02-15-2017, 10:39 AM
Camelot FAQs(Updated: 2-15-2017)
Q: "Gates? What do they look like?"
A: Camelot connects to the Nexus, the Tangled Green, and the Pale Moors. Until I know otherwise, all gates follow the same ‘templates’ described in the Nexus’ Info Thread. That is, the gate connecting to the Tangled Green looks like its frame was made from bark and there are vines woven around it. The gate that leads back into the Nexus is plain gray stone.
Q: "How about the area around them?"
A: The gate from the Nexus opens up into a little field that provides a nice panoramic view of interior Camelot. You have to travel a few hours to reach forest or mountains. The gate that leads into the Tangled Green is surrounded by a nearly tropical forest (maybe think Florida or Georgia). There’s a path through said forest, due to the trade that used to come through the area. Far on the other side of Camelot is the gate that leads into the Pale Moors. The area is similar in the sense that there’s a forested area with a path that will take you to the gate. This forest is a boreal forest prone to fog, providing some visual similarity with the forests of the Pale Moors, albeit with 50% less horrifying monsters lurking in the darkness.
Q: "So what’s the climate like in Camelot?"
A: Temperate. Camelot probably has the most ‘boring’ climate of any verse (save Coruscant and its utter lack of a natural climate). Rains are periodic and temperatures fluctuate just a little bit. The northern region of Camelot has a slightly warmer climate than southern Camelot. Natural tornados and earthquakes are a rarity but do happen every now and again, often in remote areas. A real-world comparison would be the Mediterranean climate.
Q: "Native wildlife?"
A: Lots. Because of its variety of biomes and its general mild climate, Camelot has vast diversity of flora and fauna. There are various forest ecosystems, with boreal and temperate forests that host their own wildlife. The mountains serve as home to dragons, and the various lakes and rivers house aquatic and semi-aquatic critters of various shapes and sizes. The only verse with more variety of natural wildlife would be the Vasty Deep. Camelot has everything from dire wolves to dragons to flans. If its ‘fantasy-ish,’ you’ll probably find it somewhere.
Q: "Competitive sports?"
A: You should know the Colosseum by now, but there are several smaller competitive venues around Camelot, much like any major-league sport has minor leagues. That rich native wildlife I mentioned? The minor coliseums house all sorts of captured or domesticated beasties to throw at would-be gladiators. Most fights are not to the death, although fatalities happen. A popular past time in the underground of Minas Tirith is bare-knuckle boxing, usually held in small fight clubs. If you’re not into violence, Dalaran also has quidditch.
Q: "How is magic treated by non-magic people?"
A: Great question given the ‘species’ issue. Outside of the Dalaran-Minas Tirith ‘metro area,’ magic is often treated with suspicion the further you go into ‘the hinterland.’ Some duchies have different attitudes than others, depending on their culture. Oftentimes disgraced or ostracized citizens of Dalaran take to roaming the countryside, where they may wind up becoming traveling healers or mystics (‘hedgewizards’ is a common term).
Q: "The race issue…"
A: You can find more of the background on it if you read Aragorn’s backstory. Essentially, Camelot’s original inhabitants were a ‘rough, hardy, and grizzled bunch’, much like the citizens of Darkshire. Early Camelot was a rough place even before Diablo arrived. When the ‘non-humans’ came, there was some distrust simply because of how Aragorn had already been betrayed (his words) by Palpatine. When the ‘non-humans’ started to leave the Kingdom, the ‘native’ citizens of Camelot took this as a betrayal and a stab-in-the-back. Why did they leave? Please be aware that the reality is muddled—its who you ask. Lots of politics. Either way, this perceived ‘betrayal’ left a deep rift between the human citizens of Camelot and the non-humans who remained.
Q: "So everywhere is ‘racist?’"
A: Minas Tirith and Dalaran are cosmopolitan cities where populations of humans and nonhumans live in the same neighborhoods. Outside of their sphere, you have virtually no heterogenous populations.
Q: "How many ‘non-humans’ are there?"
A: There’s probably about 1 ‘non-human’ for every 4 or 5 ‘humans.’ Although two-thirds of them live in Minas Tirith. Before the war with Diablo, I imagine the ratio was closer to 1:3.
Q: "Do people travel a lot?"
A: Outside of merchants and bureaucrats/land owners, there’s little mobility. Most middle- and lower-class citizens of Minas Tirith and the Outerlying Duchies don’t travel much, especially to other duchies.
Q: "So Aragorn’s the king of the whole verse?"
A: He’s the de jure ruler of the verse. Since the war, the Kingdom has become a decentralized monarchy, just like what you would have found in Europe during the Middle Ages. Aragorn rules over Minas Tirth and Dalaran (with Dumbledore as his proxy), but beyond these two cities, his authority is absolute in name only. The dukes and barons and counts (and their female counterparts) rule absolutely over their fiefdoms. These vassals send representatives to Minas Tirith, pay taxes to Minas Tirith, and are obliged to send soldiers in a time of crisis. In return, they are given the freedom to rule as they see fit.
Q: "So this is why you have all the racial hatred, rivalries, and intrigue between ‘outerlying duchies’?"
A: Yes.
Q: "So why not take control directly?"
A: Aragorn is not Palpatine. He is an honorable man who knows his limitations. Aragorn is an immensely popular figure in all of Camelot, and because of that, the duchies do ultimately respect his requests. The alternative would be something like the Empire.
Q: "So there’s no resistance to Aragorn?"
A: Untrue. People in Minas Tirith wish he’d take a bit of a harder line against the ‘injustice’ in society. Other factors want him to lead the Kingdom into war to reclaim its ‘lost prestige’. Still others want more formal alliances with other verses. To Aragorn’s credit, a lesser man would be unable to deal with such a convoluted situation.
Q: "So how many 'Outerlying Duchies' are there? Is there a list?"
A: There are a lot. Some function like tiny countries, while others might only be a village and some farms. Sendai is one of the larger duchies. Berry Blitzkrieg falls into the middle of the spectrum and is our case study for ‘duchy gone wrong,’ unless you enjoy xenophobic, desert-themed sociopaths. There’s no master list of duchies, since we do like to keep things vague/open to expansion. A few more might be on the horizon, if only to draw some more interest to an underdeveloped region of the verse.
Q: "This is the Omniverse, so I need to know ‘where the dakka at'."
A: …that’s a declarative statement. Anyway, the military of the Kingdom is quite different from the Empire’s army. In Coruscant, you have a permanent standing army of all sorts of folks, and the entire bureaucracy of Coruscant is militarized. In Camelot, your standing army is probably just north of a thousand souls, and those are all stationed in Minas Tirith. Like your token medieval power, the army of Camelot wield melee weapons and crossbows. They also have a dedicated cavalry corps. The army also includes wizards, who serve a variety of purposes (defense, offense, support, shock troopers, siege).
Q: "Why’s the army small? Why not have chainmail troopers on every street corner?"
A: The actual army for the Kingdom is very large (in terms of manpower), but its soldiers are what we call ‘levies.’ They’re called up, like a militia, to serve for a period of time. If ever Camelot were invaded, King Aragorn would send out a ‘call to arms’ to the duchies, who would send him the required soldiers.
Q: "Gates? What do they look like?"
A: Camelot connects to the Nexus, the Tangled Green, and the Pale Moors. Until I know otherwise, all gates follow the same ‘templates’ described in the Nexus’ Info Thread. That is, the gate connecting to the Tangled Green looks like its frame was made from bark and there are vines woven around it. The gate that leads back into the Nexus is plain gray stone.
Q: "How about the area around them?"
A: The gate from the Nexus opens up into a little field that provides a nice panoramic view of interior Camelot. You have to travel a few hours to reach forest or mountains. The gate that leads into the Tangled Green is surrounded by a nearly tropical forest (maybe think Florida or Georgia). There’s a path through said forest, due to the trade that used to come through the area. Far on the other side of Camelot is the gate that leads into the Pale Moors. The area is similar in the sense that there’s a forested area with a path that will take you to the gate. This forest is a boreal forest prone to fog, providing some visual similarity with the forests of the Pale Moors, albeit with 50% less horrifying monsters lurking in the darkness.
Q: "So what’s the climate like in Camelot?"
A: Temperate. Camelot probably has the most ‘boring’ climate of any verse (save Coruscant and its utter lack of a natural climate). Rains are periodic and temperatures fluctuate just a little bit. The northern region of Camelot has a slightly warmer climate than southern Camelot. Natural tornados and earthquakes are a rarity but do happen every now and again, often in remote areas. A real-world comparison would be the Mediterranean climate.
Q: "Native wildlife?"
A: Lots. Because of its variety of biomes and its general mild climate, Camelot has vast diversity of flora and fauna. There are various forest ecosystems, with boreal and temperate forests that host their own wildlife. The mountains serve as home to dragons, and the various lakes and rivers house aquatic and semi-aquatic critters of various shapes and sizes. The only verse with more variety of natural wildlife would be the Vasty Deep. Camelot has everything from dire wolves to dragons to flans. If its ‘fantasy-ish,’ you’ll probably find it somewhere.
Q: "Competitive sports?"
A: You should know the Colosseum by now, but there are several smaller competitive venues around Camelot, much like any major-league sport has minor leagues. That rich native wildlife I mentioned? The minor coliseums house all sorts of captured or domesticated beasties to throw at would-be gladiators. Most fights are not to the death, although fatalities happen. A popular past time in the underground of Minas Tirith is bare-knuckle boxing, usually held in small fight clubs. If you’re not into violence, Dalaran also has quidditch.
Q: "How is magic treated by non-magic people?"
A: Great question given the ‘species’ issue. Outside of the Dalaran-Minas Tirith ‘metro area,’ magic is often treated with suspicion the further you go into ‘the hinterland.’ Some duchies have different attitudes than others, depending on their culture. Oftentimes disgraced or ostracized citizens of Dalaran take to roaming the countryside, where they may wind up becoming traveling healers or mystics (‘hedgewizards’ is a common term).
Q: "The race issue…"
A: You can find more of the background on it if you read Aragorn’s backstory. Essentially, Camelot’s original inhabitants were a ‘rough, hardy, and grizzled bunch’, much like the citizens of Darkshire. Early Camelot was a rough place even before Diablo arrived. When the ‘non-humans’ came, there was some distrust simply because of how Aragorn had already been betrayed (his words) by Palpatine. When the ‘non-humans’ started to leave the Kingdom, the ‘native’ citizens of Camelot took this as a betrayal and a stab-in-the-back. Why did they leave? Please be aware that the reality is muddled—its who you ask. Lots of politics. Either way, this perceived ‘betrayal’ left a deep rift between the human citizens of Camelot and the non-humans who remained.
Q: "So everywhere is ‘racist?’"
A: Minas Tirith and Dalaran are cosmopolitan cities where populations of humans and nonhumans live in the same neighborhoods. Outside of their sphere, you have virtually no heterogenous populations.
Q: "How many ‘non-humans’ are there?"
A: There’s probably about 1 ‘non-human’ for every 4 or 5 ‘humans.’ Although two-thirds of them live in Minas Tirith. Before the war with Diablo, I imagine the ratio was closer to 1:3.
Q: "Do people travel a lot?"
A: Outside of merchants and bureaucrats/land owners, there’s little mobility. Most middle- and lower-class citizens of Minas Tirith and the Outerlying Duchies don’t travel much, especially to other duchies.
Q: "So Aragorn’s the king of the whole verse?"
A: He’s the de jure ruler of the verse. Since the war, the Kingdom has become a decentralized monarchy, just like what you would have found in Europe during the Middle Ages. Aragorn rules over Minas Tirth and Dalaran (with Dumbledore as his proxy), but beyond these two cities, his authority is absolute in name only. The dukes and barons and counts (and their female counterparts) rule absolutely over their fiefdoms. These vassals send representatives to Minas Tirith, pay taxes to Minas Tirith, and are obliged to send soldiers in a time of crisis. In return, they are given the freedom to rule as they see fit.
Q: "So this is why you have all the racial hatred, rivalries, and intrigue between ‘outerlying duchies’?"
A: Yes.
Q: "So why not take control directly?"
A: Aragorn is not Palpatine. He is an honorable man who knows his limitations. Aragorn is an immensely popular figure in all of Camelot, and because of that, the duchies do ultimately respect his requests. The alternative would be something like the Empire.
Q: "So there’s no resistance to Aragorn?"
A: Untrue. People in Minas Tirith wish he’d take a bit of a harder line against the ‘injustice’ in society. Other factors want him to lead the Kingdom into war to reclaim its ‘lost prestige’. Still others want more formal alliances with other verses. To Aragorn’s credit, a lesser man would be unable to deal with such a convoluted situation.
Q: "So how many 'Outerlying Duchies' are there? Is there a list?"
A: There are a lot. Some function like tiny countries, while others might only be a village and some farms. Sendai is one of the larger duchies. Berry Blitzkrieg falls into the middle of the spectrum and is our case study for ‘duchy gone wrong,’ unless you enjoy xenophobic, desert-themed sociopaths. There’s no master list of duchies, since we do like to keep things vague/open to expansion. A few more might be on the horizon, if only to draw some more interest to an underdeveloped region of the verse.
Q: "This is the Omniverse, so I need to know ‘where the dakka at'."
A: …that’s a declarative statement. Anyway, the military of the Kingdom is quite different from the Empire’s army. In Coruscant, you have a permanent standing army of all sorts of folks, and the entire bureaucracy of Coruscant is militarized. In Camelot, your standing army is probably just north of a thousand souls, and those are all stationed in Minas Tirith. Like your token medieval power, the army of Camelot wield melee weapons and crossbows. They also have a dedicated cavalry corps. The army also includes wizards, who serve a variety of purposes (defense, offense, support, shock troopers, siege).
Q: "Why’s the army small? Why not have chainmail troopers on every street corner?"
A: The actual army for the Kingdom is very large (in terms of manpower), but its soldiers are what we call ‘levies.’ They’re called up, like a militia, to serve for a period of time. If ever Camelot were invaded, King Aragorn would send out a ‘call to arms’ to the duchies, who would send him the required soldiers.