Four Archons got baby names over the last hour using a list of interesting syllables and a list of used syllables and patterns in the religion already. Wind has been named Rethwara, Force/Speed has been named Zulstaad, Fresh Water has been named Phreist, and Duality/Opposites has been named Laakin-Taakin.
That last one stands to be respelled the most. The brainstorm list went like this:
Lakhusak -> Lakindol -> Lakindolus -> Lakhindakh -> Lakindak -> Lakhinda -> Lakhindo -> Lakin-Dakin
I've decided I do like the notion of an evenly spelled, hyphenated name for the architect of extremes. There is a set of Mongolian names that have fascinated me for over a decade, Enebish and Terbish. From the current wikipedia article on Mongolian Names, under the category Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period:
"A distinctive type of Mongolian name that flourished in this period and is still common in the countryside is the avoidance name, designed to avert misfortune from the child: Nergüi “No Name”, Enebish “Not This”, Terbish "Not That"."
If I recall from somewhere else I'd read (over a decade ago now, so I may be mistaken) the names were "Not this one" and "Not that one" to keep bad spirits from harming or taking the vulnerable children.
Anyway, it helped drum up the idea for Laakin-Taakin, at least in Jhordo-Sasni language sets, to mean "Near one-Far one."
Phreist is going to share Its name with a major river in the world. Right now, the thought is either the river formed from all of the smaller rivers of the High Plains that merge and run down the Veltimakos Valley into an unnamed inland sea, or the one that ran from the Folsts (formerly out of an underground kingdom) and cut through Malidine, the one Burcumsy (still pending rename) is designed around. "The Phreist" will carry a similar weight to "The Ivid" either way.
Zulstaad sounds a lot like an old character I'd had in my childhood, a somewhat evil black dragon named Volstaad that had probably been based on the dragon with the dagger in its chest from Tomb Raider II (which is a really weird sentence, come to think, and I had to double check via google that I was remembering the cinematic from the right game) combined with the dragon in the chasm at the end of R.A. Salvatore's second book, Streams of Silver, which I think was named Shimmergloom? Dang, he was. I haven't read that book since sixth grade. Anyway, he was a very dragonly dragon of dragonly darkness that could talk and was kind of an important pet to the cast of baddies. I guess what I'm getting at is that he was a childhood relic that wasn't on the table for reuse at all, but I like that the suffix of his name got to resurface when I needed inspiration the most. Maybe Viscombris, the Possessed-Bone-Golem-Wearing-Armor general that commanded Volstaad, will make an appearance. I do need a name for the Archon of Bone. He certainly won't be the same character if he does.
[Edit: About ten minutes after hitting the Publish button, I've decided a perfect alpha name for bone archon will be Visco.]
Anyway. These names are in alpha. The whole world is in alpha.
I've been playing a lot of Guild 3 at the moment. I've never played any of them, but a bundle of all the past iterations just went on sale, so I grabbed them, too. It's a weird game for me to be playing. It's like Sims Medieval had the fun parts sucked out of it and replaced with a business and economics simulator, and then had a little Fable humor dusted on it here and there. Business and economics have never been of interest to me, but after playing it a few times, it's got me begrudgingly hooked and I keep going back to it like the achievement whore I am.
It's had me thinking about family dynamics in the old world, though, and how different family dynamics are across cultures even today. Marrying people in and out of families in the game reminded me a lot about the blog post I'd written years ago about the Atavan Caste System. I'd like to revisit that and see if anything needs improvement. I'm only just scratching the surface of Erihan's potential. That culture has gone through several major overhauls, and I've barely started on the current version, but it is a very family centered culture on top of being more matriarchal. The Jhordo-Sasni are also matriarchal but are less interested in family and more concerned with trades and ability. They've been in a fog of mystery for a good while. It's good to have something to look forward to working on, though.
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