So, besides the languages...

[Iscun]

What aspect of Almea interests you the most?

For me, it's always been the other continents. When looking at maps, I always want to know what's beyong the terra incognita. I'm dying to know what Arc?l will be like. We only know precious little of it. From what I can recall right now, Verduria and Kebri trade with the peoples there, they have an unearthly olive skin color, the Uytain word for tea is chai, and (the most interesting thing to me) there has been a Tzhuro colony there for almost 500 years, which has a 'colorful history'.

I'm glad Z actually drew a map of the entire planet rather than leaving everywhere outside Erel?e a mystery.

(Sorry if this seems out of nowhere, it's just that the Count of Years thread has been dominating this forum for over a month now!)

[Ran]

Everything!

My interest is not in languages alone; I'm pretty much interested in everything that makes a world work. The historical atlas impressed me the most - and one day I'll get around to reading the entire page on belief systems in detail.

As for other places, I continue to await more detailed descriptions of Xurno, Dhekhnam, Tzhuro and Arcel. I sense an acute case of Verduriocentrism on the entire VV page! (Well, after all it's called VV but still.. )

[Glenn]

I'm glad Z actually drew a map of the entire planet rather than leaving everywhere outside Erel?e a mystery.

I agree; sometimes it's too easy simply to shove "the rest of the world" offstage, when in fact, all parts of any world are connected on some level. (Even those rampaging hordes have to come from somewhere. )

One of my favorite parts of Almea, as I think I've made repeatedly clear on this board, is the non-human races; I don't think that they're a requirement for a fantasy world, but since Almea has them, I want to know more about them.

I'm also interested in the "foreign" peoples and cultures: not just the other continents, but Xurno, Skouras, Ismai, Kebri, and the like--their politics, culture, way of life, and religion, particularly the more unexpected and exotic aspects. (One minor point is that I occasionally have to remind myself that Erelae is in the southern hemisphere--south means cold!)

Not that I'm sick of Verduria necessarily; in fact, I'm glad Mark included such things as the maps of Verduria province and the Istaria district, to show the depth of detail at "home."

Basically, I'm interested in all aspects of Almea, from the biology and geology to the religion and literature; the above are just some points that have aroused my curiousity. I was drawn to the orginal VV Board for the "Almeaology", and while much of the current board now deals with other and wider issues (some quite fascinating--I'm amazed at some of the other projects people have created), Almea and Verduria are still a key part for me.

p@,
Glenn

[Raphael]

I'm also interested in the "foreign" peoples and cultures: not just the other continents, but Xurno, Skouras, Ismai, Kebri, and the like--their politics, culture, way of life, and religion, particularly the more unexpected and exotic aspects.

I don't want to sound dumb, but except for the last point, much of this is to some extent covered in the Historical Atlas.

[So Haleza Grise]

Xurno!

I'd really like to live in a land where you have to be wary whenever you pass a street busker . . . they might be your provincial governor . . .

And obviously, soi halezai . . . though i'm not sure what the plural of Xaleza is in Xurnese.

And yes, other cultures are covered *diachronically* in the historical atlas, but we have yet to study their languages, social organisation, and religion in the kind of depth we have for the Plain.

I'd encourage ran to read the belief systems pages in detail - they're not that heavy going, and one can pick up a little of Z's philosophical outlook . . .

[Glenn]

And yes, other cultures are covered *diachronically* in the historical atlas, but we have yet to study their languages, social organisation, and religion in the kind of depth we have for the Plain.

This is what I mean above: we know the basic outline of Xurnese history, say--how the nation was founded, came together, and fell apart (several times!), what the different faiths and factions were, and what the basic setup is today--but how does the Xurnese "rule by artists" work in practice? What tales about the xalezas (?) do they tell? What are Endajue ceremonies like (apart from a lot of ritual dancing?) How do the Xurnese make a living, get married, raise children, celebrate the holidays; what are their beliefs on life, death, life after death, the universe, magic, the neighboring lands? What does Xurno look like (the people, the countryside, those artist-run cities?) Some of these answers are implied in the material that's given, some are less obvious--there's a whole rich world of details out there waiting. And the same for the other lands as well.

In the meantime, I'm just waiting for the more feasible additions--the rest of the Count of Years, the Cuezian grammar (and maybe a Xurnese one someday?), perhaps some additions to Almean Belief Systems...

(And maybe, just maybe, the Historical Atlas of Arcel. I shouldn't raise a ruckus, though, unless I'm willing to put my own money (pen, keyboard?) where my mouth is.)

Thanks for listening!

p@,
Glenn

[zompist]

I'm very thankful that people are interested in all of this... I've always been happy to work on it for my own amusement, but it's very nice to get feedback and demands for more.

The plural of xaleza in Xurnese is xalezi... no, I don't have -i plurals for everything! Xurnese plurals are all over the place, in fact.

Xurno has the most material that's almost ready, which does make it the most tempting to work on once the Count of Years is done. I'd really like to finish the religion sections before the language sections. The language doesn't feel done until I've done something non-linguistic with it.

[Iscun]

Say, I just remembered something. A while ago you assigned some people (including me) to go through the old message board and copy down all the info that you wrote about Almea. Just curious, what did you use all that info for, Z?

[Raphael]

And yes, other cultures are covered *diachronically* in the historical atlas, but we have yet to study their languages, social organisation, and religion in the kind of depth we have for the Plain.

This is what I mean above: we know the basic outline of Xurnese history, say--how the nation was founded, came together, and fell apart (several times!), what the different faiths and factions were, and what the basic setup is today--but how does the Xurnese "rule by artists" work in practice? What tales about the xalezas (?) do they tell? What are Endajue ceremonies like (apart from a lot of ritual dancing?) How do the Xurnese make a living, get married, raise children, celebrate the holidays; what are their beliefs on life, death, life after death, the universe, magic, the neighboring lands? What does Xurno look like (the people, the countryside, those artist-run cities?) Some of these answers are implied in the material that's given, some are less obvious--there's a whole rich world of details out there waiting.
[...]
I shouldn't raise a ruckus, though, unless I'm willing to put my own money (pen, keyboard?) where my mouth is.)

Thanks for listening!

p@,
Glenn

As far as the countryside is concerned, since Xurno lies in the cool/temperate climate zone, has a long coastline, and at least the heartland doesn't include mountain ranges, I have always imagined it to look more or less like my own region (northern Germany). On a pre-indusrtial level, of course.

I do have some ideas on rituals and details of the Revaudo Wars, but I haven't written them down yet, I haven't found any cheap bandwith, and I don't know to wich extent Mark has worked on this kind of details.

[zompist]

Say, I just remembered something. A while ago you assigned some people (including me) to go through the old message board and copy down all the info that you wrote about Almea. Just curious, what did you use all that info for, Z?

I posted about my progress on the "Unpaid toil" thread... it's going into an Almeopedia, which will have articles on just about anything that isn't covered in more detail elsewhere.

[Penelope]

Actually, even before I started to get interested in the conlangery I loved the Almean religion pages. Especially the Cuzeian one - fantasy pagan religions are pretty common, but well-thought out fantasy versions of monotheism are more rare. (Which, of course, is one reason I'm glad Mark's doing the Count of Years now.) I'd really like to get more on that sometime soon, especially something on Xurnese religion...

[pne]

it's going into an Almeopedia, which will have articles on just about anything that isn't covered in more detail elsewhere.

But those things which are "covered in more detail elsewhere" will have entries in the Almeopedia with pointers to the other section, won't they?

So that it can be a kind of one-stop shop and you don't have to know where other things are amplified since it'll point you to them if it doesn't discuss the subject itself.

[zompist]

I hadn't made it a policy, but I will. Links are good.