Leaders of the Empire?

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AuthorTopic: Leaders of the Empire?
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #25
Even if you don't, someone else might. The purpose of this is not to research what you care about. Sorry. [/useless flaming]

Ahem. :P

I don't really know who's currently involved in the 'project' (if it can be called that), and there's definitely no one to ask permission from. :D

It's a good idea to announce what you'll be working on, though, so no one else will do that.

From what I've read now, the following parts have been taken:

Anama War (Drakey)
Maps of Valorim/Aizo/Pralgrad etc. (Zharrad)
First Visitation (Karzoth)
Rise of Aizoan Empire (me)
Start of Imperial Era (me)

Looking forward to seeing your work. :D

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 1425
Profile #26
I hope you don't expect people to follow these timelines. If I set me scenario three hundred years in the past I'll make the emperor and events whoever I damn want not do what someone else tells me happened just cause they put it in there scenario. The idea of timelines and maps make creating scenarios very constricting if you want to put yours on the North of Aizo but a map made by some stranger who isn't Jeff Vogel tells you you can't it would defeat the whole purpose of Jeff creating an open ended game like BOA.
Posts: 190 | Registered: Wednesday, July 3 2002 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #27
That's why we're going to ask Jeff to check the thing afterwards: Nobody's asked to accept stuff that's "made by some stranger who isn't Jeff Vogel". ;)

Also, nobody needs to conform to this; it just makes matters a bit more understandeable if a kind of general consent on certain tidbits - like the number of continents etc. - is reached and open on the web.

That doesn't mean that scenarios that contradict this are 'invalid' or something. It doesn't mean that scenarios are forced to agree on these things. It just means there is anything that can be agreed upon.

PS: If you only want to accept history info that comes in a finished scenario, I'll be happy to make a _lot_ of scenarios, set in all those historical events. Mmh, might even be a nice source of inspiration. ;)

Edit:

This is my idea for a brief early Aizoan (for some reason I prefer Aixoan, but never mind :P ) history:

Rolnic I. Ormessos -650 -590 Founder of the Aizoan Empire,
Known as the Farseeing (Ormessos).
Rolnic II. -590 -540
Rolnic III. -540 -526 Assassinated in a coup, Fleetfoot, a General, seized power
Fleetfoot I. -525 -495 His rule was tyrannical, and he persecuted Mages
Fleetfoot II. -494 -475 Was killed in a coup; the Rolnic family took over again
Rolnic IV. -475 -430 Was loved by the people for restoring benevolent order
Rolnic V. -430 -396 Known as the Conqueror, under his rule the Empire
expanded to all of Aizo, and several islands.
Rolnic VI. -396 -385 Died at a young age, of a fever. He left no heir.
Artimidor I. -385 -350 Known as the Lawgiver. Established a codex of jutice
that has been in use with minor modifications until today
Artimidor II. -350 -346 Assassinated, and a long era of civil war started.

45 years of Civil War and absolute Chaos covered the land.
It then became clear that the Aizoan Empire was doomed to fall eventually.
A long line of short-lived rulers followed:

Conrad I. -300 -294
Reynhart I. -294 -289
Lorn I. -289 -275 Overthrown and killed by his own son
Lorn II. -275 -260 Tried to start a genocide on non-humans, but failed
Conrad II. -260 -256 For a short time, tried to bring back Rolnic's I. traditions
of peace, justice, and racial equality.
Mark I. -256 -224 Ruled with an iron hand. Hated magic and non-humans
Mark II. -224 -215 Ruled with tolerance and farsight. Was murdered by his
own father, who then set up his bloodthirsty uncle
Pychron I. -215 -203 Was a raving maniac. Killed millions of people on whims.
Heavyhand I. -203 -191 A general. Managed to reestablish order for a while
Steelhammer I. -191 -164 Heavyhand's brother. Continued wise reign
Steelhammer II. -164 -154 Commited suicide. Eventually, his advisor Zion took over.
The history we've established so far takes over from there. I guess there is a major discrepancy to a lot of known Aizoan history, so experts who know about what was before Zion, please tell me.

Sounds good though, doesn't it?

[ Monday, July 21, 2003 05:52: Message edited by: Arancaytar ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
The Establishment
Member # 6
Profile #28
I (and other veterans) already worked out the generalized Imperial timeline about a year and a half ago. Sorry guys, but it's already been done. I left open many spaces for future designers. Part of the fun of creating a scenario is creating parts of the history. Leave that up to actual designers who have actually accomplished something. Creating all of this is really taking a lot of the fun out of what could be a very exciting exercise for someone who wants to write really good stories. I know one of the most enjoyable parts was writing the history of the Empire in At the Gallows, a scenario I wanted to make to be specifically worth such an honor. Leaving enough room for future designers was at least my original intent when we first made all of this.

I do not want to sound arrogant or self-righteous, but I feel a bit uneasy about letting anyone who is not a clear veteran touch the timeline in such ways. The only people I would feel comfortable with making arbitrary changes are: Aceron, Alcritas, Brett Bixler, Drakefyre, Akhronath, and probably a few other members who have been in the community for several years.

What I am asking is to please slow down and leave lots of space open. Be a historian, not a history writer. At very least, the changes you make need to be brought up with the community who have pretty much inhereted the universe.

I would make the official timeline only featuring events from the best scenarios (at least 4.5 on the Spiderweb tables). This will leave the timeline relatively open for the present, encourage designers to write in time periods that are not done, and set a high enough bar such that contradictions are unlikely.

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Your flower power is no match for my glower power!
Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #29
Is it Ok if I continue with my map of the Major Continents of Ermaria (Aizo, Pralgad, Valorim). I've nearly completed, Pralgad and Valorim.

[ Monday, July 21, 2003 08:37: Message edited by: Zharrad ]

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3082
Profile #30
Emperor Stewart closed the Vale School. This would have been a major part of the crackdown to bring all the mages under direct Imperial control. Since this is (by your reckoning) 41 years into his reign, the crackdown was probably his policy, not a continuation of a previous Emperor's. This centralization of mages was likely accomplished in the final years of Stewart's reign, and possibly the beginning of Hawthorne I's. The crackdown is major enough to be put onto a timeline. Give the man credit.

Edit: Just finished reading *i's post. He's right. However, this post is observation and logic, not writing history.

[ Monday, July 21, 2003 09:09: Message edited by: Machiavellian Wizard ]
Posts: 54 | Registered: Saturday, June 7 2003 07:00
Guardian
Member # 2238
Profile Homepage #31
The point of this project is to give those who want it a set of scenarios and guidelines to make "official" scenarios. If one doesn't want to follow this, then by all means, don't follow it. I already have plans for my website to include a section of what I would refer to as "official", meaning they follow what _I_ think happens. I understand your want to not come across as the bad-guy, *i, and I mean the same. This group of us just wants something to keep with the original history.

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DEMON PLAY,
DEMON OUT!
Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #32
Its a persons choice whether they listen the information everyone is creating and if they don't fine, there scenario would still probably be the same. Most people wont care about what Emperor ruled when, they just want to creat sceanrios. This is just for those who want to know about the History and if so utilise it in there scenarios. Though I agree it shouldn't be set in stone, there should be areas where nobody knew what was happening so as other people can put there forward there ideas.

And how do do you define a "Veteran" member.

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #33
Well, they might mean the number of posts (>1000), but I don't think so.

It could also be the number of years being a member.

Or it could mean the number of good scenarios.

Neither of us are Veterans. We might become so, though. :) Just don't give up, newbies never do have an easy time on message boards. :P

Edit: By the way, is it possible to enter several scenarios into one category in the design contest?
I'm going to try and make a good scenario on the founding of the Empire. :D

[ Monday, July 21, 2003 11:55: Message edited by: Arancaytar ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #34
I'm not a newbie, I been with the community a while, its just I only decided to join the forum a while ago. Its just I see the term "Veteran", thrown about by nearly everybody, that it has little meaning anymore.

Although there are some people I consider "Veterans"

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
The Establishment
Member # 6
Profile #35
The definition of "veteran" is not an easy one to make. There are two factors that are vital: time of active membership in the community and actual contributions. Usually these two go hand in hand.

Anyone who has been a member of the community consistently since BoE was released (or a year after) is, in my eyes, a veteran. However, this is an unreasonable and unattainable goal. So, the other measure needs to come into play. The most significant contributions to Blades are scenarios. Anyone who makes several high quality scenarios would definitely qualify. For instance, TM is a very boardline case in my eyes. He has made LOTS of scenarios and been with the community for some time, it's just that none of them have really made it into the hall of greats IMHO.

While I have no problems with newer members (or at least newly active members) making contributions, and I definitely encourage it, there are certain areas that I have qualms about such as arbitrarily creating history. I don't know, it's just when we did a lot of the timeline stuff we left a lot open for future scenario designers on purpose. Now it feels as if this void we left for a specific reason is just arbitrarily being filled with little thought. That is why I am a bit uneasy about all of this.

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Your flower power is no match for my glower power!
Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #36
I'll admit that this bit of timeline was made "with little thought". It was just a suggestion though - I didn't say that this should be made the standard. I'm going to see if I can become a 'veteran' (might take years... :P ), and then try again. :D

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #37
Zharrad: Are you doing a map of Vantanas too? Because I just learned a form of map-making with Photoshop 7 from a tutorial, and it is ideal for converting this sketch:

IMAGE(http://staff.desperance.net/alec/ermarian/Vantanas.gif)

into a beautiful-looking map, like, for example, this:
Isle of Denilou

Of course, my skillz with the program aren't as good as that yet, but I could make a similar map as the one linked above, with Vantanas. If that's okay with you, of course. :D I don't want to usurp your job. :P It's just I have nothing better to do with Drakey, *i and TM unanimously asserting that I should keep my fingers of Aizoan history. :P

EDIT: If you want to see what the map would approximately look like, here's a link (hope it works, geocities seems to have a nasty habit of intercepting links to images.) If it doesn't work, type the Url in: "www.geocities.com/arancaytar/gifmaps/Vantanas10-map.gif" .

Continent of Vantanas

Second Edit: What do the purple and the turqouise areas stand for? Heaths and swamp respectively, or something else? I assumed the grey areas stand for mountains and the brown one are forests.

[ Wednesday, July 23, 2003 06:21: Message edited by: Arancaytar ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #38
Feel free Arancaytar to do Vantanas (I was gonna do this one last as I didn't have much Idea), If you think you can then do one, though you would need to send it to me, for inclusion in the World Map, and so I can make them all look similar. But Go ahead. Hmm, Photoshop, I rememeber seeing a disk with the full version lying around. Looks like its a search and rescue mission (I lose CDs on a regular basis only to find them 2 weeks later).

What company makes Photoshop, As this would really help my search.

Also your link dosn't work

And I created a map for use with BOA (I think it was said you could use external Files), But I have no way of sticking it on the web, It looks OK, Bearing in mind it only took me a minute to create.

[ Wednesday, July 23, 2003 08:49: Message edited by: Zharrad ]

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #39
Geocities, Tripod and Yahoo be damned. :mad:

Well, I guess they only disallow image linking, not html pages. Go to thie page: Map.html

I guess your maps are colored though. Not sure what to do then... :( . When you patch them together you should remove the banner and signature though.

[ Wednesday, July 23, 2003 09:06: Message edited by: Arancaytar ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #40
I'm also doing Black and White AND color ones. By the way is your photoshop full version, I'm stuck with the demo for a few days, so you may be ahead of the game.

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #41
You asked earlier by what company it is, it's Adobe. It's $600 usually, and the lowest price I've seen on the web is $350.

But I know there are sites on the web that offer the full version for download. I don't think they're legal though, so I won't give links. Do a google search or something. ;)

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #42
Thanks but I dont need the link, I found the CD.

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #43
Thanks but I dont need the link, I found the CD.

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #44
If you want to see the tutorial btw, click here:
Santharian Map-Making Tutorial

It's pretty easy, but it requires a lot of practice before it'll look nice. This is my fourth attempt with it, and it's still very rough. :)

Btw, Arti doesn't specify on how to draw the trees. It's easy though: Just select a brush color from 70-75%, brush size 1 pixel, zoom in and draw a short vertical line; then make a simple circle at the upper end. When you have the lower edge of the forest (the side with the tree trunks) done, just add fuzy circles at the top of the thing. You'll get the hang of it. :)

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
BANNED
Member # 4
Profile Homepage #45
Zion I was the first "Emperor". Of course, he was also ancient. This is because he was the first person to unite Aizo. Before him, I'd imagine that there were many different factions with many different leaders.

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*
Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Babelicious
Member # 3149
Profile Homepage #46
The explanation for wanting the Empire to have fallen is because without the Empire collapsing, you can't have the Arena timeline.

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I've got a pyg in a poke.
Posts: 999 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 3190
Profile #47
I've looked at the tutorial it seems easy enough just looking at it. There are some areas that look difficult but I don't think they're be a problme, thanks for the link.

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"Omnipresent, but always late"
Posts: 220 | Registered: Tuesday, July 8 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #48
Okay, now that we're back on topic (with emperors), I got one question: If Zion I was the first real Emperor of the Aizonian Empire, and Baltimore I followed after him and was the last, does that mean that there were only TWO emperors in all the history of Aizo? :eek: I didn't imagine it's existence to have been that short, but if you insist...

Whoops, Zharrad posted in between here. :P

If you find the thing being too vague in some point, ask, I've tried it a few times and I may be able to explain. :)

[ Thursday, July 24, 2003 00:23: Message edited by: Arancaytar ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Apprentice
Member # 141
Profile #49
I noticed an Anama War listed during the reign of the Ironclads. If memory serves, Ahonar established and founded the Anama on the continent of Valorim during the reign of Prazac many years later. Out of curiosity, how could a war between the Empire and Anama have occured before the Anama was founded?

[ Thursday, July 24, 2003 03:59: Message edited by: Imperial Dervish ]
Posts: 4 | Registered: Tuesday, October 9 2001 07:00

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