Do you do this for a living?

Any tidbits I could possibly offer are getting blown away by the sheer piles of your info!

I'll welcome any and all tidbits, Grugg.

For a living? No.

Actually, I do it for a hobby, for fun.

I have a knack for finding what I want. Or sometimes, what others want. If I find something I like, I add it to my own archive for later use (even I may not know what for at the time). Usually, what I hunt for or find is created by someone else, but is public domain, or it's just being shared by the author or creator, or is out-of-print or expired-copyright, etc.

But if it will make you feel better, I'll start limiting my offers to one or two items ... heh!

Eol, Cap'n? Could either of you use this? A low-res map, but I have a higher-res image available if you can use it:

City of Drasnia (low-res map)

*bows*

I am beyond impressed. Lou. Hold on to this one.

Nifty map, Wyrmstring. I've already started on my own map of Drasnia but this one should come in very handy...

The map is good - my only contention is that the river should be more towards the center of the city - the north and south sides should be about equal in size...

No problem, but since I didn't create the map, it might take a while for me to alter it to get what you want. I'll work on it.

Meanwhile, check out the PM'ed link ... (Et tu, Gruggster)

Check out Drasnia unmodified and modified.

Column 4, top two links ...

Nice, Wyrmsting. I'm impressed so far.

I also read up on some of the resources you have posted in the holding area. The Blue Light Gang is particularly neat - I was thinking that the Braudians needed some kind of smuggling syndicate...

And now for something competely different.

The Braudian Military
The Braudians have championed the strategy of fighting in a phalanx, with well-organized battle lines and marches. Drawing on military techniques from (of all peoples) the elves and strategies of the various human cultures they rule that have developed over the years, the Braudian military has become a well-oiled machine, with legions of soldiers trained in all sorts of disciplines, from brute force to archery; from siege-works to torture. Using these techniques and strategies, the Empire triumphed over all resistance and conquered nearly the entire continent.

Braudians are organized into divisions known as legions. A 'full' legion has 2500 men; it is not uncommon for there to be "half legions" with 1250 men. Most legions, however, have somewhere between 2200-2400. Usually there are about 20-30 legions of active-duty soldiers in the entire Empire (with some legions in reserve), serving under the flag of their local feudal lord, who in turn answers to the Emperor. There are five full legions in Ellisia West, the province of the capital city, the largest number of legions in a single province.

Braudian soldiers are designated by their 'Spear number'; a 1st Spear Legionnaire will begin battle in the front line, the 2nd Spear in the second line, etc. The smallest division of a legion, a phalanx, consists of 50 men, divided into 5 spears of ten men each. A cohort is the next largest division; there are 5 phalanxes to a cohort, and typically 10 cohorts to a legion. A half legion has only 5 cohorts, and some legions that are not quite full will lack one or two cohorts (though there are rarely more than 10).

A full legion is divided into two battalions, consisting of five cohorts each; the 1st battalion hits the battle first, the 2nd is typically a reserve. As you can see, the Braudians really like fives...

Ranks
5th-2nd Spear Legionnaire - This is the equivalent of an enlisted man, and the typical rank and file of the Braudian army.

1st Spear Legionnaire - These are the more elite soldiers; these men hit the front lines first. It typically takes a soldier anywhere from 1-3 years to make 1st Spear, depending on his comptency.

Spear Commander - Equivalent of a sargeant, a Spear Commander is the direct leader of his spear, directing them in combat; the Spear Commander of a 1st Spear outranks the commander of a 2nd Spear, etc.

Phalanx Commander - Obviously, the commander of a phalanx. Typically this position is filled by a commissioned officer, though an enlisted man can work his way up. Equivalent essentially to a LT.

Prefect - The commander of a cohort. It is very rare that an enlisted man make this rank, but it is the highest rank that a man without a commission can make. Prefects are well-respected officers; their wage is lucrative, as well.

2nd Legate - The 2nd Legate commands the 2nd battalion of a legion; he answers directly to the general, but is subordinate to the 1st Legate. The 2nd Legion directly commands the 1st cohort of his battalion as acting Prefect. This position doesn't exist in half legions.

1st Legate - The 1st Legate commands the 1st battalion. He also acts as a sort of second-in-command to the general, and like the 2nd legate directly commands the first cohort of his battalion.

General - The commander of an entire legion.

Imperator - More of a title than a rank, an Imperator controls more than one legion. Sort of like a commander-in-chief, a civilian can be Imperator if appointed, though the position is usually held by a general. In provinces like Drasnia, in which there is only one legion, this essentially makes the Imperator the commanding officer, but the general something of a chief strategist; Imperators are rarely seen drawing battle plans.

Provincial Captain - This is also something of a title; Any man of the rank Prefect or higher may be promoted to Provincial Captain, who is the acting Captain of the Guard for his province. Since police are militarized in Drasnia, the Captain is in charge of city defense (from within or without), enforcement of the law and arbitrating 'police matters'.

In Drasnia...
Erik Tocsani, in Drasnia, is the Provincial Captain, having made 2nd Legate before achieving that status. He has the distinguished position of being both Provincial Captain and Imperator; the general at the camp answers directly to Tocsani - essentially, Tocsani runs the military in Drasnia, whether for law enforcement, defense, or attack (though he himself is answerable to Lord Granwythe).

The Legion stationed in Drasnia is the 19th Legion; since Drasnia is a city-province (there isn't much else in the way of Braudian settlements for many miles), the one legion is more than enough for defense. Typically, the 7th, 8th and some of the 9th cohort deal with law enforcement in the city.

A complicated insignia on a soldier's right breast depicts his rank; the Braudian military has a system that indicates rank and even the number of one's cohort, phalanx and spear based on colors. Usually the only ones who can read them have military experience; however, lots of red usually means a higher rank, and any purple indicates either a general or imperator, depending on how much.

Of note in Drasnia is the employing of soldiers as mercenaries or personal guards; 1st Spear Legionnaires are in demand as bodyguards or 'strong arm men' among wealthy nobles. And as long as the gold is good and under the table, many 1st Spears will take the work whenever they're on leave or on reserve. Even seeing a Spear Commander working for the underground is not unusual (any higher than that is, however, rare).

---

That's all for now. Just thought I'd elaborate on some of that. And yes, I do have the insignia system worked out. I'm not sure how to explain it without pictures, however.

... new additions to the first column:

Customs House

Mariner's Fellowship House

Been whacking away at the elves, Lou, and I think i may have actually gotten somewhere where the 'renaming the mith'ganni' issue is concerned... How does 'Teu'Shiri' grab you/fit in with your 'flowing' elven language?

One of the many translations of 'moon' into elven that I found was 'Teu', so, I guess Teu'Shiri might translate more as Moon Elves than Twilight Elves but, given the "moonlight color" of their eyes I figured that it might be fitting enough. Of course, as you noted, the "Teu'Shiri" wouldn't be a completely different 'race' per se but more a 'subset' of the Sheh-shiri...

Anyhoo... just thinking out loud and putting it out there for you to chew on, I guess... the more I play with these folks, the more they're starting to put me in mind of the Mongols... hmmmmm.... *scribbles down some more notes and wanders off talking to himself about yurts, yaks, and BBQ*

Sounds great, I've been working on a few things myself, concerning the Elvish language.

I've got a small guidebook of some words, but those aren't important so much as the fundamentals of the language...

The language is quasi-metaphorical. While words do mean definite things, often a word used to describe a concept is a word for something in nature.

For example, the term for alone might be, "As a single tree in an open field." or something of the like. Moreover, you might only have one word for such a phrase (just as the innuets have dozens of words for ice and snow, the elves would probably have dozens of words for trees). So, the word enebri (just making up elvish words off the top of my head here) might translate roughly to alone, but might actually have a deeper metaphorical meaning.

Which means that Elvish would probably end up being an obscure and complex language to a nonspeaker...