utility into a weapon.

Many modern clerics organize in Theocades, great multi-religious structures that can have temples, rooms, and the like reshuffled.  They also act as housing and community centers.

Shamans And Spirits

Shamans and spirits are sometimes classified as part of religion, sometimes not - and there's been a concerted and not entirely well-meaning effort to exclude them from being considered religious professionals entirely.  This is an area of theological politics that many humans and most gods don't like as well as don't care about.

"Spirits" are not gods, though some have been mistaken for them and some gods employ them.  Spirits are the results of human interaction with objects, places, and ideas that, over time, shapes the magical forces of that object, place, and idea until it achieves consciousness.  Roads, vehicles, buildings, famous objects all can have spirits.

Spirits are conscious but erratic and unpredictable magical beings with a variety of powers and abilities.  They can easily be appeased and interacted with in assorted ways - conversation, attention, sacrifice of blood, food, and alcohol, and so on.  In times as spirits mature they become more powerful and more human.

Shamans are those that interact with spirits and have extensive knowledge of them.  Shamans and Clerics used to be the same profession for all intends and purposes, but over the last few centuries there's been a noteable split as religion became more organized.  Now the two are on their way to being specialist professions, and there is conflict over this, especially as Clerics wield more political and social power - and as people learn more and more about interacting with supernatural creatures in school.

All of the Great Cities have a City Shamanic Department to deal with the spirits in a city.

Triad True

Triad True is a great Theopolis, and arguably a Great City younger than Highpoint if you want to argue what constitutes a Great City, which many people do just to be spiteful.  Located in the southern part of the Central Region, it has gone from a mix of temples and hastily-assembled seminaries to a gigantic metropolis in only three centuries.  Many clerics do some or all of their training there, great libraries and reliquaries abound, museums display history, and some great publishing concerns operate.

Beyond theological and educational business, Triad True is also a popular vacation spot with beautiful areas to visit, relaxing parks, and more.  Needless to say this additional financial influx is quite popular.

There is some unspoken issues involving the Bridges that connect works - Triad True much to people's surprise does not have a permanent Bridge schedule with Godsrest.  Why is not entirely understood, and its suggested economics and politics plays more of an issue, though superstition may as well.

- Steve

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[stevensavage]

Steve's Book Roundup 4/2/2022

I write a lot and have quite a few books.  So now and then I post a roundup of them for interested parties!

The Way With Worlds Series

This is what I do a lot of – writing on worldbuilding!.  You can find all of my books at www.WayWithWorlds.com! 

The core books of the series will help you get going:

Way With Worlds Book 1 – Discusses my philosophy of worldbuilding and world creation essentials.

Way With Worlds Book 2 – Looks at common subjects of worldbuilding like conflicts in your setting, skills for being a good worldbuilder, and more!

When you need to focus on specifics of worldbuilding, I have an ever-growing series of deep dive minibooks.  Each provides fifty questions with additional exercises and ideas to help you focus on one subject important to you!

The current subjects are:

Sex and Reproduction

Magic and Technology

Food and Culture

Religion

Worldbuilding Checkups

Characters

Superheroes

Organizations

Cities

Fashion

News

Gods and Deities

Conspiracies

Calendars and Holidays

History and Records

Natural Disasters

Man-Made Disasters

Fiction

Take a typical fantasy world – and then let it evolve into the information age.  Welcome to the solar system of Avenoth, where gods use email, demons were banished to a distant planet, and science and sorcery fling people across worlds . . .

A Bridge To The Quiet Planet – Two future teachers of Techno-Magical safety find trying to earn their credentials hunting odd artifacts backfires when they’re hired to put some back . . . on a planet where gods go to die!

A School of Many Futures - The crew is back, and finding having secrets and keeping them isn't the same thing! Unfortunately they also find "very normal" is a cover for "anything but" . . .

Creativity

I’m the kind of person that studies how creativity works, and I’ve distilled my findings and advice into some helpful books!

The Power Of Creative Paths – Explores my theories of the Five Types of Creativity, how you can find yours, and how to expand your creative skills to use more Types of Creativity.

Agile Creativity – I take the Agile Manifesto, a guide to adaptable project development, and show how it can help creatives improve their work – and stay organized without being overwhelmed.

The Art of The Brainstorm Book – A quick guide to using a simple notebook to improve brainstorming, reduce the stress around having new ideas, and prioritize your latest inspirations.

Chance’s Muse – I take everything I learned at Seventh Sanctum and my love of random tables and charts and detail how randomness can produce inspiration!

Careers

Being a “Professional Geek” is what I do – I turned my interests into a career and have been doing my best to turn that into advice.  The following books are my ways of helping out!

Fan To Pro – My “flagship” book on using hobbies and interests in your career – and not always in ways you’d think!

Skill Portability – A quick guide to how to move skills from one job to another, or even from hobbies into your job.  Try out my “DARE” system and asses your abilities!

Resume Plus – A guide to jazzing up a resume, sometimes to extreme measures.

Epic Resume Go! – Make a resume a creative act so it’s both better and more enjoyable to make!

Quest For Employment – Where I distill down my job search experiences and ways to take the search further.

Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers – An interview-driven book about ways to leverage cosplay interests to help your career!

Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers – My second interview-driven book about ways to leverage fanart to help your career!

Convention Career Connection – A system for coming up with good career panels for conventions!

Culture

Her Eternal Moonlight – My co-author Bonnie and I analyze the impact Sailor Moon had on women’s lives when it first came to North America.  Based on a series of interviews, there’s a lot to analyze here, and surprisingly consistent themes . . .

My Sites

www.StevenSavage.com – My personal website, with my blog and latest updates.

www.InformoTron.com – My press site, with the links to my books and some extra goodies!

www.SeventhSanctum.com – My random inspiration website, with generators for all sorts of stories, characters, and more!