Suggestion Box

[Ronan Dugal]

Name: The Snowflake (constellation)
Region: Taldera
Uses: Morwen's Gnosis, orientation
How well known: medium
How easy to recognize: easy
Most easily recognized from: Taldera/Avanthal
Visible During: Spring, Summer, Fall

Description: The snowflake looks exactly like the name. It's a set of bright stars that form a simple layout of a snowflake when connected. It has a hexagon in the center that connects to the five extremities of the snowflake. Each end of the snowflake has three points. This resembles closely to a snowflake falling from the sky.

Creation Story: The snowflake has been around for as long as people can remember. In the beginning nobody noticed anything special about it but over the years people started to note the absence of the constellation during the winter period. It was like the constellation was connected to Morwen's presence in Avanthal.

The constellation is used to know when winter time is coming should there ever be something wrong with the watchtowers. It is also used by parents to tell stories of the snow and the cold and how it is the blessing of Morwen that keeps the Vantha warm and protects them. Like so many things, it is a sign to the Vantha and their children that Morwen is home and it helps them remember how much their goddess and queen has done for them.

Due to its placement in the sky, exactly north of Avanthal, it is possible to use the constellation to find your way back to Avanthal in case you should get lost or if you don't know which way north is.

Any other important information: The snowflake is not visible during the winter and resides above the horizon, to the north of Avanthal, lower than most other constellations. It is located directly north from Avanthal. On nights when the aurora is less bright, it is possible to see the stars that form this constellation more clearly. They shine with a bright white purple light.

[Valkyrie]

Miria - I didn't even notice your updates, apologies! Honestly, I think we should just cut the map out. It isn't highly detailed and there needs to be more development with locations in the Tundra before a map is necessary. If you give permission to cut out the map I will post the location, honestly I think its a great location that is just fine without the map.

Ronan - This looks nice! My only critique is that having the constellation be used for timekeeping, orientation, and stories of the snow is a lot. Maybe focus on just orientation and the storytelling aspect? That would be my suggestion but since it is your creation it is ultimately up to you what you focus it on.

[Miria]

Yea even when I took sometime to learn stuff from open office nothing good came out. Go ahead without the map I say.

Leave someone with Photoshop to do the map :|

[Ronan Dugal]

So, when I go to places that I don't know much about, I like to have some sort of a plan or map that shows me where things are. A description alone is usually not enough for me. So, with that in mind, I started mapping some of the places in Avanthal, since I have too much time on my hands lately.

Morwen's Everwinter temple

It has some rugs/pillows/furs to sit on, a little spread out. There's not much in the temple as Morwen doesn't want statues of her in it.

Morwen's meeting hall in her palace


Red Diamond Tavern

Small and cosy, but then again, taverns usually are small.

Luminary commons


Let me know if you want/need anything mapped out for you and I'll put it on the top of my list.

[Silarial]

Hey Ronan!

These are all lovely interpretations of the respective locations in Avanthal! A bit misinterpreted, though, but still pretty. Honestly, I'm a bit envious of these.

But yeah, going back to my point, the Red Diamond tavern and the Luminary Commons are both large buildings, most especially the latter. These locations are both social hubs, so many Vanthas flock to them for food, drink, and merriment.

The Red Diamond even has a second floor to it. And a lot of tables, and chairs around the fireplace and stuff! Anyway, I just made a sketch of the place. Since it's where my character works, I am familiar with its layout. It pales horribly in comparison to yours, but it will do. Valkyrie, feel free to correct me if there is something wrong with my interpretation!

Red Diamond :

As I have said, this is just a rough representation, and proportions may be slightly off than what I intended. Moving on, the gray lines is the floor area for the second floor.

And yes, the Luminary Commons is far bigger than the Red Diamond. Imagine all the mess halls that were supposed to be in each and every Holds are instead found here. So everyday, the Winterflame cooks have to cook so much for so many people, that's why their kitchen are really big and have all these cooking stuff for every cooking needs.

[Ronan Dugal]

Well, the Red Diamond and the Commons maps are both based on the image on their information thread. But I'll redo them up to scale after I finish my episode.

Also, while I'm at it.

What kind of a floor does it have? How many people can sit at one table? Are there any windows? Is the performing area elevated? Is the kitchen a separate place or can you watch the cook prepare the food from your seat? How many tables would there be in total on the ground floor? Any other details you can think of?

[Silarial]

Well, many developers here in Mizahar mostly use these images for the locations as a representation of a place's general appearance, or in a way as inspirations for the appearance of that particular setting. So I think it's best to read the physical description first, then look at the picture to get an idea of how that person imagined the place to be.

Then, on to your barrage of questions! I believe many of these questions are quite obvious, but I'll still answer them to the best of my knowledge.

As far as I know, most buildings in Avanthal are made of wood, and stone will often be used as base for different structures. I'm not sure about the floor, but I believe it was made with polished stone, and the rest having this wooden framework. There are windows, yes, and the performing area is not elevated. It's kind of just a small area cleared of tables and chairs. The kitchen is a separate place, hence the door, and is situated behind the bar. Tables are dependent on the current layout decided by the manager (since they move the tables around every once in a while, to keep things different), but at most there are 15 to 20 tables at the main area, and half of that number on the second floor.

Just think of a traditional medieval pub setting, but a little bit larger and with a homier feel.

[Nikomas]

I. Love. Maps. I do. I also love the fact that you are doing them for two locations I'm currently threading in!

To be honest, I have my own vision of what both places look like, but I think that's the case for most players. In my mind, the Red Diamond looks like something you would see in Rohan from Lord of the Rings. As for the Commons, for some reason I see it looking a little like a rustic version of the kitchen/dining hall from Gordan Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen. So, I say, do the best you can with what you have. If it captures the overall mood of the place, that is good enough for me.

Cheers,
Niko

[Ronan Dugal]

Le voila.

Based on Silarial's sketch, the new and improved Red diamond tavern (ground floor only). You can't have performers without a stage so I kept that bit. The rest should be according to the description and explanations given (taken with a little grain... maybe a few kilos, of salt). And I kept the party table in the middle of the room, right in front of the stage. That's where all the cool people are at.

[Miria]

Since I saw there weren't many instructors/ways to learn magic outside of visiting the library and checking out the book I have come up with this place.

The Deveraux Personal Magic School Before the Valterrian the Suvan empire concerned itself with keeping dominance over the Alahea empire. It was not a surprise when they started practicing magic themselves as a countermeasure against the Alahea empire's greatest assets. After the Valterrain however descendents from those of the Suvan empire made their way into Avanthl. Finding a common interest and wanting to share their knowledge from those before him the Deveraux magic school was formed when Deveraux Whitevine rallied the majority of magic users in Avanthal. Also occasionally called 'the magic studio' the Deveraux magic school nowadays still teaches the basics of magic theory and even giving lessons on how to initiate one's self into some of the magics the Suvans practice. Regularly taught magics are shielding, flux, morphing, auristics and reimancy. Leeching, familiarity and hypnotism was not highly popular with the citizens of Avanthal so they do not reagularly teach it at the school. Projection was considered too extensive of a magic to regularly practice for the Vantha. Voiding in Avanthal is prohibited for the most part. (NPC) Fiora Winterflame : Name: Fiora Winterflame Race: Vantha DoB: Summer 34, 472 AV PoB: Avanthal Title: Owner of the Deveraux Skills: Shielding 42, Auristics 23, Organization 36, Cooking 30 Gnosis: 1 Mark of Morwen Once an aspiring hopeful as one of the great Winterflame's chefs Fiora Winterflame choice in tastes did not help the young Winterflame achieve her goal. Her odd tastes in bitter and outright sour cooking materials eventually led to her taken away from the actual cooking and instead was forced to do cleaning and preparation for the Luminary Commons. Looking for a way to make a bigger contribution to the Winterflame name Fiora inadvertly found her true calling when first visiting the magic studio. Her calmed and measured demeanor complimenting the patience needed for shielding as she went forth to achieve greatness with this new knowledge on hand. Eventually earning acclaim when Fiora prevented a fire from damaging the Common's cooking equipment. Being proactive Fiora went ahead fireproofed the area just incase something like that would happen. This outstanding achievement alongside her demeanor positioned her as the next in line for watching over the Deveraux personal magic school. Nowadays Fiora is usually seen keeping tabs on the instructors and students that visit the area while teaching shielding to those that are interested. When she is not on duty she is known for visiting various points throughout Avanthal checking up on various shields she has set up or enjoying a specialty snack of her design in the Luminary Commons. (NPC) Suirad Iceglaze : Name: Siurad Iceglaze Race: Vantha DoB: Fall 44, 478 AV PoB: Avanthal Title: 'Gym Teacher' Skills: Flux 38 Morphing 29 Hunting 32 Teaching 43 Gnosis: 1 Mark of Morwen The school's self proclaimed 'gym teacher' Suirad is well known for his high pressure teaching methods. Simply putting students on the spot Suirad sometimes places students in precarious positions just for the sake of improving. Often getting into arguements with Fiora the two share a love/hate relationship which both side fervantly deny. Often tasked with the pahysical maintence duties Suirad is not as readily available as Fiora is. His skills with both flux and morphing is quite inspiring for his students. Even more so when he tries to combine both magics despite frenzied warnings from Fiora. He is well known for preaching the dangers of his arts thankfully and often shows just how wrong things can turn when unprepared. When he is not at the School he can be found in the Hunter Savant Lodge ir talking with Icewatch patrols. A true patriot of Avanthal Suirad is usually one of the first to volunteer when problems arise in the city and hands are needed.

I'll look it over again for syntax, some extra info and grammar later. But first I want to see what you have to say about this. If anything in the lore/whatever else is bothering you I can change it around.