Talk:Venalicium (3.5e Environment)

Origins

This city is modeled after Venice, minus the canals. Noname 19:55, 18 December 2007 (MST)

Hmm. Where to put this? Where does it fit in history? I think this city will work best in the Cydean cluster, near Koetel and Wolcnum. Koetel is currently ruled by a necromancer, and Wolcnum ruled by a cleric determined to raise a dead god. The city is wary of its neighbors, who may move on them. They have continuing issues with the Savage Sea pirates. They have a long-standing friendship with Pacifica. See Near Planes (Endhaven). They have a long-standing trading relationship with Charystos, and a bad relationship with Kasa Tora. They are the only sea power able to reach the northerly lands cut off by the Feral Nation. The Border League does not trust them, yet also wants them to join the League as their fleet would be a tremendous asset to the league.

History proposal: Venalicium began as a town. During the Wars of Law and Chaos, it became an early staging area for the forces of Law. When the Dragon Empire collapsed, Venalicium retained its loyalty to the Dragon Emperor along with a large percentage of the Dragon Empire's navy. They defeated the Malachite Empire fleet in the battle of Thalamos. The Malachite Emperor ceded the island. Trading has returned to normalcy. Politically, the Malachite Emperor continues to undermine Venalicium where he can in the hopes of retaking their strategic economic and military resource.

Put the canals back in. :)--Dmilewski 07:21, 19 December 2007 (MST)

Okay. I'll put them back in, as well as implement these other things in as you say. Noname 09:45, 19 December 2007 (MST)

Your suggestions would also explain why law-and-order would be so important, if pirates and a necromancer king are nearby, and in reality, Venice WAS a staging area for the crusades. Noname 09:49, 19 December 2007 (MST)

In Wikiworld, the most recent conflict was between Law and Chaos. It is a BIG THING to know where someone stood in this long series of war. The present world was shaped by that conflict. Every land was once part of a great empire, and every land has a story about how it broke away. --Dmilewski 12:24, 19 December 2007 (MST)

Avoid absolute numbers in Wikiworld. "350k" people means nothing. All that is important is that this is a certain sized city. I would judge it a medium or large sized city. The important of V. is not that it is a large city, but that its trading and financial networks have a large impact. --Dmilewski 12:49, 19 December 2007 (MST)

When you say that the navy is the "de facto" navy of the Malachite Empire, do you mean that the city hires its navy out to the Malachites, or that the city is part of the Malachite Empire? This would seem to conflict with the idea that the city is part of the Dragon Empire, as it appears to be serving two empire at once. It also seems a bit odd that a city which hires mercenaries should hire its own forces out. Still, this is NOT my campaign setting; I'm only a guest here, with no more proportional status than a visiting professor would have next to a tenured one. Whoever runs this campaign setting has the final say in what goes in, and that's not me. Noname 15:44, 19 December 2007 (MST)

Are you sure that one-eyed Jack is a good patron God for the city? Noname 19:30, 20 December 2007 (MST)

You really need to read up on this campaign setting. There are primary themes of this setting: Everything has a relationship to the history that came before it, the recent Wars of Law and Chaos were protracted and pointless, and every place traces its history back to one of the great empires.

The Dragon Empire is an empire in name only. The Captain of the Palace Guard lead a coup against the Dragon Emperor. Civil war ensued. Venicium broke away, following the Dragon Emperor. Being torn apart by a multi-front war and the insurrections of other generals, the self-proclaimed Malachite Emperor reached a peace with the Dragon Emperor. The Malachite Emperor had no real chance of winning the sea war, and it had become evident to the Dragon Emperor that he had no reasonable chance of winning the civil war, so they reached a compromise. The Malachite Emperor would recognize Venelium as separate, home-ruled state, and in return, pay the city and the Dragon Emperor a considerable sum to maintain that navy. In return, the navy would secure the seaways, trade, and possession of the Malachite Emperor. This freed up the Malachite Emperor to consolidate power of the bulk of the old Dragon Empire.

One-Eye Jack is the Charystan god of commerce. Dauphin (3.5e Deity) may also work.

See: Charystos (Wikiworld), Dragon Empire (Wikiworld), History (Wikiworld).

--Dmilewski 20:27, 20 December 2007 (MST)

Why Adventure Here

In Wikiworld, few places are all-good or all-bad. With that idea:

• Why should an adventuring party come to this city?
• In what ways has the the lust for money blinded the city to injustice?
• Where is the city going wrong? Abuses? Mismanagement? Bribery and scandal?
• Is there any bad politics happening?

--Dmilewski 13:08, 19 December 2007 (MST)

Featured Article Nomination

— This article became a featured article! --Green Dragon (talk) 07:58, 24 January 2014 (MST)

I think with just a little work this would be a great featured article. --Green Dragon (talk) 04:22, 11 December 2013 (MST)

• Comment — The above comments need to be addressed, as well as links and some additional small city information from the DMG. --Green Dragon (talk) 04:22, 11 December 2013 (MST)

Looks good! --Green Dragon (talk) 07:58, 24 January 2014 (MST)

Wow, I walk away from it for a while, and look what happens. :D You really fixed it up! I guess that's one and a half featured articles I have now. Thanks! -- Aristocles (talk) 09:57, 24 January 2014 (MST)

I don't like this trend of uploading images under copyright, especially for featured articles. This image is Lost World by Bechira Sorin [1]. Note that the image has been flipped and cropped in an attempt to obfuscate the source. Bechira asserts copyright over the image, we have no fair use rationale, we didn't even attribute him. We should at least email him to get permission. Marasmusine (talk) 01:12, 25 January 2014 (MST)

Oh I had no idea. I found the image on some obscure site in this form, and since it said it was from wallpaperswide (which is not where I found it and its not even on that site) I assumed that it must be fine to use since it seemed to be just floating around without a real home. How did you find the image so quickly? It would be good to know so I can check images more easily. I will look for another one. --Green Dragon (talk) 08:18, 25 January 2014 (MST)

There, now we have a new one. --Green Dragon (talk) 08:35, 25 January 2014 (MST)

Thanks. I drag the image into Google Images[2] then look through the results until I see a likely source (artist's own page, deviantArt, the artist's agency). Sometimes the image is hosted at an appropriate size at the source and we can link to it that way. Marasmusine (talk) 09:02, 25 January 2014 (MST)

Ohh Search by Image. Nice. I will use that from now on, thanks! --Green Dragon (talk) 11:56, 25 January 2014 (MST)