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happy

i want the average, daily life of someone in the Land of Still Waters to be good. i want them to be happy and satisfied and hopeful and healthy. even the people of Vye should be content in their own somewhat alien way.

it's important this doesn't turn into a crapsack world. the worst should be behind humanity. things should be improving. there are enough settings where everything is terrible, humanity is always about to be extinguished, and everyone is struggling to live another day.

making things nice will hopefully give the players more incentive to fight to keep it that way. it also gives them a chance to be heroes. i'm wondering if there could even be some mechanical reward for upholding the peace. if they tie into allegiances somehow maybe.

again, it is about contrast. the occasional threat of garoulin attacks is much sharper when they come against a peaceful village as opposed to a fortified settlement.

i don't know, it doesn't have to be a paradise. in fact it can't be. but there's so much misery and ugliness in the real world already i'd really like to have a hand in creating something pleasant.

there are all these sweeping vistas in my head with these snug little towns nestled in them.

gasmithon is all old, patient mountains and windblown snow through pine, with tiny yellow glowing windows in low, snug cabins. high, high up at the tallest peaks are the monasteries and craggy fortresses, and the rich songs of the huntsmen echo through the valleys and woods.

jorvik is all rolling, rock-walled farms, cool leafy stands of trees, and pleasant villages. the roads bustle with farmers and traders. old men sit in the square and smoke quiet pipes together, watching the children play. the capitol stands as loftily at the edge of the ocean, all proud stone spires and light.

acadia is settled heavily along its craggy, windswept coast. the people travel much by water, and one of their sturdy boats can be seen from nearly anywhere on the dunes and cliffs. at dawn and dusk, song and bells sweep across the land as the people make their worship.

vye is a land of heavy forests and deep shadow. its people project an eerie calm and certainty which some visitors find unsettling. the towns are simple, austere, and ascetic. at the center of the land and the center of the roads is the city-cathedral of vye, which is an ominously splendid and sprawling work of gothic architecture.