I managed, with a bit of help from the printer’s technical support staff, to upload the corrected file for the book About the Fruit. That was a positive thing, but I was up until five finishing it, and up again at six, struggling to keep myself awake and to awaken the schoolboy. I was not the only one fighting this battle–the houseguest son of one of our houseguests missed his bus this morning, apparently due to a failure of the alarm clock. I am so very grateful that my son made it, and I was back in bed by seven.

I was up again around eleven, because Kyler needed me. He had an important appointment at four, almost an hour from here, and so I already had accepted that I would be driving him there immediately after dropping his mother at work. However, he was also concerned that he needed to get an important errand done, half an hour in the opposite direction, and so felt it important to do before the afternoon pressure hit. I might have managed to drag myself to the truck in under an hour, and we managed to get back in time for everything else.

The appointment was the sort where you must be there on time but should anticipate waiting forever. I took my Romans notes along, and made some progress while waiting. I also brought along and read a printout of a very favorable review of the newest game from my friend Seth Ben-Ezra, of Legends of Alyria fame, Dirty Little Secrets. I’m going to have to break down and buy a copy, it’s that good. The system design generates a Noir Mystery Genre feeling, even if you have no idea what that is. That’s good design.

However, in case it did not strike you, this appointment took several hours. Kyler did very well at it, probably one of the most encouraging points of the day. I, however, was already concerned about how to get home in time to feed people as we left.

That concern increased greatly immediately after I stopped for gas, four miles from home, and then could not start the vehicle again. The starter had complained a bit here and there before, but tonight it did not function properly at all. Kyler and I, and our papers and gear, had to be picked up and brought home; the truck will have to be picked up and taken to a shop tomorrow.

Mercifully, two of our houseguests are equipped with their own cars, and are pitching in to help us deal with transportation. This is especially important, since the other son has to return to Delaware tonight so he will be at work tomorrow.

Coming home to find that the counter where I was planning to make the waffles for dinner was covered in unwashed cups, I realized I had little hope after nine at night to feed anyone before ten. Chinese delivery became the order of the evening, and I turned my attention to my morning study, along with my first, and probably last, cup of coffee, both interrupted multiple times in major ways.

I am now working my way through today, and the light at the end of the tunnel is dimly visible.

In other news, our company president decided, posting on our private company forum, to create a cooperative effort on the new website by having development (me) and public relations work together with art on the total site, rather than having each of us working in his own section. Because I’ve got all the access codes and am the company contact with the hosting service, I’ve been given the task of chairing this. As usual, I’ve taken a significant part of that upon myself–the best way I can see to start is to do a bit of recoding on the old pages (which I still have), and then upload these and make changes as we go. That hopefully means that we will have a website in the next two and a half weeks–in time for the directors meeting, where he wants a report from development on the progress. What’s Gandalf’s phrase? And I was already tired. Hopefully some of the others are ready to pitch in and help make it work.

On one last point, it appears that there might be yet another chance of getting a car, but it’s a long story, and I’m going to leave it for another time.

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days.

–M. J. Young

Yesterday’s predictions proved optimistic. I got home from freshman orientation just after nine, but one of my houseguests had needed help somewhat abruptly, and taken both my chef and my dishwasher away (I still do not know why, and probably never will). Thus I had thought I would be feeding the boy and sending him to bed while diving into the rest of my work, but instead had to tackle undone dishes and half-done dinner. Shortly before ten the chef returned, and helped me finish it but left me to serve. The boy got to bed late, and I to work later.

It was evident as eleven approached that I would have to interrupt the work on the Lutheran forum, and that being of the phpBB variety it does not work well interrupted. Thus I delayed starting it, and instead I was on time to pick up my wife–but she again was not, and I got a forty or fifty minute nap in the parking lot while waiting.

Upon my return home, I was handed laundry. I got it started eventually, and finished before I got to bed. I did a lot of other things before I got to bed as well–like help the boy get started for school and drive the houseguest to her class. I got dressed for bed and hit the pillow around eight forty-five this morning, and was up again three hours later to retrieve the houseguest. There was not enough time when I returned to do anything major before taking my wife to work, and since the new car has been delayed yet again (the wrong part came in and has to be reordered) and it was fairly certain that upon returning home the student would have to go purchase school supplies, I had to keep the truck. Since the schoolbus behind which I got stuck on my way back home was his, I gave him a lift.

While we were debating when to go to which store for supplies, I discovered that one of our houseguests missed the bus to work and needed a ride to have him there by five. That gave me my hour for my morning study and sent me to the stores near the mall (he works near the mall), which is where I preferred to shop.

The houseguests made dinner for me, but still left me to serve it. It was delicious, so I am going to express my gratitude on that. In the cracks I did a bit more updating to the new Multiverser.org website, including links to Legends of Alyria, which you might recall is the first game to include Multiverser interfacing rules so you can use it as part of a Multiverser campaign.

The night is drawing to an end, and I’ve still a few things to do and the strong desire to get to bed in time to get a few hours of sleep before the day starts anew tomorrow.

–M. J. Young

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

—Juliet, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Ever try to name places in a fantasy world? It’s challenging, isn’t it? Honestly I think that many games do a pretty poor job of this. Just consider the average console RPG. “The magical land of Jowkla is under siege. Terrible Detgoks from the underground kingdom of Grza are ravaging the land. Desperate, Queen Etwonda calls upon the power of Tratlya to bring four adventurers from the mythic world of Earth. But will it be enough? Will these adventurers be able to tame the raging power of the Tratlya? Will they be able to stop the Detgoks before it is too late? Will you have enough money to buy…Questaila VII?” I know that this is exaggerated a bit, but I think you see my point. So often, fantasy names are just a jumble of letters and sounds without a rhyme or a reason.

Why is this? Actually I think Tolkien spoiled us. The good Professor crafted entire languages for his fantasy world. Therefore when we read of Middle-earth, we hear of places like Moria, Mordor, Minas Tirith, Osgiliath, and others. Many of these names are actually given translations in Lord of the Rings, and I would bet that Tolkien would have been able to produce etymologies for most of them. Alas, most fantasy authors and game designers are not trained philologists. However, there is still a desire to produce worlds that are different and interesting, so we are subjected to pseudo-languages or simply pure nonsense.

This is unfortunate. Names should be more than mere labels. Names should, in some way, communicate something about the nature of the thing or person being named. Certainly some fantasy worlds do attempt to do this even in their made-up names. Ever notice how the names of evil characters often sound harsh? Consider Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter or the Daemon Sultan Azathoth that bubbles insanely at the center of the universe. Similarly, good characters are given softer names. Willow, the brave Nelwin. Tanis Half-Elven. Aragorn. The sound of the name can give an impression of the character, whether good or bad.

I will admit that Alyria draws on this naming convention a bit. Consider the word “Alyria” itself. I happen to think that the word sounds shimmery and sparkling, like light reflected from a rippling lake. However, overall I felt that this approach to names was lacking for my purposes. Instead, I have chosen a different way.

Have you considered how almost all the names given to places in Alyria are really descriptions? The Citadel. The Ark. The Web. These are not names in some imaginary language. They are descriptions of the nature of the place. I have done this for a simple reason. M.J. Young has aptly noted that Alyria is not about where things are but what they are. I feel that my choices of names enhance the symbolic impact of each place, strengthening the themes or attributes associated with each. By doing so, the narrative impact of each place is enhanced.

What do I mean by this? Let me give you a couple of examples. What of the Web? When you think of a web, you think of a tangled mess. You perhaps think of a network of connections. Perhaps you think of a spider’s web and the subtle trap that it presents. All these elements are present in the Web. Certainly it is a tangled mess. It is indeed a network of connections. In fact, its continued existence relies on connections, both physical and social. And certainly, the Web can be a trap, consuming the weak that thrash about briefly within its confines.

The Ark is an even better example, in my opinion, because it blends both symbolism and a plausible game-world etymological development. To summarize briefly, the Ark is a large arcology that was built when Alyria was first settled. During the Rape, the Ark was sealed to prevent the plague from getting inside. The sensors malfunctioned, though, so the Ark did not unseal itself until fairly recently. The resulting explosion of colonization from the Ark has brought it into conflict with the Citadel.

I will describe the Ark more fully in another column, but I wanted to explain how the name came into being. There are many facets to the name. First, one can merely use the excuse that saying “the arcology” eventually became shortened by usage to “the arc” or “the Ark”. Secondly, it is a reference to Noah’s Ark, which was a refuge in a time of cataclysm. Thirdly, it is a reference to Moses’ Ark, which held the original Ten Commandments. The Ark also holds and preserves something precious. Finally, just like those previous arks, the Ark can open, which allows us to talk of the Opening of the Ark as a major event in Alyrian history. Pretty neat, eh? All this packed into a single name.

This is also the same kind of naming convention that I intend to suggest for naming characters. Our playtest characters have been given names that express their nature and their role within the developing story. Let me explain. The story map for our last playtest centered on a Blessed who had been cast out from his village because of his powers. Surviving in the wild, he has now returned to wreak vengeance upon his village for what they have inflicted on him. This scourge of darkness we named Uriel, after the Angel of Death. Another one of the characters was Uriel’s father, who allowed Uriel to be abandoned out of fear for himself. In the interim he has become a well-respected man of the community. Now that Uriel has returned, he is willing to do anything in his power to hide his familial connection to Uriel, lest he lose his position and even his life. In an ironic twist, we named him Victor, a strong name for a weak man. The village we named Haven, another irony as the village had not been a place of safety for Uriel nor was it now a refuge for the villagers.

Do you see how this works? Rather than merely applying labels to characters or places, the names that are given are an attempt to enhance the story potential of each character or location. Certainly, reasonable minds could disagree on how successful our attempts have been, but I think that the principle is established. Alyrian characters are not given names based on what they would “really” be called. They are given names that express their place in the story and that capture something of their essence.

So, in summation, I am forced to disagree with Juliet am she casually dismisses the power of a name. The proper use of names can bring power and vitality to a character or place that would be spoiled by mere labeling. A symbol can be summarized in a word. The core of a character can be illuminated by his name.

What’s in a name?

Everything.