Wow, some great responses out there, thanks for the support guys!
Anyways, here are a couple of th questions/comments you guys set me up with:
Q&A - Round 2
Q) Hello! Long-time reader, first-time poster here. My first question for you is this: say you have somebody (me, for example) that has half-Aenglish, half-Sudreyjar ancestry (along with some Native, to be sure) and can trace back their entrance to the west as being from the Isles. Which country would one end up in? My guess would be either North Columbia or Setterland (hopefully the latter if one likes warmer and muggier climes, the former if snow and four equal seasons are your thing); I ask as somebody trying to figure out settlement patterns (which I know are more about trends than real rules).
A) Oh North Columbia big time, though Setterland has a large Ænglic minority and the people of Sudreyjar have a presence in Helluland, Columbia has always been the number one hot spot for Germanic Islanders, hence the whole “proud germanic blood” thing they’ve got going on. :/
Q) Being a stupid Ostlander, I'm not too sure of what happened between the Isles and the Franks (outside the fact that Breizh came about at some point, although I'm not sure the Isles were responsible for it). Anything of note I should know about that?
A) Ah, a classic story and one of the best parts of early Brytan history. Basicly in the early day of the Kingdoms, the Brytons all used gavelkind succession which basicly divides all of the land up between the sons of the previous Monarch. Queen Maya gave birth to one son, Arthur, who inherited both his parents Kingdoms and created the title: “High King of Albion”. Arthur would famously bring his two kingdoms to their modern borders and sire four sons of his own; Arthur II, Aed, Aeden and Bradan. Before his death, Arthur declared Arthur Junior the High King of Albion, with Aed taking Brytan for his own and Aeden taking Ænglia, each subservient to Arthur. Bradan, however, had no lands of his own to take. Petitioning his three brothers, he asked for an army which he could take and conquer a land of his own, promising to pledge allegiance to Arthur once he returned. Bradan had many of the traits of his Ænglic father and was feared as a raider and warrior. Arthur agreed and each of the other brothers raised an army of two thousand men. Sailing across the Narrow Straight he landed in Gaul and began his conquest.
The Franks had been expanding eastward but were still in contest with many of the Gaulish tribes, not to mention the ever weakening Rome. Taking advantage of this, Bradan married a Gaulish princess and laid claim to everything within the Roman Province of Armorica, modern Breizh. Following the Battle of Vindinium, Arthur declared the Kingdom of Breizh and. as promised, pledged his allegiance to the Crown. This would start the Thousand Years war between the Isles and Francia over the region but Breizh remained and remains fiercely Celtic and resistant to Latin influence. Again, wasted movie opportunity, it could've been a fantastic sequel to
Burn Bright!
Q) Which language would you say is more prevalent in the Ostland continent? I imagine that countries such as North Columbia or Dixie are a bit more buttier in that regard, but Xin Manzhou seems a rather obvious lock for a Cathese/Chinese/etc. tongue.
A) You of course have Nord and Geatish in the northern provinces but they’re fairly low population, same goes for the Native languages of the plains. It’s got to be Xin Manzhou, population wise they’re almost twice as big as Dixie and three times as big as New Vinland. IN terms of area though? Probably Bryton, the primary language in Setterland and important in North Columbia, though most people there would speak Ænglic as their first language. Dixie has large East Asian minority groups but I’m pretty sure most of the population speaks Frankish.
Q) Good on you to give Long-Goal its due, but what other sports would you say you like as well? Granted I imagine you're predisposed to Long-Goal, but do you participate or watch any others?
A) Gotta love a bit of Rounders, super popular throughout Europe (especially the Isles), not too complex, not too taxing, good amount of fun and hey, it’s a game you Ostlanders actually know how to play.
Q)Bulls for the Cup! No, who am I kidding; they haven't had a hope since '68. Do you follow any team in particular?
A) Dude, Direwolves all the way! The way we smashed the lions last year was just… fantastic. It’s been a good couple years to be a Northern Brytan.
Q) ...your fiancée has some remarkable physique for some of Nipponese ancestry!
A) Yeah, Liz’s Dad is a Dixie native and he’s a mighty big chap, so she's got her mothers pretty Nipponese face on a 6' 2" body, making her a good inch taller than me! The one advantage I've got over her when it comes to Long-Goal is the lack of certain... chest appendages that get in the way.
Q)... I am aware that Russians suck in it(Long-Goal) , thank you very much (or more likely Russian women do suck - we have only a handful of female pros)
A) Eh, it’s mostly a lack of funding and Russia doesn't have a very large population so it’s just less people to potentially play but hey you guys got to the semi-final in ‘03!
Q) I would like to know more about the Xin Manzhou. Was it used to be a part of a Ostlandish country or a colony?
A) Ah, Xin Manzhou is a pretty damn complex case. First colonised in the early 16th century, it was just an outcrop of the Chinese Empire, which at the time was heavily under the influence of the Eunuchs. With the discovering of gold in the region, they had a little boom in the early 18th century but shortly after the Emperor had a… falling out with the eunuchs, most were exiled to Xin Manzhou. Eunuchs weren’t exactly suited for population growth though and it didn’t make that huge of a bump in the grand scheme. Anyway, the region became basically independent when the Emperor washed his hands of the Eunuch class. The Bureaucracy set up by the Eunuchs is still in place today, so the whole country is run like a damn Company. It’s quite possibily the least political nation on earth, no parties and no ideologies, just the Board. Nice enough place though, I had fun studying there.
Q)We know what you don't like; but which of the series and films currently showing get the angrycelt seal of approval?
A) It’s in Geatish with subtitles but if you’re willing to put up with that,
Cold Eyes is a goddamn amazing murder mystery series, fantastic acting and really creative mysteries, a must see for any fan of the genre.
Geatish Actor Einwulfgar Dercamagnarson as the protaganist of Cold Eyes, rogue Lawyer Arnold Wulf
Movie wise I loved
Song of Dreams and Dust, fantastic spin on the fantasy genre which is getting pretty overused, SDD was so dark and so well written I can’t help but love it! It’s also wonderful to have another book by R. R. Tolk get adapted to the big screen, I love to see the classics getting some attention.
To rant for a second though? The new Grey-Knight film was a total let down, especially considering how good the last one was and how good the comics are getting.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your questions, now if you don't mind it's like 3 am and I have to get some sleep, I'll put something else up in a couple days, hell we might even get political with the elections coming up!
