Romanda Dev Thread

[Schwerpunkt]

Viking knights. What's not to love?

Romanda is old. To represent this, there's a dissonance between the names of its citizens and the names of its places. Place names will primarily come from Old Norse. More modern things will have their names derived from the modern Scandinavian languages. Thus, while most people may have perfectly modern names (like Johann), the places they live will have archaic names (like Myrkholt). Additionally, people should not have Old Norse-derived names. Haraldr is a no-go; Harald is preferred. As a rule of thumb: Old Norse had lots of names ending with -r but modern Scandinavian languages really don't.

To further emphasize this difference in-game, the Romandan language will not be written in Runes -- only really old things (or religious things) will use Runic. While this difference doesn't mean much to us, it's a minor tidbit that helps enrich the actual game world and further underscore the differences between then and now.

So, names.

Kronsvik ("The Crown's Bay") is a blend of Old Norse and Swedish. This is partially to represent the fact that Old Norse doesn't have a proper word for "crown" and partially to represent the fact that Kronsvik was build relatively late in Romandan history. It was specifically built to be a capital -- like Canberra and Brasilia. This replaces Khus.

Forsborg ("The Waterfall City") is a bit of an outlier as Forsberg is still a pretty common surname (Peter Forsberg being arguably one of the best hockey players of his generation). This replaces Semitt.

Myrkholt ("The Dark Woodlands") is a good example of an Old Norse place name. "Dark/Gloomy" and "Woodlands." Take two words, smash them together, and voila, you have a place. This replaces Falgabard.

Svellakr ("The Icefields") is pretty much the same process as above. This replaces an unnamed viking village in the frozen north.

Also, if you have OCD, you will appreciate the fact that all four places have names that are 8 characters long.


Romanda, in the language of her natives, is Karsnedar. Karsnedar is also the name of the language. Karsnedari refers to someone or something from Karsnedar while Karsnedarir refers to the plural of the same.

The Romandan language would be Theodiskr ('Words of the People') while the religion would be Theorungr ('Creed of the People').



To-Do:
- Romandan History (both long-term and recent)
- Romanda's native name
- Places of Note
- Religion
- Important NPCs

[Schwerpunkt]

Romanda's Ancient History
Year -1500: Karsi Stonetooth unites the Western and Eastern Isles under the Empire of Karsi. This begins the Karsid Dynasty.
Year -1200: The Karsid Dynasty moves its seat from Nordoddr to Svellakr.
Year -900: Karsid Runic is gradually replaced by Late Runic around this time.
Year -500: Late Runic is replaced by Proto-Romandan. First contact with the future Empire of Ordallia takes place around this time.
Year -200: Proto-Romandan is replaced by Romandan. The capital is relocated from Svellakr to Forsborg.
Year -100: Due to the collection of events broadly referred to as the "Cataclysm," and most notably the rising sea level brought about by displaced glaciers, the Karsid Empire is reduced to Romanda (known as Enavia to the Ydorans).
Year -75: The capital is relocated again, this time to Kronsvik, the newly-completed castle in the southwest.

Romanda During the Fifty Years' War
Year 1: King Gustav III rules over Romanda. He decides to not get involved in the looming war. He's too busy kicking rebellious Jarls around.
Year 15: King Gustav III's son, Gustav Gustavsson, is married to an Ordallian princess. Fighting in Romanda ends, but political instability continues.
Year 20: King Gustav III bites the dust and his son, Gustav IV inherits. Shortly thereafter, Gustav (IV) is born. Ordallia seeks Romandan support and is rebuffed on the grounds of domestic instability.
Year 30: Ordallia, frustrated by Romanda's reticence, demands military intervention. Gustav III, unwilling to alienate one of his most important trade partners, begrudgingly assents to prepare for intervention.
Year 31: Romanda's invasion plans are set back when a number of ships are lost in an abnormally bad winter.
Year 32: Romanda's invasion plans are again delayed, this time when Jarl Forsborg attempts to invade Svellakr, forcing Gustav III's intervention.
Year 33: Romanda finally manages to swing military intervention in Fovoham, landing in force near Yardrow.
Year 34: After a long and bloody siege, Yardrow falls to Romanda. The Romandans push into the forests.
Year 35: Gustav III and his son are assassinated at a feast in honor of the Romandan pantheon.
Year 36: Romanda, now in the midst of a succession crisis, fully withdraws from Ivalice.
Year 37: The four Jarls -- Forsberg, Johann, Edvin, and Kjell -- begin squabbling with one another.
Year 38: While hunting, Jarl Edvin is eaten by a dragon. He is succeeded by his son, Alban.
Year 40: The plague, which cropped up in Zeltennia two years prior, has now reached Romanda.
Year 41: Jarl Johann orchestrates the murder of Jarls Forsberg, Kjell, and Alban at a meeting on neutral ground.
Year 42: Jarl Johann, with support from Ingvar the Wretched and the Dark Knight Adalrik, is crowned King of Romanda.
Year 43: Johann I sends his son, Jarl Hakon, to Ordallia. Ostensibly there to determine whether or not airship travel is viable, Hakon is in actuality sent to evaluate Ordallia's willingness to align itself with Romanda.
Year 44: Negotiations for a marriage alliance begin. Meanwhile, much to Johann I's chagrin, Hakon converts to Dhalin ad-Dalin. Marriage negotiations are finalized at the end of the year.
Year 45: The day after Hakon's marriage to an Ordallian princess, Johann I announces his intent to join the war against Ivalice.
Year 46: Romandan forces land in the Yuguewood. Meanwhile, in Romanda, Hakon's wife dies during childbirth. The child does not survive.
Year 47: Yardrow City falls to a daring night assault by Johann I. The Siege of Riovanes begins. Negotiations begin for dual marriage alliance: a princess for Hakon, and a prince for his half-sister Jorid.
Year 48: The Corpse Brigade is formed, in part, from troops that the Grand Duke refuses to pay. The siege continues.
Year 49: Probably around when the game starts.

[Schwerpunkt]

Religion in Romanda
To the Romandans, Theorungr ('Creed of the People') is simply an immutable fact of life, accepted with the same fatalistic shrug as everything else the frozen continent has to offer. It is difficult to draw the line between religion and culture amongst the Romandans due to how inextricably the two are bound. But for all their acceptance of religion, Romandans lack the fiery zeal of the Ordallians and the steadfast faith of the Ivalicians.

Theorungr deals heavily with the concept of Theoheit ('Soul of the People), the doctrine largely responsible for the inseparable ties between culture and religion. To the Romandan, it is not where you are born or where you live that defines who you are: it is whether or not you have achieved union with the Theoheit. In strictly practical terms, the Theoheit is a code of conduct by which one lives; adherence to this ideal makes one Romandan, while violations of it makes one an argr ('coward').

Beyond codes of conduct, the Romandans worship a genius loci known as Storvikr, a legendary king from the time before the Karsid dynasty. Storvikr's fall is believed by foreigners to be an allegorical story meant to explain the sudden and near-total destruction of the Karsid Empire; clerics, meanwhile, argue that Theorungr's presence in Romanda predates the Cataclysm and, therefore, the 'allegory' is in truth a prophecy that proclaims Romanda's future hegemony over the known world.

Legend of Storvikr
According to legend, Storvikr, who had accumulated incredible power during his reign, was cast down by the Old Gods. As he fell, Storvikr cursed the Old Gods in turn, stripping them of their godhood and banishing them forever to walk among mortal men, unknown and unknowable. But as their final act, the Old Gods sealed Storvikr in a prison deep below the earth.

Despite his literal fall from grace, Storvikr remained powerful. By sheer force of will he swayed the high clerics of the Old Gods to his cause and, after he had gathered most of the priesthood, he had them erect Miklakast Castle over his tomb. Thereafter, Miklakast would serve as the seat of power for the ruler of the island. According to the clerics, the King of Romanda is also the mortal champion of Storvikr, supreme arbiter of religious questions as well as final authority of secular matters. The King of Romanda is thus dual-hatted much like the Serasker of Ordallia is.

The Mortal Champion of Storvikr
According to tradition, the King of Romanda is chosen by virtue of steel and blood in a contest known as Stekrablot. This contest, aside from being governed by the Theoheit, has no rules; the Jarls fight amongst themselves until such time as one Jarl stands triumphant over the others. This figure, proclaimed High Jarl by his colleagues, is then obliged to make a pilgrimage to the Fordormr Point. There, before the dragon statue of Storvikr, the High Jarl makes his case as to why he should be given the crown. If Storvikr approves of the claim, then the crown is revealed and the new King of Romanda is recognized. If the new king is not of the Karsid line, he is formally adopted into the line and rules as yet another of the hundreds of Karsid monarchs that have reigned over Romanda.

Numerous rumors surround the exact relationship between Storvikr, the crown, and the king. Given the tendency for nearly all of Romanda's monarchs to suffer from a variety of psychological illnesses and, in the case of particularly long-lived monarchs, even insanity, it is widely believed that Storvikr and the king maintain some sort of mental connection. Foreigners hypothesize that the crown is malevolent or even sentient while the clerics maintain that man was not meant to hear the voice of a god and that the mental illnesses that plague the Karsid line of kings is due in large part to the frail condition of mortal men.






Notes
Alright, so there we have it. What I actually wanted to do here was make Storvikr something of a throwback to the Occuria from FF12. But rather than the ham-fisted involvement the Occuria had in FF12, this is much more of a Grey Eminence type of deal, with Storvikr twisting and manipulating his champion (ie, the king) to fulfill his will. Naturally, the extremely proud kings aren't exactly prone to playing nicely as puppets, hence all the mental breakdowns they tend to suffer.

In terms of direct power granted to the king, there isn't much; by virtue of the contest it takes to get here, it's extremely unlikely that a king isn't going to be an extremely competent individual. Since there's generally not much point in layering more power on top of already ambitious and independent-minded men, Storvikr's boon comes primarily in the form of an unrivaled understanding of the land, its people, its history -- in short, an extremely potent form of Theoheit.

In terms of balance, I don't think there's really any concern. Johann was already going to be a complete badass (if only because he had to be on par with Balbanes, Cid, and Suad ibn Daud), so giving him what amounts to a real-time news feed on the island isn't going to be too ground-breaking. It helps explain why the Jarls don't simply revolt in his absence and also explains why Romanda, despite being so much smaller than Ivalice, is consistently able to prove itself much better organized and better disciplined. Naturally, no other character would share this kind of knowledge.

In terms of internal consistency, it fits the world and (especially if one considers the 'Old Gods' to be other Occuria) it really fits the theme of the "Ivalice Alliance." Consistency shouldn't be an issue.

[Diethe]

You know what Schwer? I really wish I didn't read this. Would've been so awesome to find out in-game, heh. XD

Though, what are some cases of these 'codes of conduct' concerning living out Theorungr?

[sunspawn]

I'd say it's one of them honor and courage-based systems where being badass is cool and being a wimp is not cool. Not to underwrite the depth of it all, just saying it as short as possible.

I do remember seeing a gun in FFT that was Romandan or something. I don't want to bother going back to the game for it, so any chance you remember that reference and understand what it means? Romandan viking knights with firearms?

[Mordred]

Yeah, for some reason the base Gun in FFT was the "Romanda Gun." No further reference was made to why it came from Romanda or if Romanda had any kind of special affinity for firearms.

[Schwerpunkt]

I'm inclined to just treat it as a misnomer and rename it. After all, we call them "Arabic numerals" when they're very clearly from India.

[sunspawn]

Oh, okay. Kinda hoped Romandans would be "moar dakka!" and all that.

[Diethe]

Romanda Gun could be called as that because of the vast and technological empire Romanda used to have before the cataclysm and dark age (I'd like to call current Ivalice that) explorers found the gun in Romanda, having its distinct Karsid Dynasty style different from the rest. Of course most of Romanda sank (See the map where there's a small ring of islands in the north? Yeah that was the continent's coastline connecting Ordallia fully with Romanda being the tip) and only a few of the royal line survived and creating the Crown City with the remaining forming their own jarldoms and becoming feral and viking like.

We could even expand that short story, with Grand Duke Berrington being obsessed with Romandan warfare, having his castles Romandan and having been the one to explore and discover the ancient gun design, leading him to be named 'Lord of the Forge'. What do you think?

[Mordred]

I think that it's a little much to have our own version of Atlantis/Numenor/Old Valyria, but I'm a curmudgeon like that.

[Schwerpunkt]

While I do like the notion of Romanda having gotten seriously messed up by the Cataclysm (primarily because it works so well with Romanda's religion; the new god condemns the Old Gods to fall and then the world basically explodes and most of Romanda drowns), I feel like shoehorning in a super-advanced civilization in the form of Romanda is kind of pointless.

I'm all for extrapolating based upon tiny crumbs of information, but a single gun name isn't really worth it to me. Even if it would've been kind of funny to see gunpowder age vikings.

[Smash]

This is very, very interesting.

I feel lucky I found this forum already.

Where exactly did all this lore come from? Did you craft it or was it from somewhere else?

[Smash]

I have to say, this is brilliant. It fits right in with my imaginings for my own personal FFT project. In fact I could even make references to this, as the lore would easily allow it.

I had visualized viking/northeners/nordic types of a ruling lord house originating from Romanda; look no further from my avatar for the reference: He is Liege Lord Halldor Gunvald of Gallione, Circa Old Valendian 2066; the Gunvalds, warrior lords originating from Romanda who came to power when established as a ruling house by King Delita Heiral himself during his time in the throne.

[Schwerpunkt]

May 11, 2013 22:06:40 GMT -6 Smash said:

This is very, very interesting.

I feel lucky I found this forum already.

Where exactly did all this lore come from? Did you craft it or was it from somewhere else?

It's all original content, world built explicitly for this project. Diethe gave me a few good ideas (geography dictates cultures, after all), and I ran with it. Mord helped refine the genius loci (which was pretty obnoxiously the first time through).

Anyway, vikings seemed natural. Ivalice itself has lots of influences from France (including Brittany) and Italy. Since I went with a bizarre Turkish/Morisco/Arab culture out in the east, it made sense for the northwest to have a culture on the polar opposite. Rather than "like Ivalice but not really," I figured crazy vikings would work well. Plus, given how exotic lots of the stuff from the Ordallia dev is, it was kind of necessary to implement a more easily recognizable culture in Romanda.

I will admit, however, that I totally considered steampunk vikings.

[Diethe]

Yep. We managed to create a Romanda culture that's distinct at the same time plausible.

At first the idea was steampunk vikings mostly from these arguments:
-FFTA2 (Pre-cataclysm) puts Clockwork City Grog exactly where FFT puts it, so it must mean Fluorgis, a technological aerodome in the area of Romanda (Before it was sundered from the Ordallian Continent) must still be there. We also have a working map with an eastern expansion. Basically the FF12 map except everything blew up along with places like 'The Orient'.
-Grand Duke Berrington is a nut for everything Romandan, his castle, his firearms, etc. Plus there was a Romanda gun in-game like an origin name.

But we decided to do otherwise, lessening on the 'technology' bit since it's the 50 year war and we like to have that 'dark ages' feel.

There is definitely room for expansion with regards to a sort of 'industrial age' boom, but that'll probably be for future versions years after the Lion War.

Your game is sort of like a sequel to FFT right? Man that'd be boss to play out in future versions with regards to plot.