OK, so, now that you’ve got the juices flowing, it’s time to keep moving forward. Today, you want to do more of the same that you did yesterday. However, whereas yesterday I wanted you to write just a paragraph, today I’d like you to write several. Yesterday’s paragraph was focused and organized, while today’s should be more along the lines of freewriting.
What is freewriting, you might ask? Simple. Write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about inconsistencies, or if something just sounds silly. Just write it. This freewriting should be generally focused, in that you want it to all be about your campaign world. Yes, you’ll probably have several sentences, or even several paragraphs, that have a common theme. But overall, it should probably look like a bit of a mess. Here’s mine for today:
In Lenryn, Elves are even more feral and wild that in core, and Eladrin are even more majestic and mysterious.
Tieflings have a place in Lenryn. They are the taskmasters of the underworld regions. Think Drow, in terms of houses and politics.
There is one city in all of Lenryn that, while protected by the Eladrin, is neither controlled by the Eladrin, nor coveted by them. That is the City-State of Breveton. Breveton was originally created as a penal colony, where the Eladrin would place their prisoners of war. After the last great Rebellion, where Dwarves, men, and Greenskins all pressed on the Eladrin cities, the Eladrin “gifted” Breveton to the lesser races, promising to not interfere, and granting all who wished asylum there.
Wild beasts and unspeakable horrors populate the unsettled regions of Lenryn. Great ancient Wyrms vie for power in the Wormwood. Dreaded Eye Tyrants have claimed much of the Endolan Mountains. Even the forests that surround the settled world contain violent and bloodthirsty creatures such that even the stoutest hunter dare not venture into them without a score of companions. Only the magic of the Eladrin, which has created a magical “dome” of sorts over the Eastern portion of Lenryn, keeps civilization from being overrun.
The governing body of Breveton, the Council of Nine, is made up of three representatives of each faction (Dwarves, Men, and Greenskins), plus a non-voting, ex-officio representative of the Grand Old Kingdom. Each of the factions has control of a segment of Breveton, and their wards reflect their racial preferences. Feral Elves and Tieflings, while not represented, have worked their influence on the council at various points.
Breveton is divided up into four separate administrative districts: one Common District, and one district for each of the races represented in the city. The Common District features The Argolis – the meeting place for the Council of nine. The Common District also contains the bulk of Breveton’s inns, a marketplace, and many trades and shops as well. The two city gates lead into opposite sides of the Common District, so that no visitor is plunked down into the middle of one of the three sectarian districts. The practical members of the sectarian districts have, for this reason, referred to the Common District as the “Gate Ward.” The Common District is also home to those that don’t fit into any of the factions, such as half-elves, half-orcs, and the handful of Halflings that call Breveton home. For this reason, the Common District is sometimes, instead of the “Gate Ward,” known as the “Half Ward.” Each of the sectarian districts has its own distinct characteristics, and chooses its representatives for the Council of Nine in a different way.
Breveton is where the first adventurers will start. It may be that each character represents a different faction, or that they represent the feral elves or even the tieflings.
As you can see, my freewriting kept coming back to this particular city. This is how your freewriting will probably progress; you’ll hit an idea and just sort of run with it. If not, that’s OK too. It just means you’ll have a bigger bucket of ideas to pull from and build upon later.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I find post-it notes most useful when I’m planning, because I can literaly return to an old idea and just add more on top of it, but then I do have a stationary addiction.
Absoultely, that can work as well. The danger in post-it’s when freewriting, of course, is that you’ll stop writing at the end of a post-it!
I like it, though. Maybe after a freewriting session, you go back through, pick out whatever is especially compelling, and put it onto a post-it.