ELSEWHERE

YO YOU'RE A WIZARD WTF

Me, a himbo: how computer!!! How language
Fetian, a god: here u go

Thanks! I'll play with that as soon as I get home from work

speaking of language!

did a thing!

Woo lost a few days to being overworked AF, lemme catch up

• Describe how wars are fought. Do methods differ between countries/nations?

We're at early trench or Napoleonic warfare levels of technology, so extremely unreliable muzzle-loading firearms with fixed bayonets and officers on horses. The level of magic is not such that it would affect either side very much. [Seramore] are a mountain people and better at that terrain, having a reputation for more stealth tactics that San Overdell considers underhanded.

• If there is a military, what is its hierarchy structure?

I've no intention of writing about the military directly but I'd probably more or less cop the USMC rank structure.

• How does the military recruit?

So San Overdell and [Seramore] are the only places who have/had standing armies; San Overdell functions off volunteer service + draft if needed, and [Seramore] has compulsory military service. [Seramore] notably considers the care of its orphans as something they must then pay for in service to the city-state, so if you are any type of orphan or ward then you either must join the military for a set amount of time or, if unable to do so, perform some sort of other government service for a set amount of time.

• Is the military looked upon favorably in your society?

I don't actually have an easy answer for this, I'm realizing, because I deliberately do not write about much to do with the military. I've lived it and have my own complex thoughts about it I don't care to explore in fiction, for the most part!

San Overdell and [Seramore] are the two nations in direct conflict with each other and during the time of the stories I've written so far, San Overdell is occupying [Seramore] after a several-years conflict ended up in [Seramore]'s loss. Displaced veterans from [Seramore] (cough, Leon, cough) are likely not seen very favorably, just for the crime of being on the "wrong" side. San Overdell won largely by making a devil's bargain with House Tally for financial backing and engaging in chemical warfare, so the Houses that maintained neutrality don't think highly of them, either. Everyone sucks! Please stop shooting each other.

As side thoughts, House Saturnine has a Queensguard that functions as a military but is used to protect their monarchy and current territories. If they expand those territories, it's not into any terrain humans live in, so they are not built for that type of warfare.

I think, unsurprisingly if you know me, I'm generally more interested in exploring a veteran's experience separate from combat than any sort of active duty military narrative

"war is bad" as a baseline story is super exhausting when you have lived it/been part of the problem, and while I do sometimes like to engage with stories other people have made that have soldiers/etc in them, I don't really want to tell any of those stories, myself

I do like a crusty war veteran though (pats Leon on the head) (this requires a step stool)

tl;dr I have a lot to say about what it's like to go to war and then exist (or not) as a human years afterward, I do not have much to say about being in combat that has not already been said by thousands of storytellers more succinct than me

That's actually most of the questions! It asks a lot about sentencing and laws but that's also something I do not have much minutiae figured out for -- I'm operating off jails/bounties/sheriffs. There are court systems but in large part it's more appearing in front of a judge or magistrate directly, and for more petty crime the sheriff themselves would determine a sentence or fine.

It also asks about censorship/taboos and I deliberately avoid anything queer being taboo, because I want to write stories where queer people existing is not, itself, part of the narrative that needs to be sorted out. They just are, and the story lies elsewhere. Or, I hope that comes across, anyway!