Having sketched out four states of one continent for The Rest of All Possible Worlds, here is a listing of the places and professions thus far mentioned. However, with these gathered here together, I should mention something about their usage.
None of these are (really) complete pictures of any state involved; likewise, when taken together, they would not provide a complete picture of the continent. There are more cities in the Prizelands than just Datresse, there are certainly more islands in Malmery than those mentioned, and Tsymric may well be divided into more provinces than those described. Certainly, there are more states than the four that have received blog entries.
The sub-divisions mentioned for each state, incidentally, are not of equal sizes. They are apt units for the state in question and might well differ as much as an English county, a Russian oblast and a Swiss canton differ. However, they discuss units of (approximately) equal significance to each respective state.
So, if this is not a complete picture of the relations (present, historical, diplomatic, cultural...) of Calliste what is it? Well, each listed state suggests a broad set of conditions. There is the Concentrated state and the Diffuse. The Sea-based and the Land-based. The Commercial and the Aristocratic. Prosperous/Straitened. Centre/Periphery. Expansive/Compact (land mass, not the state power style of Concentrated/Diffuse). Cool, Hip and Happening/Dull, Square and a Backwater.
(These contrasts, of course, also exist within states - Hentzay is the ageing heartland full of palaces, wunderkammers and schools; Caspianstadt is the boomtown with warehouses, new-style government offices and one half-built theatre.)
Hence Datresse. This city might be more Amsterdam than London or Venice, but it acts as a template for aspects that could be geared towards cities and states of such a sort as these. Likewise Tsymric - which I have been explicit is a mingling of 16th Century Spain and 17th century Russia. Now, I hope that the fictional states and their residents I have laid out are interesting enough to interest you in Calliste. But there's more than enough room for others - and numerous small Dukedoms and Principalities are quite apt for a roaming picaresque!
The lists of professions given are, clearly geared towards the state in whose entry they first appear, but it's an Early Modern setting: people are crossing continents. If tobacco is ubiquitous in Tsymric, it is popular everywhere else - and thus tobacconists are not uncommon. The appearance of a Qacenoit scout in Datresse is technically fairly rare, but not worth commenting on.
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A few notes about Calliste.
The majority of Calliste was once under the rule of the Horatione Empire, long fallen to internal sclerosis and waves of migration. This reached from the edges of present-day Tompordy to Insular Malmery. Even those lands not once directly under its control have by now adopted Horatione influenced languages, however impenetrable a given dialect may in fact be. The Horatione gold piece set an enduring standard for later currencies - whatever lesser silver or copper coins are issued, and despite various debasements of the coinage, the gold piece maintains a certain semi-idealised value.
Religion is relatively out of focus, but The Majestic Vision has been established as the background religious and intellectual influence for Callistan society, with the School of Malicarn being the best established and most extensive. Malicarn has also set the tone for the arrangements by which the Vision is communicated by individual halls of learning.
The class of those who expound on the Words of Procophon and the Vision are known as Schoolmen. Malicarn's arrangement of Schoolmen is the best known and frequently imitated. To sketch it roughly: a village or portion of a town will have a Reader; a Magister will arrange matters for a province, a High Magister for a region and a Grand Magister for a nation. The School of Malicarn rejoices in the supervision of a First Magister or Primus; this rank is rarely employed by other Schools.
The First Magister and the scholars and functionaries who make up the Chapter of Malicarn communicate news, provide spiritual direction and settle disputes by envoys known as Overseers and (at a higher rank) Superintendents. (In day-to-day matters, an Overseer trumps a Magister - not that an Overseer will always be present; in an 'ecumenical council' a Magister trumps an Overseer.)
Schoolmen within a given school adhering to a certain interpretation of the Words of Procophon or making use of a certain set of practices may group together in a Society. Many Societies have been in existence for centuries and are sufficiently endowed to run their own halls of learning.
The most common sign of the Majestic Vision is the stylised three-tongued 'beatific flame'.
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| BIG SQUIRE ENERGY, direct from the V&A. Just think, your character could be commemorated like this. |
Gazette of Places and Professions
Places
Datravia, vulgarly known as the Prizelands
Datresse (capital)
Tompordy Tompord (capital)
Hentzay
Mszhinksky Caspianstadt
Choroff
Myrchonog
Suecomark
Transmontane Tsymric
[Insular Malmery] divided into High Malmery and Low Malmery
Glengallow
Nhalark
Tyrconoway
Cerq centre of the Cerquae Isles
Laldiel
Ile-de-Szouche Purlitz (capital)
Celzia Loughdainne
Dordonneland
Joachimsland
Arpadhia
Roqueport
Others in Calliste
Malicarn
Loribides
Beyond Calliste
Bronzemount Free State
Mayara Isles
Buccaneers' Archipelago
Spondine Gulf
The Alamgir Empire
Professions
1. Datravia
Coach Guard
Parliamentary Lictor
Dockyards Pugilist
Coffee vendor
Burgher of the Isle
Pamphleteer
Lensgrinder
Supercargo
Hot-house botanist
Ley-line surveyor
2. Tsymric
Royal Dimarchi
Overseer of the Faithful
Tobacconist
Alpine Expeditionary
River boatman
Transmontane Native Scout
Hidalgo [a]
Myrchonog Plainsman
Engineering Student
Mage Prospector
3. Malmery
Sailmaker
Returned Mercenary
Tin Miner
Fishmonger
Privateer
Student Advocate
Mage Navigator
Thane
Island Shepherd
Wizarding Matross
4. Pavaisse
Mask-maker
Imperial Fusilier
Arpadhian Horseman
Chairman
Artist's illuminator
Man of letters
Gambler
Topiarist
Courtier
Concierge
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Ongoing Magical Debates in Calliste:
The Question of Pneumametrics [Pnemametricians, be they Polycameralists and Unicameralists]
The Anti-Grimoirean Thesis [Hard or Soft Anti-Grimoireans, alongside Ante-Grimoireans]
The Possibilities of Nematism [Dynamic or Static Nematists, Spectrumists]
The Question of Spell Levels [Naive or Prudent Tabulators, opposed by Unicursalists and Multicursalists]
The Question of Spell Schools [Teleotaxists, alongside Polytaxists, Gerundists and Cryptotaxists, opposed by Ontotaxists]
The Influence of Antecedents [Realists and Idealists, opposed by Ritualists]
Interaction with the Realms Beyond [Conjuncts and Autarks]
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