Project - A Guide to Better Serfdom

Project Leaders-
Von Fishbarrel

Outline-
"A Guide to Better Serfdom" will be a new member's guide to advancement, jobs, and what to expect out of the guild. It can also be distributed as reading material to those looking at Wessex as a prospective guild to join. The object of the pamphlet is to educate new members so that they know exactly how the guild works, and help alleviate that feeling of beiing an "outsider" for the first few months.

Work Completed So far-
www.duchyofwessex.org/pub/wguide.pdf

Use this thread to discuss your thoughts on the work done so far, and give ideas on what should be placed into it! I'm particularly interested to hear what our newer members have to say on this subject. Those of us who have been around a while have no way of knowing what it's like to be new in Wessex, and can only reference what it was like when we joined.

Good guide so far, some people who haven't read the innerworkings of the guild might want a little more elaboration on step 3 though. although the ranks are defined on the website, if you want this to be an all in one guide you might want to put the prereq for the ranks and what duties that entail.

I would recommend drawing information from both fireside chats and especially use of Komako's hierarchy chart.

We'll have a more in-depth guide for such things. This is just supposed to be a basic pamphlet to give people an idea of what it's like to be in Wessex, not to detail every aspect of the guild. The final product shouldn't exceed 15 pages.

So, for the newbie guide I was thinking along the lines of:

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FAQ - All those particular questions that are commonly asked.

Clan Muster, so they know who to brown nose

Setles' layout
Komako's Layout

Guides to Yeoman Positions, These will take awhile. Guiscard is working on one, Envoy, I believe

Debate Topics, Could probably go in the FAQ if we had official answers.

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Anyone got suggestions or FAQ questions?

Correct topic, Fishbarrel?

yes

Komako's newest Rank pages are hawt. Redundancy shouldn't be an issue and they can be included here, as well.

I think it looks really good, relaxed yet informative, and the chicken made me laugh. :)

I can't really think of any FAQ that won't be covered in this guide though...

Perhaps something about out of game things like mIRC and Ventrilo?

Yeah, perhaps. Want to write any chapters? :) That's kind of what this thread is for! I'm thinking about condensing it even further than it is already. I think with the initial FAQ there, we need only cover "advancement" and "key people in the guild". The other guides which have started recently will cover much of the other stuff in detail.

Yeah everything will be generally covered on the forums and things. I think it was just bringing it out so they don't have to search. Like if you go view some threads there are questions answered that don't relate to the topic names and will probably disappear with the thread.

Progress report, Fishy?

Cleggane is the only one to offer his support to the project, and has been assigned 2 chapters to write. Once that's done, I'll be putting the finishing touches on it (and writing the final chapters). I suppose it's a week from completion. Unless I don't here from Cleggane, that is.

The past week or so(not sure how long it's actually been), I got quite bogged down with work and haven't had time to work on the chapters. I am hoping that I can finish the chapters up the beginning of this week.

Not a problem, we aren't exactly pressed for time. I've been quite busy myself!

You can assign a chapter or two to me, I'm always able to help. I'll be finishing Chapter 2 of "On Diplomacy" soon too since it would free up my schedule.

If more help is needed here, I'd be happy to help in anyway I can. :)

~Firax

Well, once I have a reasonable idea what Cleggane's work covers I'll have a better idea how to round out the end of it. We're also adding a chapter in that will discuss roleplayed religion in Wessex, are either of you up for that?

I would be.

~Firax

Hoorah!

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Originally Posted by Firax

I would be.

~Firax

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Brilliant.

If anything else is needed, I'm more than willing to help out!

I've been quite busy for the last few weeks which has left this project inactive outside of Cleggane's work on it. Right now, I've been busy reading what you come up with in that thread in the tavern anyway. I'll post some more details about the progress of this guide soon, once I've compiled an up to date copy.

Ok, about my progress: I've taken notes on how the Church and State interact, as well as all that I could find that the Duke had said on the subject. When they did that piece on Mahirim culture I had desided to wait a few weeks to see if they'd do something similar for humans. (plus, things got alittle hetic in real life) I've decided I've waited long enough, and I should have the write up done within the week.

~Firax

Perhaps Firax, you could speak with Savanna our newest herald, she is quite the authority on the affairs of Church and State.

404 Not Found

The requested URL /pub/wguide.pdf does not exist.

It's been moved?

Found it. http://www.duchyofwessex.org/wguide.indd

Do i have to have InDesign to open it? (.indd)
Any Pdf versions available?

Hmm. I'm unable to open it with InDesign CS1.

So you open yours in Acrobat Reader?
My AR 7.0 dont like the file.


.indd : http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=INDD

Er... no, it's an InDesign file. It's not been finished and published into a pdf yet.

Too bad :(

OK. I finally got the first draft of the Religion is Wessex peice I was working on. I took most of this from the Darkfall lore, what I could find on the site, and my own assumptions based on how I think the 2 interconnect. I fully understand that some things written here may be outright false or presented in a way that's slanted improperly. Please point these out so I can rewrite it, if needed. I would especially like the higher ups to take a look, maybe even the Duke, since they a much clearer vision how the Duchy really acts than I.

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Roleplaying Religion in the Duchy of Wessex

As a duchy in the kingdom of Mercia, we officially follow and respect the Morgaine faith. Morgaine is a goodly human goddess who is said to have tamed the primal chaos and darkness to create the world. As such, we fight the forces of chaos wherever they may be found, as long as doing so does not conflict with our allegiance to the Duke and his vassals. The Church defines all religions not Morgainite as being chaotic and thus its sworn enemy. This includes the religions of all other races and the old gods, in which the native humans, the Imric, worshiped. (Keep in mind that allied race’s religions are ignored as being evil) Member’s races not human should be careful to not insult the Church. As a state palatine the Duchy of Wessex may or may not protect members of other races, but the strain on the relationship between the Duchy and Church will not be looked upon favorablely. As members of the Duchy of Wessex, we must always remember that our first allegiance lies with the Duke, and his vassals, not our respective religions. Members should be courteous and respectful to officials of the Church but should also remember where your allegiance lies.

In addition to connections to the Morgainite faith, the Duchy of Wessex also has a holy organization known as the Ordo Solis et Lunae. The Ordo has both mystical and military uses. While the mystical aspect of the organization is largely mysterious to nonmembers, its military function is clear. The Ordo fields thaumaturgists which are essentially battle-mages for use in the army and navy.

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~ Firax

The /pub/ folder got taken out. Glad to see something has been accomplished on the project! I'll be getting back to it soon.

Not a bad start. Sorry I was not much help initially but there is too much from my end to condense into a simplified form. For your second draft I would look at making these changes:

1) Instead of "the Morgaine faith" use "the Morganite faith", as in Morganites and the Morganite Church.

2) Capitalize the personas of Chaos and Darkness wherever they appear, in the same manner we would capitalize "the Light". These are extremely powerful forces we refer to here, real and alive in Agon as much as the Demon Prince of Greed and Baron Sanglac.

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(Keep in mind that allied race’s religions are ignored as being evil)

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3) That's not exactly true. The elven gods are seen as Demon Princes by the Morganite Church. The dwarven god is a figment of myth and imagination so does not rank as a godly concern in my book.

4) Something should be said regarding the reality of Chaos in Mercia: the Below are real, and kidnap homeless people and children from villages when they infest the sewers of an area. These will be Mercia's primary NPC mobs around our cities and towns. Baron Sanglic and the Demon Prince of Greed are REAL, they are not myths taught by the Church to scare ignorant peasants into submission. When Mercian's worship the Demon Prince of Greed, they get real material possessions in return to make them greedier (in the lore that is). In return they may have to kiss a goat's ass to amuse the Demon and demean the ideals of the Morganite faith. The Church of Malaut is a real force to be reckoned with in Mercia's lore. What I'm trying to say is that the Demon Princes of the Morganite Church do not rank as devils do in the Catholic Church. In Mercia these are a reality, whereas in the real world the devil is easily discounted as being non-existant. You might find info on the Below and their kidnapping practices in my guild's library, under the Mercian towns article from IGN.

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As members of the Duchy of Wessex, we must always remember that our first allegiance lies with the Duke, and his vassals, not our respective religions.

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5) Any priest or paladin within the Duchy are sworn to the Church. Their first duty is to the Lightbringer, not your Duke. If Duke Wessex contests this point I will become...difficult, as Fishbarrel would say.

Excellent points and suggestions all, Father.

I was wondering how things have progressed with this. It seems like it was on a roll for a while, but there hasn't been anything posted lately. Is it finished and I just don't know where to look for it?

I ran out of time to do any work on it.

Attachment 26

Here, this is the .indd file for Adobe InDesign if anyone wishes to continue work on it.

I'll take a look when i get InDesign up and running.