Recent content by Cloud

Works most simply if the small moons are much smaller - 'moonlets' that are closer to the planet. Look up Phobos and Deimos around Mars for an example in action. Put them in staggered, elliptical orbits at different ranges and there can be nights when all four moons are in the sky, or nights...

Volleyball played with nunchaku :-) deliberately dangerous for young fighters to prove their fearlessness

Quick note to myself - must explore the criminal uses siervos could be put to. Pickpockets, climbing/jumping roles in heists, (assassins?), 'attack dogs/muscle/minions', mule/smuggling for controlled substances?

I skipped past this one previously because I didn't know the answer. On reflection, there's a HUGE amount a circus could do with a siervo. First thing that jumped to mind was trapeze/acrobat, then clowns, synchronized dancing, magic tricks (instead of pulling a rabbit out the hat, etc)... once...

1. No. Well, maybe some people will dress up their siervos, in the same way that some people will dress up their pet dogs - but most of them are working animals, and you don't often see sheepdog wearing little outfits. 2. Variable - like with dogs and horses - but generally, yes, they are...

Hiya, Quick question about horse breeding (desert island scenario): If you were starting with an initial stock of 20 horses (10 male, 10 female) with no access to outside additions, and were focused on intensive breeding, how quickly could you get up to a couple of thousand horses? What's the...

Interesting - I had actually drawn the opposite conclusion! With such abundant manpower, more people are freed up to study, experiment and explore, with accelerated development of the arts and sciences. I suppose, human nature being what it is, we would see things move in both directions, with...

My worry with that 'top-down' approach is that I'll end up with shallow world building. Sure, I'll get the bits that are 'necessary' for my story, but I won't get the kind of additional 'bottom-up' details that add depth, and cohesiveness to my world.

Hmmm... good question. More applicable to the early years of my divergent time-line than 'modern day' implications, but worth hammering out. Initially, not overly common - a couple of thousand breeding pairs brought to Europe over the first 5 years or so, with no real breeding occurring...

I guess my two cents is "don't try and edit your instincts too much as you go". Write what feels right, and what feels important to your theme/characters. If, when you get to the end of your story and you've got a more objective perspective it feels bloated and meandering THEN revisit those...

If you're looking at Sanderson, Elantris is a good example. He does the whole book from three character POVs, cycling round in the same order again and again. Good guy - good gal - bad guy. It's not the best book ever, but it is a lot of fun and does a grand job of keeping the scheming in...

One nice tip I've heard for Steampunk, is to take a key image or idea (the thing that inspired you to pursue a Steampunk style) and extrapolate from that. For example, in Boneshaker, Cherie Priest has used the Airship as her steampunk icon, and keyed everything else in her world into that. For...

Hi all, I'm looking for some assistance with my World Building. I'm using an alternative history premise for my novel, VIV (working title). Western history progressed as per the text books, up until the Spanish colonization of South America in the 16th Century, where the history of VIV...

My favourite example of music as magic is Mike Carey's Fix Castor series. It's a noir urban fantasy series about an exorcist, who banishes evil spirits (ghosts, vampires, demons, etc) with a tin whistle. For each enemy the tune he plays is different, it becomes a representation of their spirit...

Three cats here. Currently all three are passed out in cool corners around the house because it's too hot!