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The building itself is of Upper Continental Architecture, with many of the rooms furnished according to the fashion trends at the time of their most notable resident. Although portions are open to the public, it is still considered to be an official noble residence.
 
The building itself is of Upper Continental Architecture, with many of the rooms furnished according to the fashion trends at the time of their most notable resident. Although portions are open to the public, it is still considered to be an official noble residence.
 
Following the Path isn't really "converting" to a new faith, it's changing the way you live your own faith. Being a Pathist doesn't mean abandoning the gods that your fathers worshiped.
 
 
Being a Pathist simply means understanding that that worship has a deeper reason than appeasing the gods. Worship binds us more deeply not only to our gods but to each other, and to the powers that will help us break free of the shackles of this world and reach our highest potential.
 
 
Is that what you seek? Not a new set of routines and rituals but a truly new way of viewing yourself and the world around you? That is what we offer.
 
   
 
Every country worth its salt finds a way to use superpowers for something, but few took it to the extreme that the Kingdom of Dorland does - the Royal Service has always served alongside the Royal Dorlese Army.
 
Every country worth its salt finds a way to use superpowers for something, but few took it to the extreme that the Kingdom of Dorland does - the Royal Service has always served alongside the Royal Dorlese Army.
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* Teleporters can not only sneak in and attack specific targets, they can move information quickly.
 
* Teleporters can not only sneak in and attack specific targets, they can move information quickly.
 
* Shapeshifters and invisiblers make great spies and scouts.
 
* Shapeshifters and invisiblers make great spies and scouts.
And so on. The real key is getting the disparate groups to work in harmony.
+
And so on. The real key is getting the disparate groups to work in harmony
 
Some of the major ones:
 
* 100M, 200M: These are the sprint events that are run at the World Games and by track stars from high school to the pros.
 
* 5K: This is your typical holiday fun run for charity distance.
 
* 40K: since neither miles nor the wars of the ancient Greeks are things in my world, this is the "equivalent" of a marathon - if you can complete one, you're awesome.
 
 
There aren't any plants or animals in my world that don't exist on earth, and the economy is fairly similar, so nothing stands out as highly unusual.
 
 
That said, in Dorland there are regional variations. Naturally, seafood is more common around the coasts. The farther inland you go, the heavier the spices get. In Sopresan they love their meat - they make it a billion different ways and every major city has the "right" way of cooking steaks or making sausage or whatever.
 
 
Potatoes and wheat are the main staple - corn and rice are easily available but a little more "exotic" for the average Dorlese dinner. A lot of people have a beer with dinner - nothing too strong.
 
   
 
Peter Morris leaves Quanzee, and moves to Hallerton where he helps form the second superhero league. Then he dies of cancer, which is a major health risk for people with his power. Caribeth Winderville changes her name and works for a few years for Baron Caldersfield, then gets married and has kids. Frederick Allen becomes a scholar of some sort.
 
Peter Morris leaves Quanzee, and moves to Hallerton where he helps form the second superhero league. Then he dies of cancer, which is a major health risk for people with his power. Caribeth Winderville changes her name and works for a few years for Baron Caldersfield, then gets married and has kids. Frederick Allen becomes a scholar of some sort.
   
 
Mikela Danvers and Stacey Weber reconcile, get married, and adopt a couple of children (who are the characters of a story of their own.) Craig Singleton is allowed to leave the country (the king basically tells him he'd best move somewhere with no extradition to avoid unpleasant questions) and eventually works for the government to help establish their version of the Royal Service. Cole Riggs keeps fighting as Cloudburst for a few years until he decides it's time to hang up the cape.
 
Mikela Danvers and Stacey Weber reconcile, get married, and adopt a couple of children (who are the characters of a story of their own.) Craig Singleton is allowed to leave the country (the king basically tells him he'd best move somewhere with no extradition to avoid unpleasant questions) and eventually works for the government to help establish their version of the Royal Service. Cole Riggs keeps fighting as Cloudburst for a few years until he decides it's time to hang up the cape.
 
The Government Complex in the capital of the Senarian Empire qualifies.
 
 
In the center was the Plaza of the Nations - a massive courtyard that could be used for assemblies and cultural events. To the north was the Premier's Palace, the residence and offices of the Senarian Premier. To the west was Parliament Hall, the largest legislative building in the world. To the east was the Citadel, the name for the buildings that housed many of the bureaucracies - military headquarters, secret police, economics, etc.
 
 
All of the architecture was in an imposing and monumental style (a little bit of what we'd call Futurism and Art Deco) and was of course calculated to impress upon visitors the power and sheer size of Senaria as well as its cultural and ethnic diversity.
 
 
After the Senarian Devolution, when the regime collapsed, the new president closed the Premier's Palace and moved its offices into Parliament Hall, maintaining residence in another part of the city. The Palace is currently empty but may be turned into a museum if funding and interest ever allow. Some of the buildings in the Citadel were abandoned (particularly that of the secret police) and their functions spread around the capital.
 
 
During the Senarian Devolution, a separatist agent managed to infiltrate a juvenile detention center in the middle of nowhere to break out the son of one of the separatist leaders. He managed to start a riot that got out of hand pretty quickly.
 
 
When the commandant tried to use machine guns against the inmates, the vice-commandant locked him in a cell, took over, herded the inmates into the courtyard, and kept them under control with tear gas and beanbag cannons. The inmates organized themselves, lived in tents made out of blankets, and used a massive trench dug at one end of the courtyard as a latrine.
 
 
When a Yevnian peacekeeping force showed up about a week or so later, there had not been a single fatality or escape. Most of the inmates had their sentences commuted and the vice-commandant was given asylum in Yevnia (so that the authorities wouldn't have to choose between prosecuting a man who had saved countless lives, or letting a mutineer avoid punishment.)
 
 
The whole incident was based on a dream I had.
 
 
One somewhat popular candy is the New Year Coin, which is dark chocolate sandwiched around any of a variety of fillings (including salty caramel and black licorice.)
 
 
I'm pretty sure that at least one of my world's religions would believe in such a being (god of atheism). Not the actual atheists though.
 
 
Pathism spread as rapidly as it did because it doesn't require new adherents to give up their old gods or religious rituals. It only requires them to view these gods and rituals in a new philosophical context. Over time, of course, any given "cult" will see its members turn away from the old ways and become more and more like every other Pathist, but it's a gradual process.
 
 
And Pathism has thousands of variants, split on not one but two spectra - which god one worships, and which school of theology one adopts. Naturally, the greatest conflict is between those who differ slightly in the latter. But its rare for it to reach the point of bloodshed, at least without some other underlying cause.
 
 
Pathists basically view outsiders as misguided and incorrect, but it's not the end of the world since they believe in reincarnation, so nonbelievers will end up as believers in a lifecycle or two.
 
   
 
The Institute of Secular Togetherness was an attempt to make an explicitly atheist alternative that kept what was best about religion (community and charity) while rejecting the bad. In practice they got plenty of the bad anyways - they do have a tendency to be judgmental of outsiders (considering them too superstitious and dogmatic) while being all too willing to argue over whatever minor disagreements they have.
 
The Institute of Secular Togetherness was an attempt to make an explicitly atheist alternative that kept what was best about religion (community and charity) while rejecting the bad. In practice they got plenty of the bad anyways - they do have a tendency to be judgmental of outsiders (considering them too superstitious and dogmatic) while being all too willing to argue over whatever minor disagreements they have.
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The reason that no one knows about it is that there aren't any telescopes powerful enough to see a human body on the surface of the nearest moon. Looks like someone didn't know that space is a vacuum!
 
The reason that no one knows about it is that there aren't any telescopes powerful enough to see a human body on the surface of the nearest moon. Looks like someone didn't know that space is a vacuum!
 
Senaria has for centuries celebrated "Monster Night," in which celebrants disguise themselves as either monsters (and Senarian mythology has a <em>lot</em> of monsters) or the first humans in the world, who fought against them.
 
 
This tradition eventually spread throughout much of the world. Because Monster Night was held about a month after the fall equinox, in many places it got mixed up with harvest festivals.
 
 
In Dorland, typically people of all ages will put on costumes (usually of the scary variety) and march through the streets at night, making noise and generally having fun. The next day they will have an elaborate feast a la Thanksgiving.
 
 
the Chalmer Cup (the DLL championship trophy)
 
   
 
Cremation is by far the most common means of disposing of the deceased. Urns may be put into memorial houses or kept by family, although scattering ashes is (in Dorland at least) quite rare. Some families have large, intergenerational shrines with the remains of their ancestors.
 
Cremation is by far the most common means of disposing of the deceased. Urns may be put into memorial houses or kept by family, although scattering ashes is (in Dorland at least) quite rare. Some families have large, intergenerational shrines with the remains of their ancestors.
 
In my world, the sandwich was invented by a Yevnian.
 
   
 
Chili-pepper worshippers? Count me in!
 
Chili-pepper worshippers? Count me in!
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Hartlin College in Hartlin City (the Gophers) is small and has a very regional student and alum base.
 
Hartlin College in Hartlin City (the Gophers) is small and has a very regional student and alum base.
 
The colors of the Spring City Rovers lacrosse team are white and burnt orange. This is because the man who brought a DLL franchise to Spring City was Bob Goodwin, who had made a fortune shipping refrigerated goods (such as oranges) to the central region of the country.
 
 
Hallerton
 
 
Bridgewater
 
 
Hartlin City
 
 
Polamba
 
 
Grendiskon
 
 
* There is a nation in the north, that once had a queen with ice-based superpowers. She mostly used them to make it impossible to invade. She wasn't much of a singer, though.
 
* There is a nation in the north, that once had a queen with ice-based superpowers. She mostly used them to make it impossible to invade. She wasn't much of a singer, though.
 
* There was a religious ritual among the Enarese. It involved making a pyramid structure with humans stacked on the bottom, goats and other livestock on the next layer, dogs above them, cats above them, and birds and other small animals on the top. People would also donate tools, weapons, jewelry, or other important objects to the pile. The whole thing would be soaked in oil and then lit on fire.
 
* There was a religious ritual among the Enarese. It involved making a pyramid structure with humans stacked on the bottom, goats and other livestock on the next layer, dogs above them, cats above them, and birds and other small animals on the top. People would also donate tools, weapons, jewelry, or other important objects to the pile. The whole thing would be soaked in oil and then lit on fire.
 
* For a brief period, one of the odder fashions in Dorland involved taking old items of clothing and modifying them to wear on a different part of the body, e.g. skirts made out of old t-shirts, or hats with pieces of shoes attached to them.
 
* For a brief period, one of the odder fashions in Dorland involved taking old items of clothing and modifying them to wear on a different part of the body, e.g. skirts made out of old t-shirts, or hats with pieces of shoes attached to them.
 
Darknet Cafes.
 
 
It's just a standard internet cafe that has private rooms you can rent for a few hours, if you know what to say. They'll reformat them completely after you're done without asking what you're doing, they don't want to know, bad for business.
 
 
Also it establishes that computers are stuck around the 90's, but that's just a bonus. - wererat2000
 
   
 
Using mind control powers to blow up ironclads
 
Using mind control powers to blow up ironclads
 
One of the survivors of the Senarian Devolution did a series of paintings on the event, known as <em>The Broken Lands.</em>They are primarily on the effects that violence had on the civilian population. Due to the war, she was unable to get a lot of formal art training, but it is generally agreed that what they lack in technique they more than make up for in raw emotion.
 
 
The current headmistress is Lady Catherine Loveacle, who has held the post for 10 years. Like all previous headmistresses, she is a female-line relative (in this case, a second cousin) of the Grand Duchess of Hallerton. Unlike some previous headmistresses, she has an extensive background in education, and had served as the principal of a public school before taking her current position.
 
 
Lady Loveacle began her career as a teacher of mathematics, and taught full-time even as she pursued an advanced degree in school administration. Her family name opened a lot of doors, but also put a few obligations on her. Still, she enjoys her profession.
 
 
Originally, the Royal Preparatory Academy (the aforementioned most prestigious school) only educated males, and only members of the aristocracy. The Hallerton Girls' Academy, as it was first known, was created to be the female counterpart. When Royal Prep started admitting girls (and non-nobles,) the HGA rebranded itself as the HGDS, but is still all-girls.
 
 
Now, all operating costs are paid by the Grand Duchy of Hallereton, so tuition is free, but it is very selective. Its students are mostly girls of particular academic or athletic talent who can't afford other top private schools or have other issues. There are, for example, quite a few student-athletes who were expelled from public school for behavioral issues but who thrive under the strict discipline of HGDS. There are also budding geniuses who have access to technology their public school couldn't afford.
 
   
 
The superhero Clockmaster used super speed, trickery, and a lot of luck to convince people he could manipulate time. (No one actually can in my setting, although they don't actually know that for sure.) Of course, it all eventually backfired somehow, and he died embarrassingly. 
 
The superhero Clockmaster used super speed, trickery, and a lot of luck to convince people he could manipulate time. (No one actually can in my setting, although they don't actually know that for sure.) Of course, it all eventually backfired somehow, and he died embarrassingly. 
 
A more relevant example would be Omar Jendin, the second First Consul of the Dominionist Republic of Senaria. He was the officially designated successor to Consul Javik, but too many in Javik's inner circle didn't think highly of him. He had control of the capital building when Javik officially breathed his last, but within 3 hours the forces of his political opponents had him surrounded. He decided that fighting them would go against the principles of Dominionism, but resigning would be disgraceful, so he poisoned himself and let the news call it a stroke.
 
 
Dorland is a nation of 100 million, located on the Swaspita Peninsula at the southern end of the continent of East Alabar. It is bordered by Enaroland and Palissan on the north, and Fiselma and Tenriko on the south. Its east coast lies on the Outer Ocean and its west coast on the Inner Ocean.
 
 
Dorland is governed by a constitutional monarchy, with the King of Dorland acting as head of state and the Prime Minister as head of government. It was established by King Jeremy the Great 8 centuries before Common Reckoning, and all subsequent kings have been members of the Halari Dynasty. The capital is Hallerton. It is divided into 26 provinces.
 
 
Dorland has expanded, primarily to the west, since its founding. It is broadly divided into 3 regions:
 
* The East. This is territory that was united under Jeremy or his successors in the first few centuries of its existence. Previously, it had been a region of semi-independent Dorric nobles. They were absorbed into Dorland by conquest, annexation, or intermarriage.
 
* The Center. This was conquered around the beginning of Common Reckoning. It had previously been a region of small, unorganized tribes, primarily belonging to Dorric or pseudo-Dorric groups. Most of them were simply overwhelmed by Dorlese military might, through a series of relatively small-scale wars.
 
* The West. This had been settled previously by Enarese and Devlian groups from West Alabar before being conquered.
 
Due to Dorland's long policy of courting metapowered immigrants, it is particularly ethnically diverse. This diversity is primarily in the east, near Hallerton, and the west, around Port Eve. The central regions of the nation are where Dorric culture is most concentrated.
 
 
I made up 3 new words in the course of writing this post.
 
 
* Something that makes the user imposing, but not actually powerful, such as a fear aura or illusions
 
* Something that makes the user imposing, but not actually powerful, such as a fear aura or illusions
 
* "Mob-affecting powers", like the ability to incite witch hunts directed at others or a "popularity aura"
 
* "Mob-affecting powers", like the ability to incite witch hunts directed at others or a "popularity aura"

Latest revision as of 20:03, 7 July 2018

The Blue Palace is a mansion located at Summerwall, the estate of the Grand Duchess of Hallerton. It was built in the second century BCR, and is modeled after the "women's houses" common to palaces and monarchical residences in Ayuma.

The Blue Palace is the official residence of the Duke Consort of the Grand Duchess; although usually the Duke Consort lived with the Grand Duchess in the main estate building, it was seen as a refuge for any male relatives of the family line. For instance, King Naloma II of the Kingdom of Garmoaa, whose mother had been a niece of a previous Grand Duchess, lived in the Palace after being deposed.

The building itself is of Upper Continental Architecture, with many of the rooms furnished according to the fashion trends at the time of their most notable resident. Although portions are open to the public, it is still considered to be an official noble residence.

Every country worth its salt finds a way to use superpowers for something, but few took it to the extreme that the Kingdom of Dorland does - the Royal Service has always served alongside the Royal Dorlese Army.

  • Amplifiers have the ability to increase the power of other people's powers, which allows for all sorts of things.
  • Conversely, nullifiers can remove the threat of the other side's powers.
  • Healers are fairly obvious - although the process is complicated and lengthy enough that you can't have a whole army shrug off its injuries, you can make sure that officers or elite troops don't die of their wounds.
  • Shielders - although they can normally only produce forcefields large enough to cover themselves, with the abovementioned amplifiers they can shield whole troop formations.
  • Teleporters can not only sneak in and attack specific targets, they can move information quickly.
  • Shapeshifters and invisiblers make great spies and scouts.

And so on. The real key is getting the disparate groups to work in harmony

Peter Morris leaves Quanzee, and moves to Hallerton where he helps form the second superhero league. Then he dies of cancer, which is a major health risk for people with his power. Caribeth Winderville changes her name and works for a few years for Baron Caldersfield, then gets married and has kids. Frederick Allen becomes a scholar of some sort.

Mikela Danvers and Stacey Weber reconcile, get married, and adopt a couple of children (who are the characters of a story of their own.) Craig Singleton is allowed to leave the country (the king basically tells him he'd best move somewhere with no extradition to avoid unpleasant questions) and eventually works for the government to help establish their version of the Royal Service. Cole Riggs keeps fighting as Cloudburst for a few years until he decides it's time to hang up the cape.

The Institute of Secular Togetherness was an attempt to make an explicitly atheist alternative that kept what was best about religion (community and charity) while rejecting the bad. In practice they got plenty of the bad anyways - they do have a tendency to be judgmental of outsiders (considering them too superstitious and dogmatic) while being all too willing to argue over whatever minor disagreements they have.

It is generally believed that no one with the power of teleportation has ever teleported out of the planet's gravity well. In fact, it did happen once, thousands of years ago, when a teleporter got help from a power magnifier. It was still a lucky shot and it's unlikely that anyone could do it again.

The reason that no one knows about it is that there aren't any telescopes powerful enough to see a human body on the surface of the nearest moon. Looks like someone didn't know that space is a vacuum!

Cremation is by far the most common means of disposing of the deceased. Urns may be put into memorial houses or kept by family, although scattering ashes is (in Dorland at least) quite rare. Some families have large, intergenerational shrines with the remains of their ancestors.

Chili-pepper worshippers? Count me in!

Sure, me too. At least, a sect centered around extremes in food in general.

Spiciest, most bitter, fermented horse milk, things that would kill you if prepared incorrectly sort of extremes?

Yup. Eating something like fugu would be the ultimate act of devotion.

Haven't done that yet. In the mean time, what about something like kumis?

Southern Coast University in Gilbatisk (the Blue Raiders) is one of the largest public universities in southern Dorland. They have one of the best criminal justice programs in the country, and the NIA and other major law enforcement agencies recruit heavily there.

Sopresan Provincial University in Spring City (the Ranchers) started out with a focus on agricultural science, but has branched out greatly. They have the best computer science and engineering department in the region.

Hartlin College in Hartlin City (the Gophers) is small and has a very regional student and alum base.

  • There is a nation in the north, that once had a queen with ice-based superpowers. She mostly used them to make it impossible to invade. She wasn't much of a singer, though.
  • There was a religious ritual among the Enarese. It involved making a pyramid structure with humans stacked on the bottom, goats and other livestock on the next layer, dogs above them, cats above them, and birds and other small animals on the top. People would also donate tools, weapons, jewelry, or other important objects to the pile. The whole thing would be soaked in oil and then lit on fire.
  • For a brief period, one of the odder fashions in Dorland involved taking old items of clothing and modifying them to wear on a different part of the body, e.g. skirts made out of old t-shirts, or hats with pieces of shoes attached to them.

Using mind control powers to blow up ironclads

The superhero Clockmaster used super speed, trickery, and a lot of luck to convince people he could manipulate time. (No one actually can in my setting, although they don't actually know that for sure.) Of course, it all eventually backfired somehow, and he died embarrassingly. 

  • Something that makes the user imposing, but not actually powerful, such as a fear aura or illusions
  • "Mob-affecting powers", like the ability to incite witch hunts directed at others or a "popularity aura"
  • Powers that make the user legitimately impressive, but only in situational circumstances; the classic "I get stronger, the less people are watching" would be a good fit, or something like "I'm good at fighting an opponent for the first time, but successive fights against the same person get worse and worse"