Revisions

 I am now in the revision phase of my story writing.  With all four books "written" and the first published I need to make sure everything flows and makes sense.  And that I don't sound like a four year old as I write.  Here are a few things I'm doing to make sure my novels are very polished before I let them loose on their own.

1)Reread the story.  This sounds sort of redundant, after all, you wrote the darn thing.  But sometimes you get your thoughts down and think you are good and coherent and then you realize that thought doesn't belong as you reread the story.  I had one segment I just thought was too contrived and "why would my characters fall for that!" so I rewrote the section.  But I found it because I just read through it like a reader would.

2) Check your language, punctuation and spelling.  This harkens back to your school days and the English teacher berating you for not doing just that.  But if you want your novel to look professional, and you don't have an editor or publishing house, you need to put your best foot forward.

3) Check your facts.  I realized I had renamed something in the first book and now I need to go back and make sure it matches in the next three books.  Just bad form to get the name wrong in your own book.  But that goes with all the facts.  At the end of the second book I had six guards to start with and suddenly there were two dozen.  How did that happen?  So I needed to adjust.

4) Read it out loud.  This was my husband's idea.  Something might look fine as you type it, but when you say it out loud, sometimes you notice mistakes.  I have caught several errors this way.

Mostly, just make sure your story, which you have worked so hard on writing, is polished. You want readers to enjoy your story, not be stuck on your mistakes.

Happy writing!

The Griffon Tavern in Bloodhelm

This tavern is a gathering place for merchants, mercenaries and laborers, a place to talk, find work, and just relax after a day of work or travel.  There is a few rooms upstairs, nothing fancy, just some place to lay your head after a day of travel.  The tap room is fairly large, seating about forty.  There are two fireplaces, one on each end, which keeps the patrons there longer when it's cold outside.  The food is descent, stew, bread and sometimes pies the most common menu.  Sometimes there is roast beef or pork, and fruits are common during the summer.

Terrance Thunderclaw runs a tight ship.  He doesn't let things get out of hand and makes sure there is always ale and food on hand.  His servers are never overworked, but he makes sures they work for their pay.  This average looking man is fair, but hard if he thinks he is right.  He doesn't cheat anyone, but if he thinks someone has cheated him he flares up and his two bouncers, Saint and Jack, come to clear the area of any problems.

The Roaring Bear Tavern in Bloodhelm

This modest inn is three stories, rustic, as it is built like a large, log cabin, and has a giant stuffed bear just inside the doorway, waiting to greet patrons.  The tavern is cozy, with a fire near the bar and enough room for about twenty people to sit comfortably.  There are single rooms on the second floor, the third has one suite and the rest is a common room for those who don't want to pay for a full room.  Breakfast usually comes with the room, but any drinks are extra.  The owner, Jack Wanderer, was once an adventurer, but lost a leg to a ogre raiding party.  His party survived and brought Jack back to be healed, though not to his whole state.  He settled down with his savings and now runs the tavern to listen to tales, big and small, of adventure out in the world.

The tavern is only closed from around midnight until five in the morning.  Jack stays for most of that, but delegates the morning prep work to his cook and one of his serving girls.  Jack is not married, and though he is missing a leg, his is quite handsome, easy to talk to and gets along with just about anyone.

Jack has several bouncers who he pays well and keeps order in his tavern.  Any back talk to Jack will earn instant removal from the tavern, whether a person has paid or not.

Love and Marriage Part IX

The humans of the free cities in Ariella are very merchant orientated.  Their lives revolve around trade and getting a good deal.  So when a man loves a woman and wants to take her from her family to be part of his family he shows his interest in a very odd way.  The man, especially if he is from a merchant family, will leave trade goods upon her doorstep in hopes her father and brothers will see what fine goods he has and will be able to keep their daughter/sister very well.  If the trade goods are accepted, trade goods (or other fine objects) will be sent to the man's family so they are assured the woman isn't coming from a destitute family in need of more money and that is the reason the woman is accepting.

After several weeks of exchanging goods (which most go to the couple, anyway) the two families come together and in a short ceremony, the father gives his daughter's hand to the man.  Afterward the two families, and invited guests, feast on good foods and wines.  Later the pair are escorted to their new home where the trade goods have already been brought.

Love and Marriage

Though while roleplaying your characters don't usually find time to marry, maybe not even have time to fall in love, it is an integral part of the world they are a part of.  There is always a chance they will come to a village in the midst of a wedding celebration or need to sneak into a noble's wedding ceremony to glean some information or take some item.

There are some basic needs to know on any marriage in any race upon Martapa.
1)All races will want their marriage sanctioned by the God of their choice.  For dwarves that will be Taniger, though other, lesser Gods may also be mentioned.  Most humans want a priest of Catiana present, but many will have Wesa and other nature Gods' priest there as well.

2)Feasts will ensue.  Something about marriages making people hungry.

3) And presents of some sort will be given.  In the ancient elven culture the bride and groom give away presents instead of receiving.

In the next couple days I'll give a brief overview of what might be done so you can use such things in your campaign to lighten up or complicate your campaigns.

Charmed Feathers

Not all of Martapa fights in hard, metal armor.  Some of the Houses, mostly House Landshire, wore leather armor, fought mostly with spears and bows and rode horses without saddles.  Against swords and the like this is very little protection.  The mages of House Landshire developed feathers to weave into a fighter's hair that gave a little extra magical protection.

These charmed feathers, depending on your roleplaying system, will give a +1 to +5 to armor class (or the appropriate equivalent).  This does stack with any actual armor bonuses from armor, (since armor never gets past thick hide in the area they are used, but of course your fighter with plate will eventually find one...deal with it).  These charmed feathers can also have other enchants upon them, usually protection ones such as spell resistance or protection from poisons.  This is up to the game master what he will allow.  Each feather takes at least a week to make and up to 1,000 gold worth of materials for the special protections.  The recipe for making such things is hard to find, especially in the time of the High King's Sword.  You could make it an adventure line just to find the recipe, if you wanted, which would make the reward that much sweeter.