Mariners of Malmery - and The Rest of All Possible Worlds

 After vast Tsymric and bustling Datravia - we turn to Malmery.

This is the part of a setting I am now referring to as The Rest of All Possible Worlds, with the tag or strap White-Hot Sparks from the Crucible of the Enlightenment. The principle of interesting, varied equipment lists full of alternatives to leather remains a characteristic, but I intend the spirit of The Rest of All Possible Worlds to be about a continent (or continent-like culture grouping) on the verge of a magical Enlightenment - that is, an Enlightenment in the 18th century vein. 

Speak then, of Malmery. Of wind-swept isles and rugged sea-rovers - of peaceable glades and quiet inlets. Of merchants who smile at pirates and pirates who smile at merchants. Of rich seams and swift waterways. Of choleric Earls and vigilant elders. 

Malmery is the greatest of a string of islands in the western ocean fringes; there is nothing beyond them until you reach the Buccaneers' Archipelago or Bronzemount Free State in the west.  Malmery gave its name to the island chain as a whole, not that some of those inside Malmery would be swift to recognise the fact. 

Malmery itself is large enough to be divided into High and Low Malmery. The largest ports and widest fields are in Low Malmery, facing the mainland; the highest peaks and the old capital face the ocean. Trade is said to roll downhill. 

Knit together by the traffic of sailors, the other parts of Malmery shuttle in and out of the orbit of the Crown and Capital on an almost seasonal basis. The Malmeric appellate courts close and open almost with the tides. The nearest Earldom may be granite-cliffed Nhalark, north-most trade hub. After that, the lush pastures and neat townships of Glengallow.

Further north than Nhalark would be the low island of Laldiel - which has a reputation as a mere floating moor, anchored by one brief belt of hills. Western-most we meet the limestone flats of rainswept Tyrconoway.  Turning south, you will finally find the sunny, ore-rich Cerq and the long scattered curve of the Cerquae Isles.*

It is as true to say that every Malmeran is a sailor as it is to say that every Prizelander is a merchant. Which is to say, it is a lie, albeit a revealing one. Traditional Malmeric dress contributes to this - a Malmeran sailor would wear a length of rope on their person, even if they had plenty of other rope on their ship. In time it came about that a civilian mariner would wear a loop about the shoulder, from which a marlinspike could dangle; a fighting sailor would wear a longer, baldric like body-rope from which a sword or boarding axe could hang. 

This became known as the 'cordon' to distinguish it from other ropes or lines. Eventually, the practice spread to those who were not sailors, often carrying a flat pouch (sometimes called a musette) or working knife - and it became smart to have a clean, neat rope for 'Sunday' best. A gentleman was assumed to be capable of bearing arms, and thus would wear the long rope even if they had never taken up a military career. Even wealthy modernisers and followers of foreign fashions will have a cordon somewhere.

Thanks, Wikimedia.

Naturally, in scattered Malmery, there were local and familial variations. Rope or cord, which knots, the presence or absence of aglets, material of rope, colour of rope, which shoulder the rope hung on....you may be sure that in the present, a certain form of cordon has come into being with a full set of etiquettes attached to it. Dress beneath the cordon is not so standardised, but generally will have appropriate loops and pads to support and present the cordon.

There is a distinction between Aiguillettes, Forragère and Lanyards, but it is scarcely certain a Malmeran would recognise them. 

This process has been aided by a comparative lack of cattle and tanneries in Malmery - perhaps as a result of the terrain, perhaps as a result of plague. In addition to the cordon, therefore, a Malmeran will stereotypically have poor shoes: hardwearing hobnailed sandals or moccasin-like half-boots. 

To continue on food-ways: fish, as you may expect is widely eaten in Malmeric cuisine. Cider is more readily available than wine, and to the traditionalist, is more prized. Oats and buckwheat grow more readily in Malmery than wheat. Beefeater, incidentally, is not a phrase that would convey a sense of bucolic plenty in Malmery - rather, it might convey silver-spoon privilege.  

Malmery has lately endorsed theory and praxis of the Majestic Vision contrary to the continental schools. This, coupled with a few coinciding wars, has emphasised further the distance between Malmery and the mainland. Commerce raiding and prize-taking was preferred method of Malmeric campaigning, for no towns or forts could be reliably held on the mainland. Further internal disputes and civil wars have furnished a diaspora of Melmerans who supported the fallen Ascendancy serving as mercenaries, military advisors and privateers across the continent. 

Thus, in the popular drama of overseas the Malmeran of low farce is a bearded ruffian in strange clothes, obsessed by shoes and knowing little of food beyond the dish of herring fried in oatmeal. The Malmeran of comedy is a good-hearted swaggering bluff rustic (often the friend or servant of the male lead); the Malmeran of romance is a wild, dashing sea-captain willing to seize what he sets his heart upon; the Malmeran of tragedy is a stern, masterful man, courageous and abstemious though reckless and unsocial. 

***

1. Sailmaker /// Thick needles, Reel of heavy waxed thread, Sailmaker's palm, Canvas Offcuts (one fitted to wear as a waterproof cloak).
2. Returned Mercenary /// Fusil, Powder and Shot, Large well-made well-worn leather boots, Fascine knife, Commemorative medal depicting a recently-defeated Prince. Optional: [Hair cut and dressed in the Continental Style: +1 CHA in right conditions, lasts 1d3 months.]
3. Tin Miner /// Pick, Auger, Stiff hat with candle-stubs, Thick-crusted pasty, Ease of movement in low-light conditions. 
4. Fishmonger /// Several filleting knives and sharpening stone, Robust apron, Heavily stained basket, Nosegay (protects against foul air, two uses). 
5. Privateer /// Basket-hilted cutlass, 1d3+1 flags, Letter of Marque (in robust pouch), Plundered commodity (spices, tea, tobacco, &c).
6. Student Advocate /// Sober robes (second-hand), Bundle of legal briefs, Nightwatchman who owes you a favour, Tickets to an Oratorio, Ring that looks like a ruby.
7. Mage Navigator /// Telescope, Enchanted automatic log-line (respools at will, counts with bell-chimes the number of knots), Book of tide-tables (incomplete), Sounding line.
8. Thane /// Bottle buckwheat eau-de-vie, Outdated large-hilted sword, Brightly coloured bonnet with distinctive hackle, Elaborate clan-colours cordon.
9. Island Shepherd /// Crook, Long axe-blade (attach to crook to make a lochaber), Warm woollen coat (works even when damp), Shears, Horn box of snuff.
10. Wizarding Matross /// Witch-fire linstock, Sympathetic bearings in reinforced glass tube (can be used to subtly change motion of projectile), Set of ballistic tables, Windsock. 

*Some sentimental cartographers take this to be in the shape of a wing.